On the 11th of December, the regiment arrived at Falmouth, in front of Fredericksburg, and two companies, I and K, were sent across the river on one of Franklin's pontoons, to picket between the enemy's out-posts and the bridge. On the following morning, the regiment crossed and joined the squadron on picket, when it was ordered to deploy as skirmishers, and advance until the enemy was found. A mile from the river, just beyond the railroad, he was met, when General Bayard, who had rode to the front, ordered the regiment to fall back. This retrograde movement was followed by the rebel skirmishers, supported by his battle line, which at once opened fire. It was promptly replied to by the carbineers, who held their position until relieved by the infantry skirmishers of the Reserves. On the following day the regiment was deployed as skirmishers on the left wing, where it was under fire of the enemy's artillery. At three o'clock in the afternoon, when the storm of battle was raging fiercest, General Bayard, now in command of the whole cavalry force, was struck by a shell and instantly killed. The original commander of the First Cavalry, he had endeared himself to its members not less by his devotion to their instruction and improvement, than by the heroism which he displayed in the hour of danger.From Fredericksburg the regiment moved to Belle Plain Landing, where it went into winter quarters. Each alternate ten days during the winter was spent on picket along the Rappahannock, in the vicinity of King George Court House. On the 19th of January, 1863, the regiment turned out with the army to make another attempt to cross the river and give battle to the enemy. After three days splashing and floundering, the movement was abandoned, and the troops, drenched, bespattered and half frozen, returned to their camps. Soon afterwards Colonel Jones resigned, and Lieutenant Colonel John P. Taylor was commissioned Colonel, Major David Gardner, Lieutenant Colonel, and Captain William T. M'Ewen, of company C, Major. On the 17th of February, Major M'Ewen, with four companies, F, G, L and M, made a scout on the neck below the Court House, destroying a number of barges and boats employed in smuggling. Two nights after, companies I and K, under Major Gaston, made a similar expedition to Westmoreland Court House, destroying a large boat and capturing a smuggler's wagon loaded with silks, shoes, fancy goods and imperial tea.On the 12th of April the regiment broke camp and moved on the spring campaign. Headquarters were established at King George Court House, and it was engaged in picketing the river from Falmouth to Port Conway, On the morning of the 26th, a scouting party was sent under Lieutenant Colonel Gardner to Leedstown. At noon, Colonel Taylor, with Lieutenant Kennedy and an escort of six men, moved out to meet it. Eight miles beyond the vidette line, Colonel Taylor's party was fired on by dismounted cavalry in ambush, and at the first volley, three of the number fell dead or mortally wounded, their bodies riddled with bullets. Colonel Taylor had his cap shot from his head, and Lieutenant Kennedy his horse wounded. *Both narrowly escaped capture. Colonel Gardner was apprized, by one of Colonel Taylor's men who escaped, of the enemy's position in his rear, by which he was enabled to evade them and come safely in, bringing some prisoners and contraband property. On the 8th of May, abandoning the position which the regiment had held, it moved to Falmouth, and on the 28th, to Warrenton, doing picket duty in the meantime.
Moving to Kelly's Ford, it crossed on the 9th of June, and was immediately engaged in the battle of Brandy Station. The Cavalry Corps was commanded by General Pleasanton. At two P. M. the First and Fourth Divisions, under Buford, moved to Beverly Ford, and the Second and Third, under Gregg, to Kelly's Ford, where they bivouacked for the night. Crossing the river early on the following morning, Gregg moved out four miles to Stevensburg, where he left Colonel Duffy with the Second Division, to protect his flank, and proceeded with the Third Division direct to Brandy Station. The Second Brigade, composed of the First Pennsylvania, First New Jersey, and the First Maryland, under command of Colonel Wyndham, took the advance, followed by the First Brigade, Colonel Kilpatrick. On arriving at Brandy Station, the enemy opened with his artillery, which was promptly answered, and the First Maryland, in two battalions, charged upon his battery. At the same time, wheeling his regiment to the right, Colonel Taylor led a desperate charge upon the left and rear of the foe, reaching the Barbour House, where were General Stuart, his staff, and body guard, surrounded by cavalry Here a desperate encounter ensued, the men using the cavalrymen's true weapon, the sabre, with terrible effect. A number of prisoners were brought off, including Stuart's Assistant Adjutant General. At this point the enemy was heavily re-inforced and the command was obliged to withdraw, but disputing the ground manfully as it went, until it reached a new line of battle. Here it wasjoined by Duffy. The enemy failing to attack, Gregg moved toward Rappahannock Station, where he was again engaged, the First Pennsylvania supporting a battery. An artillery duel was kept up for nearly two hours, when Colonel Taylor was ordered to report, with his command, to General Buford, at Beverly Ford. Upon its arrival it was ordered to the extreme right, where it was hotly engaged, displaying its usual skill and gallantry. The loss in this engagment was three killed and eleven severely wounded. The enemy was grievously broken and dispirited.
After a day's rest, receiving rations forage, and ammunition, the regiment moved with the corps over the Bull Bun battle ground, to Aldie. Here, on the 21st, Stuart's whole force was again met, and after two days' desperate fighting, was forced back a distance of fourteen miles, our victorious squadrons routing and scattering his columns, and pushing him back into the gaps of the Blue Ridge. The First Pennsylvania was held in reserve, and was not engaged until the 22d, when it was ordered to the front, and Covered the retiring forces from Upperville back to Aldie. It held the left of the pike while the First New Jersey held the right, and was several times vigorously attacked, but hurled back the charging columns in confusion. Pleasanton had given Stuart a stuning blow at Beverly Ford. At Aldie and Upperville he gave him a finishing stroke from which he never recovered. The regiment was the last to quit Aldie, acting as extreme rear guard to the army, now moving towards Pennsylvania. At nine A. M. of the 2d of July, it reached the Gettysburg battlefield, and was detailed for duty at General Meade's headquarters, where it remained during the campaign.
Resuming the march on the 5th, the regiment acting as guard to the reserve artillery, consisting of eighteen pieces, proceeded through Taneytown to Creagerstown, a few miles east of Emmittsburg. After considerable countermarching and delay, it crossed the South Mountain on the 9th, by the old Sharpsburg road, and moved on to Boonsboro' remaining two days, and was there relieved from duty with the artillery, and re-joined the brigade. On the morning of the 14th, the regiment, with the division, crossed the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, and took position at Shepherdstown, where the enemy appeared in great strength. On the afternoon of the 16th he attacked with considerable show of force on the right, and soon after opened on the left with great vigor, and in large numbers. But the line, in position admirably chosen by General Gregg, and protected by a heavy stone fence, easily repelled a succession of vigorous and heavy charges. Failing here, he again renewed his attacks on to right. The regiment, which had thus far been held in reserve, was ordered to its support, and crossing an open space of nearly a mile, in the face of the enemy's batteries, and moving along the Charlestown pike, which was also swept by his guns, it gained the position assigned, Companies I and K were dismountedand sent to the right, and companies C, H and D to the left, to re-inforce the skirmish line, the rest remaining mounted with sabres drawn, ready to charge should the enemy break the advance. For two hours the battle raged with unabated fury, the enemy redoubling his efforts as night approached, repeatedly charging, at different points, with both infantry and cavalry, aided by storms of grape and canister; but the rapid and deadly volleys of the carbineers as often drove him back with great slaughter. Night put an end to the contest, and at midnight the command was withdrawn to Bolivar Heights.
On the 19th, the march was resumed, and moving along the eastern base of the Blue Ridge, the command had an occasional skirmish with the enemy at the gaps, arriving at Warrenton on the 27th. The regiment was now engaged in scouting, and in picket and guard duty on either side of the Rappahannock, occasionally encountering the enemy. On the 15th of August, company H, which had been detached for special duty at the headquarters of the Sixth Army Corps, since the 22d of February, re-joined the regiment, having in the meantime participated in the battle of Marye's Heights, May 3d, and in the battle of Gettysburg. On the night of the 6th of September, an outpost oil Carter's Creek, held by a detachment of the regiment, was surprised, and Lieutenant George W. Lyon, and Corporal Barre, were killed, and four men captured. On the 13th the enemy was met at Muddy Run, where a severe skirmish ensued, which lasted till the command reached Culpepper. Here the brigade was ordered to the front, and the regiment being in advance was at once deployed as skirmishers. Company H, not being armed with carbines, remained in rear of the centre. The line being quickly formed moved forward on horseback, but soon received a scathing fire from the enemy securely posted in woods and thickets. Dismounting and re-forming, under a galling fire, the order to charge was given, and the line rushing forward as one man, drove the enemy from his cover; but retreating, he caught at every sheltered position, and made obstinate resistance. Thus for four miles, continuing through a space of three hours, the regiment fought, and only left the field when relieved, its ammunition being exhausted. Following this action, the regiment was engaged in skirmishing daily until the enemy was driven beyond the Rapidan on the 17th.
The withdrawal of Meade towards Centreville brought the enemy again north of the Rappahannock, and the cavalry pickets were attacked on the morning of the 14th of October, at Auburn. Heavy fighting commenced immediately. The First Cavalry was in the extreme rear, and the enemy soon commenced closing in on its flanks. It was only by the most heroic bravery, and cool, determined action, that it escaped utter annihilation. Skirmishing as the army withdrew and again as it advanced on the Mine Run campaign, the cavalry was brought face to face with the enemy, at New Hope Church. His force consisted of infantry, cavalry and artillery, and was the advance of Hill's and Ewell's Corps. The First Cavalry was ordered to the front and deployed for a charge on horseback, but finding the country covered with a dense wood, immediately dismounted, and upon the order to advance dashed forward, broke the enemy's lines, and sweeping around on his flank captured twenty-eight of his infantry with muskets and bayonets in hand. It then established a line and held it against every effort of the enemy break it, for two hours, and until relieved by infantry of the Fifth Corps. The campaign of 1863 was soon ended by the failure of operations at Mine Run, and the army withdrew across the Rappahannock; but there was little rest for the cavalry. Raids into the enemy's lines, involving long and fatiguing marches, guarding of extensive and exposed lines, with prowling bands of guerrillas, bold, daring, determined, and watchful for an advantage, kept the men constantly on duty and ever vigilant. "Of scarcely four hundred men," says Lloyd, "present for duty with the regiment, it has furnished a daily aggregate, of ninety-five men for picket duty, with nearly an equal number for scouts, guards, and other details."
The regiment broke camp for the spring campaign of 1864, on the 21st of April. On the 28th, Major Falls, with seventy-five men, made a scout to Falmouth, and on the 2d of May, Captain Davidson, with one hundred men, made another to the same place; but neither found any force of the enemy north of the river. On the 3d, the regiment crossed the Rappahannock, at Kelly's Ford, and on the 4th, the Rapidan, at Ely's Ford. On the 5th, it moved to Spottsylvania Court House, and in the afternoon was ordered to move rapidly to Todd's tavern. Here the Third Division, under General Wilson, was met retreating before a heavy body of the enemy. The First Brigade was immediately thrown forward to cover the rear of the retreating forces, and was at once sharply engaged. The enemy was checked and soon driven, and though obstinately contesting the ground, he was compelled to fall back across the river Po. At dark the regiment was placed on the skirmish line, and was occasionally engaged during the following day. On the 6th, the division retired, and on the 7th, again advanced to its position, at Todd's tavern. Shortly after arriving, the regiment was ordered out to meet the enemy advancing on the extreme left of the line. Dismounting two battalions, and joining the Sixth Ohio, a charge was made along the whole line, and the enemy, although stubbornly resisting the movement, for a time, was compelled to give way, leaving his dead and wounded and a number of prisoners in the hands of the victors. Four rebel colonels found dead, were buried on the field.
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