Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-01-18
COLES CAVALRY
BY JAMES A. SCOTT.

BY JAMES A. SCOTT.
Before proceeding with my desultory
sketches of incidents of the war com
ing under my notice. / will give /
short narrative of the organization am
service of Coles Cavalry. Coles Bat
TALON of Maryland Cavalry was formed
IN 1861. 1t was almost wholly com
posed of young men. strong and Wig
lorous physically, many of them hav
| ing had their muscles hardened b.
| toll on farms and in workshops.
large number were of much more thar
average intelligence and mental abil
kity, and few were graduates o
schools of learning With few excep
tions they were self,respecting young
men, of good moral character, patriot
&c, and eager to be of service to tbs
cause of their country. Nearly al
had enlisted from sense of duty and
with full consciousness of the sacri
nee they were making In word
they We're of the material from which
ideal soldiers are made. They were
intended principally for service as
scouts, and as large number of them
lin fact, nearly ail-were raised along
the dividing line between North and
South, Mason and Dixon, their init
mate knowledge of the topography Of
the coming theater of war rendered
them invaluable for that service and
as guides for large and compact bodies
of the army Much service they rem
dered in this respect. Nearly all OF
them had also from their earliest days
been accustomed to the use Of horses
and were we'll used to the saddle when
they enlisted, and excellent horsemen.
AT first the companies "A. B. c. and
D-acted somewhat independently of
one another, picketing and patrolling
here and there along the Potomac, but
they were early thrown together into
battalion, and the senior captain.
HenryA. Cole. of Company A. became
the major, and from him the organiza
ton took name, and thus served out
their three years term. Company A
was enlisted from Frederick, Md, and
vicinity, B and D from Washington
and Allegheny counties, Maryland,
and Company c from Adams county,
Pa, and Frederick and Carroll coun-
ties, Maryland. Much of their service
also consisted in making reconnais-
sances, either in body or in detached
portions, and in doing so they we're
thrown into scores of struggles and
skirmishes of more or less magnitude
with rowing bodies of enemy, such
as Mosby's, Imbodens s, Gillmore's
Whites and Ashby's commands, in
which they generally came off best, or
retreated at their leisure. There were
only two or three occasions in their
history in which they met with disas-
ter, and even then the enemy suffered
corfespondingly. They entered SER
vice 400 strong, men and officers. At
the close of their three years term
there were not many of the original
number that had not suffered in some
way or other from the calamities Of
war. Many were killed, wounded.
and captured. Some languished and
died at Andersonville and other prison
pens of the South.
For a large portion of the three
years their principal base was Bolivar
Heights. They never were in camp,
however. long at time. The citizens
of the village of Bolivar used to re-
mark that they always retired at night
with less apprehension when they
knew Coles Csvalary were in their
camp on the Heights than with many
much larger force of other soldiers.
Owing to the efficiency of his men
during their term of service Major
Cole was given permission by the
War Department in 1864 to recruit the
battalion to regiment, provided be
could procure the reenlistment OF
three-fourths of the men of the old
battalion. The requisite number re-
enlisting, the command was made up
to a regiment by the addition of two
new battalions. In the bloody sum-
mer of 1864 however, almost all the
"Old Battalion were along with
Hunter on his great raid to Lynch
burg, where. with others, they suffer
ed terrible deprivations in that some
what disastrous movement A por-
ton of the command did valuable ser
vice along the Potomac and in the
Shenandoah Valley, and at the Battle
OF Monocacy, consequent upon the in
vasion of Early, they rendered very
efficient aid in saving the city of
Washington from capture.
In thelate autumn and winter Of
1864 and spring of 1865 the principal
duty OF Cole S Cavalry was the guarding
OF that important artery of the gov
ernment-the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad in which service they un-
derwent much hardship and exposure.
They built block houses along the
line for many miles at exposed points
and thus prevented the destruction of
many bridge and culvert.
cannot undertake to give descrip-
tons of the many encounters they
had with the enemy. as l have no
written data atall. All these detached
sketches are wholly from memory,
and only of what came under my own
=