George H . Steuart ( brigadier general ) George Hume Steuart ( August 24 , 1828 – November 22 , 1903 ) was a planter in Maryland and an American military officer ; he served thirteen years in the United States Army before resigning his commission at the start of the American Civil War . He joined the Confederacy and rose to the rank of brigadier general in the Army of Northern Virginia . Nicknamed " Maryland " to avoid verbal confusion with Virginia cavalryman J . E . B . Stuart , Steuart unsuccessfully promoted the secession of Maryland before and during the conflict . He began the war as a captain of the 1st Maryland Infantry , CSA , and was promoted to colonel after the First Battle of Manassas . In 1862 he became brigadier general . After a brief cavalry command he was reassigned to infantry . Wounded at Cross Keys , Steuart was out of the war for almost a year while recovering from a shoulder injury . He was reassigned to Lee ' s army shortly before the Battle of Gettysburg . Steuart was captured at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House , and exchanged in the summer of 1864 . He held a command in the Army of Northern Virginia for the remainder of the war . Steuart was among the officers with Robert E . Lee when he surrendered to Ulysses S . Grant at Appomattox Court House . Steuart spent the rest of a long life operating a plantation in Anne Arundel County , Maryland . In the late nineteenth century , he joined the United Confederate Veterans and became commander of the Maryland division . Early life and family . George Hume Steuart was born on August 24 , 1828 into a family of Scots ancestry in Baltimore . The eldest of nine children , he was raised at his family ' s estate in West Baltimore , known as Maryland Square , located near the present - day intersection of Baltimore and Monroe Streets . The Steuart family were wealthy plantation owners and strong supporters of slavery , which they depended on for labor . The Steuarts shared a long tradition of military service . He was the son of Major General George H . Steuart , of Anne Arundel County , Maryland , who served in the War of 1812 , and with whom he is often confused . Baltimore residents referred to the father and son as " The Old General " and " The Young General . " The elder Steuart inherited approximately of land in around 1842 , including a farm at Mount Steuart , and around 150 slaves , a high number in the Upper South . Steuart was the grandson of Dr . James Steuart , a physician who served in the American Revolutionary War , and the great - grandson of Dr . George H . Steuart , a physician who emigrated to Maryland from Perthshire , Scotland , in 1721 , and was lieutenant colonel of the Horse Militia under Governor Horatio Sharpe . Early military career . Steuart attended the United States Military Academy between July 1 , 1844 and July 1 , 1848 , graduating 37th in the class of 1848 , aged nineteen . Steuart was assigned as 2nd lieutenant to the 2nd Dragoons , a regiment of cavalry that served in the frontier fighting Indians . He served in the Jefferson Barracks , Missouri , in 1848 , carried out frontier duty at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , in 1849 , and participated in an expedition to the Rocky Mountains in 1849 . He actively participated in the US Army ' s Cheyenne expedition of 1856 , the Utah War against the Mormons in 1857 – 1858 , and the Comanche expedition of 1860 . He married Maria H . Kinzie on January 14 , 1858 . The couple had met in Kansas and , once married , lived at Fort Leavenworth , although they were separated for long periods while Steuart was on campaign duty and stationed at distant frontier posts . They had two daughters , Marie ( born 1860 ) and Ann ( born 1864 ) . Civil War . Even though Maryland did not secede from the Union , Steuart ' s loyalty lay with the South , as did that of his father . He commanded one of the Baltimore city militias during the riot of April 1861 , following which Federal troops occupied Baltimore , an incident which was arguably the first armed confrontation of the Civil War . Steuart resigned his captain ' s commission on April 16 , 1861 and soon entered the service of the Confederate army as a cavalry captain . He and his father were determined to do their utmost to prevent Union soldiers from occupying Maryland . On April 22 Steuart wrote to Charles Howard , President of the Board of Baltimore Police : However , events did not move in their favor and , in a letter to his father , Steuart wrote : Steuart ' s efforts to persuade Maryland to secede from the Union were in vain . On April 29 , the Maryland Legislature voted 53 – 13 against secession . and the state was swiftly occupied by Union soldiers to prevent any reconsideration . Steuart ' s decision to resign his commission and join the rebels would soon cost his family dear . The Steuart mansion at Maryland Square was confiscated by the Union Army and Jarvis Hospital was erected on the estate , to care for Federal wounded . However , Steuart was welcomed by the Confederacy as " one of Maryland ' s most gifted sons " , and it was hoped by Southerners that other Marylanders would follow his example . First Bull Run . Steuart soon became lieutenant colonel of the newly formed 1st Maryland Infantry , serving under Colonel Arnold Elzey , and fought with distinction at the First Battle of Bull Run , taking part in the charge that routed the Union army . Very soon after he was promoted to colonel , and assumed command of the regiment , succeeding Elzey , who was promoted to brigadier general . He soon began to acquire a reputation as a strict disciplinarian and gained the admiration of his men , though he was initially unpopular as a result . Steuart was said to have ordered his men to sweep the bare dirt inside their bivouacs and , rather more eccentrically , was prone to sneaking through the lines past unwitting sentries , in order to test their vigilance . On one occasion this plan backfired , as Steuart was pummeled and beaten by a sentry who later claimed not to have recognized the general . Eventually however , Steuart ' s " rigid system of discipline quietly and quickly conduced to the health and morale of this splendid command . " According to Major W W Goldsborough , who served in Steuart ' s Maryland Infantry at Gettysburg : " . . . it was not only his love for a clean camp , but a desire to promote the health and comfort of his men that made him unyielding in the enforcement of sanitary rules . You might influence him in some things , but never in this " . George Wilson Booth , a young officer in Steuart ' s command at Harper ' s Ferry in 1861 , recalled in his memoirs : " The Regiment , under his master hand , soon gave evidence of the soldierly qualities which made it the pride of the army and placed the fame of Maryland in the very foreground of the Southern States " . Other historians have been less kind , seeing Steuart as a " tough and nasty martinet " and as a " cruel disciplinarian " , suggesting that such " old army " discipline was not the best way to mould and lead what was essentially a citizen army . Shenandoah Campaign and the First Battle of Winchester . Steuart was promoted to brigadier general on March 6 , 1862 , commanding a brigade in Major General Richard S . Ewell ' s division during Stonewall Jackson ' s Shenandoah Valley campaign . On May 24 Jackson gave Steuart command of two cavalry regiments , the 2nd and 6th Virginia Cavalry regiments . At the First Battle of Winchester , on May 25 , 1862 , Jackson ' s army was victorious , and the defeated Federal infantry retreated in confusion . The conditions were now perfect for the cavalry to complete the victory , but no cavalry units could be found to press home the advantage . Jackson complained : " never was there such a chance for cavalry ! Oh that my cavalry were in place ! " The exhausted infantry were forced forward again , while Lieutenant Sandie Pendleton of Jackson ' s staff was sent to find Steuart . Pendleton eventually found Steuart and gave him the order to pursue Banks ' retreating army but the general delayed , wasting valuable time on a point of military etiquette . He declined to obey the order until it came through General Ewell , his immediate divisional commander . The proper channels had not been followed . A frustrated Pendleton then rode two miles to find Ewell , who duly gave the order , but " seemed surprised that General Steuart had not gone on immediately " . Steuart eventually gave chase and overtook the advance of the Confederate infantry , picking up many prisoners , but , as a result of the delay , the Confederate cavalry did not overtake the Federal army until it was , in the words of Jackson ' s report , " beyond the reach of successful pursuit " . Jackson continued : " There is good reason for believing that had the cavalry played its part in this pursuit , but a small portion of Banks ' army would have made its escape to the Potomac " . It remains unclear precisely why Steuart was reluctant to pursue Banks ' defeated army more vigorously , and contemporary records shed little light on the matter . It may be that his thirteen years ' training as a cavalry officer led him to obey orders to the letter , with little or no room for personal initiative or variation from strict due process . No charges were brought against him however , despite Jackson ' s reputation as a stern disciplinarian . It is possible that Jackson ' s leniency had to do with the strong desire of the Confederacy to recruit Marylanders to the Southern cause , and the need to avoid offending Marylanders who might be tempted to join Lee ' s army . Soon after Winchester , on June 2 , Steuart was involved in an unfortunate incident in which the 2nd Virginia Cavalry was mistakenly fired on by the 27th Virginia Infantry . Colonels Thomas Flournoy and Thomas T . Munford went to General Ewell and requested that their regiments , the 6th and 2nd Virginia Cavalry , be transferred to the command of Turner Ashby , recently promoted to Brigadier General . Ewell agreed , and went to Jackson for final approval . Jackson gave his consent , and for the remainder of the war Steuart would serve as an infantry commander . Battle of Cross Keys . At the Battle of Cross Keys ( June 8 , 1862 ) , Steuart commanded the 1st Maryland Infantry , which was attacked by , and successfully fought off , a much larger Federal force . However , Steuart was severely injured in the shoulder by grape shot , and had to be carried from the battlefield . A ball from a canister shot had struck him in the shoulder and broken his collarbone , causing a " ghastly wound " . The injury did not heal well , and did not begin to improve at all until the ball was removed under surgery in August . It would prevent him from returning to the field for almost an entire year , until May 1863 . Gettysburg Campaign and the advance into Maryland . Upon his recuperation and return to the army , Steuart was assigned by Gen . Robert E . Lee to command the Third Brigade , a force of around 2 , 200 men , in Major General Edward " Allegheny " Johnson ' s division , in the Army of Northern Virginia . The brigade ' s former commander , Brigadier General Raleigh Colston , had been relieved of his command by Lee , who was disappointed by his performance at the Battle of Chancellorsville . The brigade consisted of the following regiments : the 2nd Maryland ( successor to the disbanded 1st Maryland ) , the 1st and 3rd North Carolina , and the 10th , 23rd , and 37th Virginia . Rivalries between the various state regiments had been a recurring problem in the brigade and Lee hoped that Steuart , as an " old army " hand , would be able to knit them together effectively . In addition , by this stage in the war Lee was desperately short of experienced senior commanders . However , Steuart had only been in command for a month when the Gettysburg Campaign got under way . In June 1863 Lee ' s army advanced north into Maryland , taking the war into Union territory for the second time . Steuart is said to have jumped down from his horse , kissed his native soil and stood on his head in jubilation . According to one of his aides : " We loved Maryland , we felt that she was in bondage against her will , and we burned with desire to have a part in liberating her " . Quartermaster John Howard recalled that Steuart performed " seventeen double somersaults " all the while whistling " Maryland , My Maryland " . Such celebrations would prove short lived , as Steuart ' s brigade was soon to be severely damaged at the Battle of Gettysburg ( July 1 – 3 , 1863 ) . At first however , Lee ' s advance north went well . At the Second Battle of Winchester ( June 13 – 15 , 1863 ) Steuart fought with Johnson ' s division , helping to bring about a Confederate victory , during which his brigade took around 1 , 000 prisoners and suffered comparatively small losses of 9 killed , 34 wounded . Battle of Gettysburg . The Battle of Gettysburg ( July 1 – 3 , 1863 ) was to prove a turning point in the war , and the end of Lee ' s advance . Steuart ' s men arrived at Gettysburg " exhausted and footsore . . . a little before dusk " on the evening of July 1 , following a march from Sharpsburg , " many of them barefooted " . Steuart ' s men attacked the Union line on the night of July 2 , gaining ground between the lower Culp ' s Hill and the stone wall near Spangler ' s Spring . But fresh Federal reinforcements blocked his further advance , and no further ground was gained . During the night a large number quantity of Union artillery was wheeled into place , the sound of which caused the optimistic Steuart to hope that the enemy was retreating in its wagons . The morning of July 3 revealed the full scale of the Union defenses , as enemy artillery opened fire at a distance of 500 yards with a " terrific and galling fire " , followed by a ferocious assault on Steuart ' s position . The result was a " terrible slaughter " of the Third Brigade , which fought for many hours without relief , exhausting their ammunition , but successfully holding their position . Then , late on the morning of July 3 , Johnson ordered a bayonet charge against the well - fortified enemy lines , " confident of their ability to sweep him away and take the whole Union line in reverse " . Steuart was appalled , and was strongly critical of the attack , but direct orders could not be disobeyed , and Steuart gave the order to " Left face " and " file right " , sending his men into heavy enfilading fire . Steuart ' s Third Brigade advanced against the Union breastworks and attempted several times to wrest control of Culp ' s Hill , a vital part of the Union Army defensive line . The result was a " slaughterpen " , as the Second Maryland and the Third North Carolina regiments courageously charged a well - defended position strongly held by three brigades , a few reaching within twenty paces of the enemy lines . So severe were the casualties among his men that Steuart is said to have broken down and wept , wringing his hands and crying " my poor boys " . Overall , the failed attack on Culp ' s Hill cost Johnson ' s division almost 2 , 000 men , of which 700 were accounted for by Steuart ' s brigade alone — far more than any other brigade in the division . At Hagerstown , on the 8th July , out of a pre - battle strength of 2 , 200 , just 1 , 200 men reported for duty . The casualty rate among the Second Maryland and Third North Carolina was between one half and two - thirds , in the space of just ten hours . Even though Steuart had fought bravely under extremely difficult conditions , neither he nor any other officer was cited by Johnson in his report . Gettysburg marked the high - water mark of the Confederacy ; thereafter Lee ' s army would retreat until its final surrender to General Grant at Appomattox Court House . Battle of Payne ' s Farm . During the winter of 1863 Steuart ' s Marylanders again saw action , at the Battle of Mine Run , also known as the battle of Payne ' s Farm . On November 27 Steuart ' s brigade was among the first to be attacked by Union soldiers , and Johnson himself rode to Steuart ' s aid , bringing reinforcements . Steuart , bringing up the Confederate rear , halted his brigade and swiftly formed a line of battle in the road , to repel the Union attack . Confused fighting followed during which the Confederates fell back taking heavy losses , but prevented a Union breakthrough . Steuart himself was wounded for the second time , sustaining an injury to his arm . According to a historical marker which commemorates the engagement , Steuart ' s " boldness against a vastly superior force . . . helped to stall the advance of the entire Union army " . Battle of the Wilderness . In the summer of 1864 , Steuart saw severe action during the Battle of the Wilderness ( May 5 – 7 , 1864 ) . Steuart led his North Carolina infantry against two New York regiments , causing Union losses of almost 600 men . During the battle his brother , Lieutenant William James Steuart , was severely wounded in the hip , and was sent to Guinea station , a hospital for officers in Richmond , Virginia . There , on 21 May 1864 , he died of his injuries . A friend of the family at the University of Virginia wrote to their bereaved father : Disaster at Spotsylvania . Soon afterward , at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ( May 8 – 21 , 1864 ) , Steuart was himself captured , along with much of his brigade , during the brutal fighting for the " Mule Shoe " salient . The Mule Shoe salient formed a bulge in the Confederate lines , a strategic portion of vital high ground but one which was vulnerable to attack on three sides . During the night of May 11 , Confederate commanders withdrew most of the artillery pieces from the salient , convinced that Grant ' s next attack would fall elsewhere . Steuart , to his credit , was alert to enemy preparations and sent a message to Johnson advising him of an imminent enemy attack and requesting the return of the artillery . Unfortunately , shortly before dawn on May 12 , Union forces comprising three full divisions ( Major General Winfield S . Hancock ' s II Corps ) attacked the Mule Shoe through heavy fog , taking the Confederate forces by surprise . Exhaustion , inadequate food , lack of artillery support , and wet powder from the night ' s rain contributed to the collapse of the Confederate position as the Union forces swarmed out of the mist , overwhelming Steuart ' s men and effectively putting an end to the Virginia Brigade . Confederate muskets would not fire due to damp powder , and apart from two remaining artillery pieces , the Southerners were effectively without firearms . During the thick of the fierce hand - to - hand fighting that followed , Steuart was forced to surrender to Colonel James Beaver of the 148th Pennsylvania . Beaver asked Steuart " Where is your sword , sir ? " , to which the general replied , with considerable sarcasm , " Well , suh , you all waked us up so early this mawnin ' that I didn ' t have time to get it on . " Steuart was brought to General Hancock , who had seen Steuart ' s wife Maria in Washington before the battle and wished to give her news of her husband . He extended his hand , asking " how are you , Steuart ? " But Steuart refused to shake Hancock ' s hand ; although the two men had been friends before the war , they were now enemies . Steuart said : " Considering the circumstance , General , I refuse to take your hand " , to which Hancock is said to have replied , " And under any other circumstance , General , I would have refused to offer it . " After this episode , an offended Hancock then left Steuart to march to the Union rear with the other prisoners . After the battle , Steuart was sent as a prisoner of war to Charleston , South Carolina , and was later imprisoned at Hilton Head , where he and other officers were placed under the fire of Confederate artillery . The fighting at Spotsylvania was to prove the end of his brigade . Johnson ' s division , 6 , 800 strong at the start of the battle , was now so severely reduced in size that barely one brigade could be formed . On May 14 the brigades of Walker , Jones , and Steuart were consolidated into one small brigade under the command of Colonel Terry of the 4th Virginia Infantry . Petersburg , Appomattox and the end of the war . Steuart was exchanged later in the summer of 1864 , returning to command a brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia , in the division of Major General George Pickett . Steuart ' s brigade consisted of the 9th , 14th , 38th , 53rd and 57th Virginia regiments , and served in the trenches north of the James River during the Siege of Petersburg ( June 9 , 1864 – March 25 , 1865 ) . By this stage of the war , Confederate supplies had dwindled to the point where Lee ' s army began to go hungry , and the theft of food became a serious problem . Steuart was forced to send armed guards to the supply depot at Petersburg in order to ensure that his men ' s packages were not stolen by looters . He continued to lead his brigade in Pickett ' s division during the Appomattox Campaign ( March 29 – April 9 , 1865 ) , at the Battle of Five Forks ( April 1 , 1865 ) , and at Sayler ' s Creek ( April 6 , 1865 ) , the last two battles marking the effective end of Confederate resistance . During Five Forks General Pickett had been distracted by a shad bake , and Steuart was left in command of the infantry , as it bore the brunt of a huge Union assault , with General Sheridan leading around 30 , 000 men against Pickett ' s 10 , 000 . The consequences were even more disastrous than at Spotsylvania the previous year , with at least 5 , 000 men falling prisoner to Sheridan ' s forces . The end of Confederate resistance was now just days away . At Sayler ' s Creek Lee ' s starving and exhausted army finally fell apart . Upon seeing the survivors streaming along the road , Lee exclaimed in front of Maj . Gen . William Mahone , " My God , has the army dissolved ? " to which he replied , " No , General , here are troops ready to do their duty . " Steuart continued fighting until the end , finally surrendering with Lee to General Ulysses S . Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9 , 1865 , one of 22 brigadiers out of Lee ' s original 146 . According to one Maryland veteran , " no - one in the war gave more completely and conscientiously every faculty , every energy that was in him to the Southern cause " . After the war . After the war ' s end , Steuart returned to Maryland , and swore an oath of loyalty to the Union . He farmed at Mount Steuart , a farmhouse on a hillside near the South River , south of Edgewater . and served as commander of the Maryland division of the United Confederate Veterans . He died on 22 November 1903 at the age of 75 at South River , Maryland , of an ulcer . He is buried in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore with his wife Maria , who died three years later , in 1906 . He was survived by his two daughters , Marie and Ann . Perhaps not surprisingly , as Maryland had remained in the Union throughout the war , there is no monument to Steuart in his home state . However , the Steuart Hill area of Baltimore recalls his family ' s long association with the city .