Four Years In The Saddle

The brutal occupation of Baltimore in 1861 by the Federal troops under Benjamin 'Beast' Butler would be the final straw for many Confederate-leaning Marylanders. One such was Harry Gilmor, who, after being imprisoned for his political beliefs and his service in the Baltimore County Horse Guards, was determined to join the Southern forces. As soon as he was released from prison, he travelled as fast as possible to join the troops under Colonel Turner Ashby; by March 1862, he was commissioned as a captain of the Twelfth Virginia Cavalry. He set to his task with a passion, earning much glory fighting under Jackson in the Valley campaign, and even being entrusted with special missions by the great general himself. His military star was on the rise and he began to gain a sterling reputation as a cavalry commander, often employed in scouting, raids, and ambushes. He was in action at the Battle of Brandy Station, in the Shenandoah Valley, and led the famous 'Raid Round Baltimore' in 1864. Despite all his cunning and daring, the tide of war turned against him and his Confederate comrades, and he was captured in February 1865 in Hardy County. As a successful Confederate raider, the Federal press had heaped calumnies upon him and his men, so after the war he wrote these memoirs to set the record straight. A dashing read of a famous Confederate cavalry officer.