1st Maryland Cavalry, U.S.A.

1st Potomac Home Brigade Cavalry
Flag of Maryland
Active	August 1861 to June 1865
Country	United States of America
Allegiance	Union
Branch	Cavalry
Type	Partisan
Size	12 companies
Engagements	American Civil War
Commanders
1st	Henry A. Cole

This unit is not to be confused with the 1st Regiment Maryland Volunteer Cavalry.

Originally organized as the 1st Potomac Home Brigade Cavalry, "Cole's Cavalry" was formed under the guidance of Henry A. Cole (from Frederick, Maryland). There are also references to it being designated as Cole's 1st Volunteer Maryland Cavalry. The unit, a battalion, originally consisted of four companies, A, B, C & D and was initially enlisted between August 10 and November 27, 1861.

Company A was made-up of men mostly from Frederick, Maryland and the surrounding area and was initially commanded by Cole; B was recruited from the western part of Maryland (Hagerstown, Clear Spring, Cumberland, etc.) and was commanded by Capt. William Firey; C was recruited primarily from Emmitsburg, Maryland and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and was commanded by Capt. John Horner; and D was made-up of men mostly from Baltimore City and Howard County, Maryland, and was commanded by Capt. Pearce K. Curll.

Company B served, through March 1863, independent of the battalion, mostly in West Virginia, western Maryland, and the northern part of the Shenandoah Valley. The company was present in action as South Branch Bridge, West Virginia (October 26, 1861) and at the Battle of Kernstown March 22, 1862), and spent much of 1862 in the area of Romney, West Virginia on duty as a scouting force. They were in action again at Grass Lick, West Virginia on April 23, 1862, and at Wardensville, West Virginia on May 7, 1862. The company regularly served along with Colonel Andrew Thomas McReynolds’ Cavalry [the 1st New York "Lincoln" Cavalry]. It joined General Jacob Dolson Cox’s Brigade in pursuit of J.E.B. Stuart, during his October 1862 raid into Pennsylvania. For the balance of the year, through early 1863, the company operated along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and around Martinsburg, West Virginia.