First Person Report
of fighting in Rockville, July 13, 1864
(The Battle of Rockville)

From a description of Brig. Gen. Bradley T. Johnson, commander of Confederate forces in action in Rockville, July 13, 1864, "In a recent narrative of the Maryland campaign of '64."

"We reached Rockville during the day, where Jackson was pushed by the 2^nd Mass. Cavalry, who hung on his rear and rendered things very uncomfortable generally. Finding matters getting disagreeable, I put in a squadron of the 1^st Maryland, under Capt. Wilson G. Nichols and Lt. Thomas Green, and charged into the town, scattering our pursuers, who got out of the way with expedition. Their dismounted men, however, stuck to the houses and fences and poured in a galling fire. The dust was so thick that the men in their charge could not see the houses in front of them. The horses of Nichols and Green were killed, and their riders wounded and taken prisoners. As soon as this loss was discovered, I put in another charge and recaptured Green, but was unable to retake Nichols, whom they had mounted on a spare horse and run off the field. During the rest of [July] 13^th our pursuers treated us with more respect."

J. Thomas Scarf, History of Western Maryland vol. I, Philadelphia, 1882. p. 293.