15th of May, 1861, (Thursday), eighteen of the thirty-one assembled at Richmond and organized Company A, the nucleus of the First Maryland cavalry; and the following officers were elected: Captain, Ridgeley Brown; First Lieutenant, Frank A. Bond; Second Lieutenant, Thomas Griffith; Third Lieutenant, James A. Ventris Pue. The subsequent history of this company is already recorded by Major Goldsborough.
During its connection with the First Virginia Cavalry it won for itself a reputation for bravery and faithfulness in the performance of duty second to none. Owing to its material and excellent equipment, it was frequently called upon to do extra duty; was in all the encounters with the enemy in which the First Virginia Cavalry was engaged, from the first battle of Manassas to the mustering out of the company on the Peninsula.
It is a just tribute to the beloved Colonel Ridgeley Brown, who was killed while gallantly leading this command in a victorious charge, June 1, 1864, near the South Anna, to notice that, from the day he first entered the company as a private, he won and retained the confidence and love of his comrades. His faithful devotion to his duties as a soldier won for him, step by step, the positions he held—as corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, major, and lieutenant-colonel. And the same tribute is justly due to his brave fellow-in-arms, Colonel Frank A. Bond, who also entered the ranks as a private, and filled each grade of rank within the gift of his command.
Brownsville, Pa., July 4, 1877.
