Background

Prelude to Invasion, Warlike Along the Rapidan, Silent Machines, Petersburg, We Soon Got Proud, Picket Post, and now *****. The Liberty Rifles will be hosting this full regimental scale, hyper authentic immersive event near Sharpsburg, Maryland. We’ll be portraying the 2nd Maryland Infantry (U.S.) in the wake of the battle of Antietam; as General McClellan kept the Army of the Potomac near the battlefield for over a month afterward. As always, we will be recreating the regiment to scale, obsessing over the details, taking no shortcuts, and making no excuses. Field officers will be mounted, field music will regulate all activities, wagons will come and go, and men will refit and prepare for the next campaign. The details and immersive setting will be the focus of the event, in an effort to recreate the scene as it was in October 1862!

This event is BY INVITATION ONLY and will adhere to strict authenticity standards to include kit, age, and weight. If you went to any of the Liberty Rifles’ immersive regimental events you already know what to expect. If you missed those events, this is your chance to get in on a real authentic Civil War experience!

When: October 9-11, 2026
Where: Pleasant Valley, near the Antietam Battlefield
Rations: Food matching exactly what was provided to the 2nd Maryland will be issued. All participants must arrive with an empty haversack.
Registration: Registration will be $45 for guests and Liberty Rifles members. After filling out the form, send a PayPal payment “to a friend” (to avoid fees) to LibertyRiflesEvents@gmail.com. Registration will only be complete after submission of this fee and completion of the Registration Form.

Unit History

The 2nd Maryland Infantry was formed in October 1861 and composed of men from Baltimore and the surrounding area. Hailing from and near one of the national’s most populous urban centers, and the largest “Southern” city, the men who joined the 2nd Maryland were of diverse backgrounds. The unit guarded various points around the city until sent to North Carolina to join General Burnside’s forces near New Bern in early 1862. In July the regiment was joined Burnside as he reinforced General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac in Virginia. Arriving shortly after the battle of Cedar Mountain, the 2nd Maryland was given the perilous assignment to cross to the Confederate side of the Rapidan, summit Clark Mountain and destroy the signal station there, and ascertain the position of the Rebel army. The regiment did so, taking two casualties, and discovering the Army of Northern Virginia arrayed before them on the opposite side of the mountain, beat a hasty retreat back across the Rapidan. The 2nd Maryland was bloodied heavily for the first time at Second Bull Run where the flank of their brigade was turned during the assault on the railroad cut and the regiment lost nearly 200 men in a matter of minutes. The regiment retreated to Washington and, leaving much of its baggage behind, soon joined the Army of the Potomac’s march toward Frederick and South Mountain to counter the Confederate advance into Maryland. At Antietam the 2nd Maryland made several attempts to storm the stone bridge over Antietam Creek (Burnside’s Bridge) but were checked each time. The regiment was engaged along the bank of the creek for hours and supported the New York and Pennsylvania regiments who eventually made it across. The regiment would lose over 40% of its number and leave the field with barely 150 men.

The 2nd Maryland would spend the next several weeks camped near the battlefield along with the rest of the Army of the Potomac. Clothed for summer, in great need of resupply, and with its baggage all in storage, the Army of the Potomac’s Quartermasters and Ordnance Officers were overwhelmed with the task of refitting a bloodied army under intense pressure to cross into Virginia to pursue the enemy. The 2nd Maryland made camp in Pleasant Valley near the Little Antietam Creek where stragglers and returning convalescents would refill their ranks. The regiment would begin to draw new clothing and start to see some of their baggage arrive. Most notably, Lieutenant Colonel Duryee, the New Yorker who had commanded the regiment at Second Bull Run and Antietam, resigned after a Marylander was given the Colonelship of the regiment over him. Under new leadership, the regiment prepared to step off on the coming campaign.

In October 1862 the 10 companies of the 2nd Maryland Infantry present in the field fell under the following command:

-Army of the Potomac – Major General George McClellan

-IX Army Corps – Major General Ambrose Burnside

-2nd Division – Brigadier General Samuel Sturgis

-1st Brigade – Brigadier General James Nagle (brigaded with the 6th and 9th New Hampshire and 48th Pennsylvania)

Impression Guidelines

GENERAL:  

The idea behind these impression guidelines is to recreate the known conditions of the 2nd Maryland Infantry based upon their 1862 returns and offer a best guess for the unknowns based upon letters and diaries from members of the unit and an understanding of how the U.S. Quartermaster and Ordnance Departments supplied troops in the field. Our goal is to create a regimental impression. All reproductions MUST BE HIGH QUALITY, utilizing correct patterns, appropriate materials, and proper construction.

Appearance and clothing should generally be a mix of new and worn—the 2nd Maryland had just participated in a hard campaign and while it had drawn a significant amount of new clothing, had not been fully resupplied.  Don't go overboard and show up in rags or caked in mud—you’ll be given a brush and made to clean up. All items worn, carried, or stowed in your gear MUST be original or a high quality reproductions. Mediocre, mainstream, or reenactor grade reproductions are entirely unacceptable.

CLOTHING:

All clothing must be made with proper construction techniques, correct patterns, and 100% natural fiber cloth to closely mimic original goods.

Headgear:  

• Forage cap, ideally the smaller-crowned “Type 1” with a curved visor associated with earlier production caps. NO TEAL CAPS.

• Commercial cap.
  
  *Modest hat brass, ideally a small company letter on the front or crown of the cap, is acceptable.

Blouse:

• Fatigue blouse, lined or unlined. No altered blouses, no extra buttonholes, no shortened blouses, no tucked in blouses, no reenactor grade homemade blouses with giant stitches in white thread, NO TEAL BLOUSES, NO EXCEPTIONS.

• Commercial blouses are acceptable in limited numbers.

NCO chevrons:

• All NCOs are encouraged to wear appropriate chevrons. If you are not wearing chevrons you must wear pants stripes.

Pants:

• Footman pants made of sky blue kersey, Schuylkill Arsenal or contract made.
  
  *Mainstream powder blue pants are not gonna fly for this one.

NCO pants stripes:

• NCOs are encouraged to wear appropriate pants stripes. All corporals should have a ½” stripe on their pants and all sergeants should have a 1 ½” stripe on their pants. If you are not wearing pants stripes you must wear chevrons.

Shirts:

• U.S. Army domet flannel or wool flannel shirts are HIGHLY ENCOURAGED. There is no excuse to not have a government issue shirt. You may carry a spare plain or printed cotton shirt, but “homespun” check shirts as a first option will be unacceptable.

Drawers:

• U.S. Army canton flannel drawers.

• Citizens drawers.

• None. Being seen with modern underwear is unacceptable.

Footwear:

• U.S. Army bootees.

• Citizens shoes or boots.
  
  *Participants should ideally wear machine knit wool U.S. Army issue socks, or plain socks in drab colors. Wearing outlandish socks and rolling your pants legs up to show them off is dumb and screams reenactor rather than Civil War soldier. Ragg wool socks are unacceptable.

BAGGAGE:  LIGHT MARCHING ORDER!

Knapsack:

• Double bag knapsack. If you have a high quality reproduction, bring it. If you do not have a high quality reproduction, do not bring a knapsack.

Overcoat:

• High quality sky blue kersey footman overcoats are acceptable. If your overcoat is not a high end reproduction, do not bring it. The Army of the Potomac was slow to retrieve its baggage from Washington and Frederick and the 2nd Maryland would not have had all of its baggage returned by the time being portrayed.

Blanket:

• Grey or brown U.S. Army sleeping blanket.

• You may carry a second grey or brown U.S. Army sleeping blanket if you so choose, especially if you do not have an overcoat.
  
  *Grandma quilts, surplus blankets, Woolrich blankets, and miscellaneous vintage coverlets of questionable date are unacceptable.

Ground cloth:

• Rubberized or painted ground cloth.

• None. If you do not have a high quality reproduction, do not bring one.

Shelter Half:

• “Type 2” Shelter Halves ARE REQUIRED. We try to avoid requiring specific pieces of equipment, but if you want to come to this event, you have to acquire this basic piece of soldier’s equipment. Heavy canvas sutler row shelter halves and cast pewter buttons are unacceptable.

Haversack:

• Painted haversack copied from any surviving original.

Canteen:

• U.S. Army canteens of the “early” Philadelphia or New York styles. “Smoothside” Philadelphia canteens should have a long straight stopper capped with a small tin washer and a string attachment, a leather or sewn cotton drill sling, and ideally be covered in grey satinette “canteen cloth. “Smoothside” New York canteens should have a stopper capped with a domed tin washer and a chain attachment, a sewn cotton drill sling, and ideally be covered in drab flannel or blue jeans. Tin spout Cincinnati canteens and late war New York canteens are unacceptable. Participants should endeavor to make their canteens appropriate for the scenario by replacing stoppers, straps, and covers as necessary.

Regimental Baggage:

• Mess equipment in company marked boxes, tools, medical supplies, and officers’ baggage will be carried in the regimental wagons.

EQUIPMENT:

All equipment shall be high quality reproductions in terms of construction and materials used.  

*Cheap sutler row accoutrements with big white nylon stitches are unacceptable.

Waist belt:

• Private’s belt with sewn keeper made of either waxed or bridle leather, ideally with the earlier “puppy paw” style plate.

• Private’s belt with keeper cut off.
  
  *Belts with brass keepers are unacceptable. If you cannot acquire an earlier belt, you’re gonna have to cut that brass keeper off.

NCO belt:

• The Ordnance Return for the regiment shows that no NCO belts were present in 1862. Sergeants will wear an ordinary Private’s Belt.

Cartridge box:

• 1861 pattern cartridge box with plate.
  
  *1864 pattern boxes with riveted latch tabs and/or an embossed U.S. on the flat are unacceptable.

Cartridge box belt:

• The regiment was fully supplied with cartridge box belts with breast plates. Waxed flesh or bridle leather cartridge box belts are required.

Cap box:

• Arsenal or contract made cap box.

Scabbard:

• 2-rivet scabbards ARE REQUIRED.
  
  *Later 7 and 8 rivet scabbards are unacceptable.

ARMS:

All reproduction arms MUST be defarbed. If yours is not, don’t wait to send it off until a month before the event. Do it now. Original arms must be cleaned and no have “patina.” If you think your original looks cool covered in rust, go put it back on the mantle and bring a reproduction. All weapons shall be in EXCELLENT working order, clean, functioning, and safe.

Rifle Musket:

• If you have a Mississippi Rifle or a rifled .69 M1842, you are welcome to bring it. The 2nd Maryland had single digit numbers of these scattered throughout the regiment.

• The majority of the regiment was armed with a mix of Enfield Rifle Muskets with bayonets and 1861 Springfield Rifle Muskets with bayonets and both are acceptable.

Gun sling:

• Gun sling made of oiled leather is REQUIRED!
  
  *It is time—the old reenactor myth about soldiers ditching the gun slings they would need to pay for and then have replaced anyway needs to go. The Ordnance Returns show the great majority of soldiers throughout the war had gun slings, and that every member of the 2nd Maryland had one in 1862 as well. If you don’t have one, skip a couple fast foods meals, put the cash aside, and get a gun sling.

Any personal items must be original or accurate reproductions of period items. “Old timey” bottles, jugs, Mason jars, or other items are prohibited. With this event being immersive in nature, cell phones, modern tobacco and lighters, or any other anachronistic items are wholly unacceptable.

We are placing high expectations for personal appearance and behavior upon the participants of ***. Modern haircuts, ponytails, modern underwear, modern socks, ragg wool gloves, modern glasses, inauthentic or inappropriate kit, etc. is unacceptable. As rations will be issued all participants are required to arrive with an empty haversack and not bring any food of their own into the event.