One of these, in particular, was a Captain Edelin, _alias_ Lum Cooper, who had by some means been elected to the command of a fine company, composed principally of young men from Baltimore. Without even the rudiments of a common school education, holding the truth in utter contempt, and a low swaggerer, he had nothing to recommend him but his having lighted the lamps in the streets of Washington for years, and beat a drum in the war with Mexico. His conduct everywhere in the army was disgraceful in the extreme, and reflected discredit, not only upon the regiment to which he belonged, but upon the State, of which he was neither a native nor a resident. Finally, despised and avoided by all who, without knowing the man, had associated with him in the regiment, he ran the blockade, took the oath of allegiance to the Federal Government, and turned informer upon the Government of which he had been a sworn servant. CHAPTER IV. The fall of 1861 will ever be remembered by the survivors of the regiment, as the most pleasant experienced by them during the whole war. We had an abundance of clothing and wholesome food, whilst there was no scarcity of money with which to indulge in even some of the luxuries of life. And then the monotony of the camp was often changed to the excitement of picketing in front of the enemy on Mason’s and Munson’s Hills, in the capture of both of which the First Maryland bore a conspicuous part. In the engagement at the latter place, we lost a private of Company I killed, and Lieutenant Mitchell, of the same company, badly wounded. During these picket reliefs, we had daily encounters with the enemy, in which we invariably got the better of him. The first that occurred I will relate, as Mr. Captain Edelin then and there gave us a specimen of military skill acquired on the head of a kettle-drum in Mexico. It was on the morning after the capture of Mason’s Hill, that Colonel Smith, the officer in command, wishing to advance his pickets as far as Clampitt’s house, a mile in front of the main body, detailed Edelin for the duty. He moved his company forward through a thicket, and in a few minutes we were startled by the rapid discharges of musketry, which led Colonel Smith to believe he had encountered a heavy force of the enemy. Captain James R. Herbert’s company and my own were immediately sent to his support. Coming up with Edelin, he informed us that he had met a regiment of infantry, but, after a stubborn fight, the enemy had retreated, carrying his dead and wounded along. “But,” said he, “they are in the woods before us, and I must have artillery to drive them out;” and, turning to an orderly, he directed him to post off to Colonel Smith and request that officer to send him a battery forthwith.