Blackburn’s Ford, the preliminary skirmish of Bull Run, on July 18, 1861, first brought the regiment under fire. Lieut. Albert S. Austin lost his revolver at this time;--judge of his pleasant surprise when, in 1896, receiving a package from a Confederate veteran, he opened it and discovered the long-missing weapon. This revolver may now be seen in the collection of the A. & H. Art. Co. Part of an army all of whose members were inexperienced, it is greatly to their credit that they were chosen as rear-guard of the retreating Federals after the main battle of Bull Run, July 21. Perhaps it was because of the reputation gained here that the 1st came to be frequently detailed to the responsible rear-guard position. They served in this capacity during the change of base on the Peninsula, and during the subsequent retreat from that district. They covered the retreat of the army after Fredericksburg. But it is safe to say that they were never more valuable as rear-guard than when at Bull Run they steadily held their place behind the torrent of panic-stricken fugitives and prevented the victors from pressing the pursuit. This transpired during their first battle, when they had been less than three months in the service. Their gray militia uniforms in which the regiment went to war cost them dearly at Blackburn’s Ford and Bull Run. Facing troops similarly attired, Lieut. W. H. B. Smith of the 3d Company called out that he and his men were from Massachusetts, thinking that he was talking to other northern soldiers. But his words were greeted with a volley by which the lieutenant lost his life. Later in the action a similar explanation by Capt. Carruth of the 5th Company barely prevented a Michigan regiment from firing on the First. Immediately after the battle new blue uniforms were issued. [Illustration] Three weeks of garrison duty at Fort Albany, Washington, D. C., ensued, when the regiment was drilled in the use of heavy artillery. August 13, they were transferred to Bladensburg on the other side of Washington, where they first came under the command, as part of the brigade, of Gen. Hooker. Serving with him in succession as brigade, division, corps and army commander, they always felt especially devoted to their chief. It is no accident that Capt. Isaac P. Gragg of ours wrote in 1900 a book affectionately tracing the careers and homes of Hooker’s ancestors. The same veteran and his comrades bore a leading part in securing the Hooker statue on the State House grounds, dedicated in 1903. In March, 1862, the regiment received their “white diamond” badges, of which they were always so proud, the Army of the Potomac then being organized into four corps, and they forming part of the second division (Hooker’s) of the third corps. They were engaged in provost or garrison duty in Maryland during the winter of ’61-’62, and were stationed during most of the time at Budd’s Ferry.