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of its heroes, worthy of a place with
Howard,
Smallwood and
Gist, of the Revolution, as their honored successor in the ‘
Maryland Line.’
George W. Booth.
Brigadier-General Joseph Lancaster Brent, of
Baltimore, distinguished for his service in various arms of the
Confederate military forces, was born in
Charles county, Maryland, in 1826.
He was reared at his native place, and attended college at
Georgetown, D. C. When the war broke out, he was in
California, but the ties of sympathy were too strong to be overcome by his great distance from home, and he took ship for the seat of war, in company with
William M. Gwyn, ex-
United States senator, and
Calhoun Benham, United States district attorney in
California.
But on the high seas they were arrested by
Gen. E. V. Sumner, and the three were sent to Fort Lafayette, and held two or three weeks, when they were paroled and permitted to go to
Washington.
They sought to be relieved of this coercion and finally, through the influence of
George D. Prentice, a brother-in-law of
Mr. Benham,
Mr. Brent was discharged from restraint without being required to take the oath of allegiance, which he had refused to do. He proceeded to
Richmond in the winter of 1861-62, and at once entered the
Confederate service, with rank of captain, on the staff of
Gen. J. B. Magruder, in command of the district of
Yorktown.
After the conclusion of the
Yorktown campaign, he was promoted major of artillery and assigned to duty as chief ordnance officer of the right wing of the army of Northern Virginia, under command of
General Magruder, as the army was organized by
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.
Major Brent held this position until the close of the
Peninsular campaign of 1862, contributing to the success of the
Confederate arms, and was then assigned to the staff of
Gen. Richard Taylor, who was in command of the district of Western Louisiana.
He participated in the military operations of this
