First Light Division, Maryland Volunteers

1st Light Division
Major General George H. Steuart reviews the Maryland Militia at Camp Frederick, 1843
Activec1841 – 1861
Country United States
BranchMaryland State Militia
TypeDivision
Part ofForces Command
Garrison/HQBaltimore, Maryland
EngagementsHarper's Ferry
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Major General George H. Steuart

The First Light Division of Maryland Volunteers was a militia unit based in Baltimore and formed in around 1841. Its commander was the militia general George H. Steuart. Elements of the division participated in the suppression of John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859, but its members found themselves in a difficult position at the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861. Many of the citizen volunteers, especially the senior command, wished to secede from the Union and join the Confederate States of America. However, Maryland remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War and as a consequence of this the division was disbanded. Many of its members left Maryland and went south to fight for the Confederacy.