The coming of the spring of 1856 gave Mary Hanover, the wife of Captain Francis Hanover, another grand opportunity to display her skills at organizing grand festivities to celebrate special social events.
The marriage of First Lieutenant Gavin MacRoss of the United States Dragoons with Lady Natalia Valenko was an event in which Mary Hanover outdid even herself. Only the cream of the most socially prominent citizens of the area along with ranking army people were invited to attend the elaborate ceremony, which included an arch of sabers held up by dragoon officers for the couple to walk under after leaving the post chapel.
Count Valenko, dressed in his finest formal clothing, sported the medals and decorations of the Russian imperial nobility. He gave his daughter away, then turned to his favorite pastime of downing as much alcohol as possible while lesser drinkers faltered and fell away as the evening passed into night.
Afterward, a grand reception with plenty of food and drink further celebrated the event as the crowd danced to the regimental band. The musicians, following a program set up by the hostess, played long into the wee hours.
Gavin and Natalia made an escape just before midnight. He requested the furlough he’d turned down earlier, to take his bride on a honeymoon and give her a chance to meet his family. They departed on the eastbound stage at dawn, seen off by their closest friends.
Later that summer, in a less socially ranked ceremony, Sergeant Paddy O’Hearn married Miss Irena Yakubovski at Fort Leavenworth’s chapel. First Sergeant Ian Douglas gave the bride away while Corporal Olaf Carlson acted as the groom’s best man.
Douglas wryly noted that during O’Hearn’s patrol duties that took him through Nadezhda, the sergeant, like Lieutenant MacRoss, certainly didn’t waste his time.