Campaigns of 1861 | Crossroads of War

Campaigns of 1861

March 8, 2012 By crossroads

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The Union garrison at Harpers Ferry burned the U.S. arsenal and shops on the evening of April 18, 1861, as Confederate troops approached the town (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, April 30, 1861; NPS History Collection)

The burning of the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry (Harper's Weekly, May 11, 1861; D.H. Strother, artist; NPS History Collection)

Rendezvous of the Jefferson Battalion of Virginia soldiers at Halltown on April 18, 1861, before marching on the Union forces in nearby Harpers Ferry (Harper's Weekly, May 11, 1861, D.H. Strother, artist; NPS History Collection)

Local Virginia Confederate soldiers approach Harpers Ferry on the night of April 18, 1861 (Harper's Weekly, May 11, 1861; D.H. Strother, artist; NPS History Collection)

Confederate battery on the heights in Harpers Ferry (Paul F. Mottelay and T. Campbell-Copeland, eds. Frank Leslie's The Soldier in Our Civil War Vol. I [New York: Stanley Bradley Publishing Co., 1893], 394-395; originally appeared in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, June 1, 18610)

A Southern artillery battery at Harpers Ferry (D.H. Strother, "Personal Recollections of the War" Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 33 [June 1866]: 19)

Bollman's Rock at Point of Rocks in Frederick County, where the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal run side-by-side (Harper's Weekly, June 8, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Another view of Bollman's Rock (Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial History of the Civil War in the United States of America [Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1866], 521, courtesy of Timothy R. Snyder)

Destruction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridge at Harpers Ferry by the Confederates on June 15, 1861 (Harper's Weekly, July 6, 1861; Library of Congress)

Locomotive destroyed when B&O railroad bridge was demolished on June 15, 1861 (Harper's Weekly, July 20, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Railway cars destroyed by Confederate soldiers at Harpers Ferry (Harper's Weekly, July 20, 1861; NPS History Collection)

The Maryland side of the bridge at Point of Rocks, MD, held by Confederate soldiers (Harper's Weekly, June 29, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Harpers Ferry after the departure of Confederate troops (Harper's Weekly, July 6, 1861; courtesy of Timothy R. Snyder)

Camp Slifer, near Chambersburg, where many of the soldiers in Union General Robert Patterson's command are being readied for the march south into Maryland (Harper's Weekly, June 29, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Departure of Union troops from Chambersburg on June 7, 1861, on their way to Maryland (Harper's Weekly, June 29, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Camp Meredith near Greencastle, PA (Harper's Weekly, July 6, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Union soldiers marching from Camp Meredith near Greencastle, PA, into Maryland (Harper's Weekly, July 6, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Soldiers of McMullin's Rangers, from Philadelphia, in Hagerstown, MD (Harper's Weekly, July 20, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Confederate soldiers in Martinsburg, VA (Harper's Weekly, June 29, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Union Colonel George H. Thomas' troops cross the Potomac at Williamsport on June 16, 1862 (Harper's Weekly, July 6, 1861; courtesy of Timothy R. Snyder)

Part of Union General George Cadwalader's division crossing the Potomac at Williamsport on June 16, 1861 (New-York Illustrated News, July 6, 1861; courtesy of Princeton University Library)

Council of war between the Union commanders before the Battle of Falling Waters (Harper's Weekly, July 27, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Captain William McMullin's Rangers, all volunteer firemen from Philadelphia, were the first Union forces to cross the Potomac River to engage the Confederate troops at Falling Waters (also called Battle of Hokes Run), fought in Berkeley County, VA (later WV) on July 2, 1861 (Harper's Weekly, July 27, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Union troops fording the Potomac River at Williamsport, MD (Harper's Weekly, July 27, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Confederate pickets retreating as Union forces advance on Falling Waters (Harper's Weekly, July 27, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Colonel John C. Starkweather and his Wisconsin regiment going into battle at Falling Waters, July 2, 1861 (Harper's Weekly, July 27, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Federal forces advance at the Battle of Falling Waters on July 2, 1861 (Harper's Weekly, July 27, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Caring for the wounded after the Battle of Falling Waters (Harper's Weekly, July 27, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Lean-to's in the former Confederate Camp Stephens near Falling Waters (Harper's Weekly, July 27, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Union General Cadwaladers quarters at Falling Waters (Harper's Weekly, July 27, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Headquarters of Union General Robert Patterson at Martinsburg, VA (later WV), after Union troops entered the town on July 3, 1861 (Harper's Weekly, July 27, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Confederate flag in Harpers Ferry taken down by two Union soldiers (Harper's Weekly, August 3, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Locomotives damaged by the Confederates before they vacated Martinsburg, VA (Harper's Weekly, August 3, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Headquarters of Union Colonel Charles Stone at Sandy Hook, MD, near Harpers Ferry (Harper's Weekly, August 10, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Skirmish between Union forces at Sandy Hook, MD, and Confederate soldiers across the Potomac River in Virginia (Harper's Weekly, August 3, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Loudon Heights in Virginia, overlooking Harpers Ferry in the distance (Harper's Weekly, September 7, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Ruins of the Potomac River bridge at Berlin (now Brunswick), MD (Harper's Weekly, September 7, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Review by Union General Nathaniel Banks of part of his division, near Sandy Hook, MD (Louis Shepheard Moat, ed., Frank Leslies Illustrated History of the Civil War [NY: Mrs. Frank Leslie, 1895], 93; originally appeared in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, September 14, 1861)

Union soldiers from General Nathaniel Banks' army cross the Monocacy River near the Monocacy Aqueduct (Harper's Weekly, September 14, 1861; NPS History Collection)

An oven constructed to bake bread for one of the regiments in General Banks' army (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, September 14, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Men of the 12th Massachusetts Regiment pushing their baggage wagon during a storm near Hyattstown, MD (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, September 14, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Officers of the 12th Massachusetts Regiment trying to find cover on a stormy night near Hyattstown (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, September 14, 1861; NPS History Collection)

The camp of the topographers in General Banks' division, near Hyattstown, August 1861 (D.H. Strother, artist; D.H. Strother, "Personal Recollections of the War" Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 33 [ September 1866]: 415)

A detachment of Union cavalry from General Banks' army reconnoitering near Hyattstown, MD (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, September 14, 1861; NPS History Collection)

A Union cannon, near Seneca Creek in Montgomery County, MD, preparing to fire on a Confederate encampment across the Potomac River in September 27, 1861 (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, November 2, 1861, p. 375; NPS History Collection)

United States Army supply wagons passing through Hagerstown (Harper's Weekly, September 28, 1861; NPS History Collection)

Union soldiers capture a Confederate artillery piece in a battle on Bolivar Heights, October 16, 1861 (New-York Illustrated News, October 28, 1861; M. Wilson, artist; courtesy of Princeton University Library)

A skirmish at Dam No. 5 near Williamsport, December 8, 1861, in which Confederates unsuccessfully tried to destroy the dam (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, January 18, 1862; Henry Bacon, artist; courtesy of Princeton University Library)

Dam No. 4 on the Potomac, the scene of two small encounters in mid-December 1861 (New-York Illustrated News, January 25, 1862; R.S. Todd, artist; courtesy of Princeton University Library)

This project has been generously funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Park Service, the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, Frederick Community College, and others. See Credits page for full list.

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