See The Sites
St. Paul’s (Protestant) Episcopal Church
1914 Ballenger Creek Pike Point of Rocks, MD 21777 (301)-874-2995 http://www.pointorocks.ang-md.org/St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was used as a hospital in 1861 and as quarters for Union cavalry officers from 1862–1864.
In 1841 several members of St. Mark’s Parish in Petersville petitioned the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland to establish a parish near Point of Rocks for the convenience of parishioners living in that area. St. Paul’s was built by slaves from the nearby Duval Plantation. The Duvall family was instrumental in the construction of the church. The new church was consecrated on October 26, 1843 by Rt. Rev. William Wittingham.
In 1861 the church was used as a hospital. From 1862–1864 it served as quarters for Union cavalry officers. Among the officers quartered there were Henry Cole of Frederick, commander of the 1st Battalion, Potomac Home Brigade Cavalry (Cole’s Cavalry); and Samuel C. Means of Loudoun County, Virginia, commander of the Independent Loudoun (Virginia) Rangers. Following the war, the church’s vestry sought compensation from the U.S. government for war damages, and after the turn of the century it was awarded $1,000, which it used to restore the church.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
St. Paul’s (Protestant) Episcopal Church website: http://www.pointorocks.ang-md.org/
National Register of Historic Places Summary: http://www.marylandhistoricaltrust.net/NR/NRDBDetail.aspx?HDID=460
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter F-1-130 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Needwood Forest
1311 Lees Lane Knoxville, MD 21758Needwood Forest was used as a hospital for the wounded of both sides after the battles of South Mountain and Antietam.
It was originally believed thatNeedwoodForestwas built in 1808 by William Lee, the second son of Maryland Governor Thomas Sim Lee. Recent research indicates that Bartholomew Booth’s school for boys was located at the “ForestofNeedwood” as early as 1775–1776, indicating that at least a part of the estate was in existence much earlier. Later additions were made in 1855 by Samuel L. Gouverneur, husband of Mary Digges Lee, the oldest daughter of William Lee.
During the Civil War, the house was used as a hospital for the wounded from the battles ofSouthMountainandAntietam. During the Battle of South Mountain, a Confederate soldier, Sgt. Benjamin Mell from Co. D, Cobb’s Legion Infantry, was seriously wounded. Thomas S. Lee ofNeedwoodForest, a Southern Sympathizer, cared for Mell at the estate until the soldier’s death onOct. 21, 1862. Family tradition indicates that Gouverneur, a scion of an old New York family, used his influence to prevent the house from being destroyed during the war.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter F-2-065 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2044
George Rizer Farm House
211 S. Jefferson Street Frederick, MD 21701The George Rizer farmstead was a campground for Union troops during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign and the scene of a skirmish during the 1864 Monocacy Campaign.
George Rizer bought the property that would bear his name onJune 8, 1853. It is believed that the farm house was built about 1840, perhaps earlier, and that Rizer made several major additions to the structure in the years that followed.
In 1863, during the Gettysburg Campaign, the Rizer farm was used as a bivouac for about 7,000 Union troops commanded by Maj. Gen. William H. French. French’s command had been ordered from Harpers Ferry to Frederick to prevent the Confederates from moving against Washington if the Union Army of the Potomac was unable engage them. OnJune 28, 1863, General Joseph Hooker, commander of the Army of thePotomac, was relieved of command while encamped at the farm next to the Rizer farm.
On July 7, 1864, during the Monocacy Campaign, a skirmish took place on the Rizer farm between dismounted Confederate Virginia cavalry, commanded by Frederick native Gen. Bradley T. Johnson, and dismounted Union cavalry from the 8th Illinois Cavalry, commanded by David Clendenin. Following a cannonade, the skirmishing began at4:00 p.m. and concluded at about8:00 p.m. Frederick diarist Jacob Englebrecht, who witnessed the action, later visited the Rizer farm and described dead livestock and the barn riddled with shell and mini balls. This battle was the last of the Civil War to be fought inFrederick.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Jacob Engelbrecht, The Diary of Jacob Engelbrecht [CD ROM], William R. Quynn, ed. (Frederick: Historical Society of Frederick County, 2001), entry forJuly 8, 1864.
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter F-3-067 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Crampton’s Gap
Gapland Road & Mountain Church Road Burkittsville, MD 21718Crampton’s Gap was the scene of one of a series of battles for control of the mountain passes in the Battle of South Mountain during the Maryland Campaign of 1862.
The Battle of Crampton’s Gap took place on September 14, 1862, when the Union VI Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin, attacked a smaller force of Confederates holding the eastern base of the mountain gap. The Confederates’ primary defensive position was established behind a stone wall along the east side ofMountain Church Road. As the Confederates began to give way, reinforcements under Gen. Howell Cobb arrived to slow the Union onslaught. The Confederates were soon surrounded on three sides and were forced to retreat up the mountain to the gap. The Union pursuit encountered and overcame a two-gun section of artillery planted in the road. The Confederates’ last stand was made behind a stone wall on the western side of the mountain, which was soon overwhelmed. The Federals captured more than 400 prisoners and took possession of one artillery piece that had been disabled. Having captured the summit,Franklinordered a halt to the Union advance. The Confederates, meanwhile, formed a defensive line across Pleasant Valley to slow the Union Army’s attempt to relieve the threatened Union garrison at Harpers Ferry.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter F-4-017-A in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2020; http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1909; http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=3901; http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2068; http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2159
Fox’s Gap
Reno Monument Road Burkittsville, MD 21718Fox’s Gap was the scene of one of series of battles for control of the mountain passes in the Battle of South Mountain during the Maryland Campaign of 1862.
The Battle of Fox’s Gap started at 9:00 a.m. on September 14, 1862 when the Union IX Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. Jesse L. Reno, attempted to dislodge the Confederates, led by Brig. Gen. Samuel Garland, who defended the mountain pass. The Union Kanawha Division, led by Brig. Gen. Jacob D. Cox, ascended the Old Sharpsburg Road and attacked the Confederate right flank. Its assault broke the Confederate line, which was formed behind a stone wall on the crest of the mountain. Garland was mortally wounded. Cox withdrew to await reinforcements, however, rather than pursue the Confederates. The engagement was resumed in the early evening when the entire IX Corps attacked the Confederate position, which had been strengthened in the meantime. The Union army gained control of Fox’s Gap by 5:30 p.m. As night descended Union General Reno was killed while he examined the Confederate position. At about 10:00 p.m. General Lee ordered the Confederates to withdraw toward Sharpsburg. During the battle Lt. Col. Rutherford B. Hayes, future president of the United States, was wounded in the arm.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter F-4-017-B in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5412;
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=454
Turner’s Gap
Alt. US 40, Dahlgren Road & Frostown Road Burkittsville, MD 21718Turner’s Gap was the scene of one of a series of battles for control of the mountain passes in the Battle of South Mountain during the Maryland Campaign of 1862.
The Battle of Turner’s Gap began at about noon on September 14, 1862 when the Union I Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, attempted to dislodge Confederate forces from the mountain pass. At about 4:00 p.m. two Union brigades attacked the extreme left flank of the Confederate position located atop two high knolls about a mile above the gap. A third brigade, commanded by Brig. Gen. John Gibbon, attacked a Confederate brigade, commanded by Alfred Colquitt, who defended the gap from behind a stone wall. The Union assault forced the Confederates from the knolls north of the gap, but as darkness fell the southerners maintained possession of Turner’s Gap with Gibbon bivouacked in their front. At about 10:00 p.m. Confederate General Lee ordered the soldiers defending the gap to retire toward Sharpsburg.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter F-4-017-C in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1594; http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1595
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=1598
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=1599
St. Joseph’s College and Mother Seton Shrine
339 South Seton Avenue Emmitsburg, MD 21727 (301)-447-6606 http://www.setonshrine.org/St. Joseph’s College was the site of Union encampments during the Gettysburg Campaign, and the nuns of the Sisters of Charity worked as nurses during the war.
In 1809 Elizabeth Ann Seton, a widow and convert to Catholicism, relocated a female boarding school from Baltimore to Emmitsburg, where it became one of only three Catholic educational institutions for women. Incorporated as a school in 1816, St. Joseph’s Academy eventually became St. Joseph’s College. Seton also established the Sisters of Charity religious order, which was the first Catholic order of American women. The order founded and operated schools, hospitals and orphanages. Mother Seton, who died in 1821, was beatified in 1963, after which a shrine was built in her honor. She was canonized by Pope Paul VI on September 14, 1975, at which time she became the only American-born woman to have been declared a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.
During the Civil War, the U.S. government requested that the Sisters of Charity provide nursing services to soldiers wounded in nearby battles. In June of 1861, three Sisters were sent to Harpers Ferry, though they were diverted to Winchester and, later, Richmond. A year later, ten Sisters (and then eight more) were sent to Frederick City, where they served until September, through its occupation by Confederates and subsequent recapture by the Union. During the Gettysburg Campaign, about 80,000 Union soldiers camped on the grounds of the college from June 27–June 30, 1863. Officers stayed in the White House, which had been the early residence of Mother Seton and the nuns. On July 5, 1863, following the three-day battle at Gettysburg, the Sisters traveled to the battlefield to distribute government food and supplies. They stayed for several days, tending to the wounded of both sides. Other wounded soldiers were treated at the college by the Sisters who remained.
St. Joseph’s College later becoming a women’s college; it was closed in 1973, and sold to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 1979. Since 1981, it has been the National Emergency Training Center.
Included on the grounds of the shrine is a statue of Our Lady of Victory, erected by the Daughters of Charity immediately following the war. The Daughters worried that the violence of the war would reach their campus, and promised to erect the statue if they were spared.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Mother Seton Shrine website: http://www.setonshrine.org/
National Register of Historic Places summary: http://www.marylandhistoricaltrust.net/NR/NRDBDetail.aspx?HDID=357
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (enter F-6-020 in “Site No.” in “Search by Property” tab)
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=9474; http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=9618; http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=9483
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=9485
Daughters of Charity website: http://www.thedaughtersofcharity.org/userfiles/File/Daughters_Civil_War_rev7232009.pdf
Old United States Hotel
101-107 S. Market Street Frederick, MD 21701The Old United States Hotel was used by Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade as headquarters just after the Battle of Gettysburg.
Dating from the early nineteenth century, the Old United States Hotel in Frederick hosted many important visitors. In 1824 it was the site of a reception for the French-born Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette. At the dawn of the railroad era, the hotel was located opposite the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad station in Frederick, which made it attractive to many guests. During the Civil War, Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade used it as his headquarters just after the Battle of Gettysburg
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-0037 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Coffin Factory
301 E. Patrick Street (MD 144) Frederick MD, 21701This building was a coffin factory that built coffins for the dead following the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg.
Dating from 1850–1860, this three-story coffin factory in Frederick built coffins for dead soldiers following the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-0484 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Frederick Presbyterian Church
113-115 W. Second Street Frederick. MD 21701Confederate Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson stopped at the Frederick Presbyterian Church in September 1862 to visit the pastor, a personal friend.
The Frederick Presbyterian Church was founded in 1780, although its present building was not completed until 1825. During the Civil War, the church was used as a hospital for sick and injured soldiers. In September 1862, Confederate Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson stopped at the Church to visit the pastor, Rev. John B. Ross, who was a personal friend. On November 1, 1862, Ross, a southern sympathizer, resigned because of “disaffection on account of the state of the country.” The resignation was accepted by the Congregation, many of whom were Unionists.
As noted by local diarist Jacob Engelbrecht on July 6th, 1864, an artillery shell was said to have pierced the roof; the mark it left was not repaired until 1868.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Frederick Presbyterian Church website: http://home.frederickpresbyterian.org.html
Photos of the church on the website:
http://home.frederickpresbyterian.org./about/history.html
Jacob Engelbrecht, The Diary of Jacob Engelbrecht [CD ROM], William R. Quynn, ed. (Frederick: Historical Society of Frederick County, 2001), entries for Sept. 18, 1862; Sept. 24, 1862; and Nov. 5, 1862.
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-0785 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
“Our Lady of Victory” Statue
16825 S. Seton Avenue Emmitsburg, MD 21727Our Lady of Victory statue was erected by the Sisters of Charity soon after the war in thanks to God for sparing St. Joseph’s College from the destruction of the Civil War.
Soon after the Civil War, the nuns of the Sisters of Charity erected a statue called Our Lady of Victory on the Emmitsburg campus of St. Joseph’s College. The sisters had promised to do so if God spared the college from the destruction of the Civil War. The Catholic Feast of Our Lady of Victory dates to 1571 and is held in thanksgiving for the victory of a Christian fleet over a Turkish armada in the Battle of Lepanto.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Heart of the Civil War: http://www.heartofthecivilwar.org/pdf/section-2.pdf
Daughters of Charity website: http://www.thedaughtersofcharity.org/userfiles/File/Daughters_Civil_War_rev7232009.pdf
James H. Gambrill (Araby) Mill
Urbana Pike Frederick, MD 21704 (301) 662-3515 http://www.nps.gov/monoAt or near the Gambrill (or Araby) Mill, several Union soldiers were killed and wounded by the first firing at the Battle of Monocacy. The mill also served as a Union hospital during the battle.
The Araby Mill, located in Frederick County, was established in 1830 by Colonel J. Pearson. James H. Gambrill bought the farm and mill in 1856, enlarging the latter. At the July 9, 1864 Battle of Monocacy, the mill was located to the right and rear of Union lines. As the battle opened, several soldiers from the 87th Pennsylvania, who were stationed at or near the mill, were killed or wounded by the day’s first fire. James H. Gambrill, who sent his family to a neighbor’s house where they sought shelter in the cellar, stayed at the mill during the battle with three friends, hiding under the waterwheel. The mill was used as a Union hospital during the battle.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Monocacy National Battlefield website: http://www.nps.gov/mono
Historical American Buildings Survey/Historical American Engineering Record: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md1279
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter F-7-058 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=3262
Frederick City Hall
101 N. Court St. Frederick, MD 21701 (301) 600-1385Site of the old Frederick County Courthouse, in which the Maryland General Assembly originally met in extra session to consider its response to the Secession Crisis and President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops.
The Frederick County Courthouse occupied this spot at the beginning of the Civil War. On April 26, 1861, the Maryland General Assembly met in extra session to consider its response to the Secession Crisis and President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion. The space was too small, however, and the legislators reconvened in Kemp Hall, a block away. The courthouse was destroyed by arson soon after, some claiming the building was torched by unhappy secessionists. A bust of Roger Brooke Taney as well as a plaque discussing Taney and the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision of 1857 are located in front of what is now Frederick City Hall..
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-0127 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=2815
Rose Hill Manor
1611 N. Market Street Frederick, MD 21701During the Gettysburg Campaign Rose Hill Manor was occupied by the Union Army of the Potomac’s Artillery Reserve.
Rose Hill Manor was the last home of Maryland Governor Thomas Johnson, a friend and political associate of George Washington, who purchased the property in 1778. Johnson subsequently gave the property to his daughter, Ann Jennings Johnson, and her husband, John Grahame, who built the house in the mid-1790s. Upon the death of his wife in the early nineteenth century, Johnson came to live with his daughter and her husband at Rose Hill Manor.
During the Gettysburg Campaign Rose Hill Manor was occupied by the Union Army of the Potomac’s Artillery Reserve, commanded by Brig. Gen. Robert O. Tyler. The Artillery Reserve consisted of nineteen batteries—approximately one hundred and ten individual artillery pieces—about 2,000 horses and mules, and nearly 2,800 men. At Gettysburg, the Artillery Reserve helped repulse Pickett’s Charge on the third day of the battle.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-0228 or F-3-126 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2803
Evangelical Lutheran Church
31-35 E. Church Street Frederick, MD 21701Following the Battle of Antietam, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Frederick became part of Union General Hospital No. 4, housing sick and wounded soldiers until January 1863.
Organized in 1738, the Lutheran congregation in Frederick is the oldest Lutheran Church in Maryland. The first log church was built on the present site in 1746, and was replaced by a stone building in 1762. The present twin tower church was constructed from 1854–1855.
With the Confederate occupation of Frederick, on September 7, 1862, the Lutheran Congregation and pastor found many Southern soldiers and officers in attendance at Sunday services. The pastor prudently avoided discussion of politics or the war. On September 15, a day after the Battle of South Mountain, the Union army seized the Church for use as a hospital. Along with other nearby buildings, it became a part of General Hospital No. 4. Workmen built a scaffolding several inches above the height of the pews to serve as a temporary floor, upon which 280 cots were placed for the wounded. The women of the congregation worked as nurses, sewed garments and collected supplies for the soldiers. The Frederick Ladies Union Relief Association was formed here in 1862, led by Julia Bantz. About 1,000 patients passed through the hospital from the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, of which only 15 died. The church was evacuated by the Union army in January 1863, after which church members cleaned and refurbished the church, which was rededicated on March 1, 1863.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
“Body and Soul,” Frederick News Post (October 10, 2005)
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/archives/display_detail.htm?StoryID=52861
Evangelical Lutheran Church website: http://www.twinspires.org/content.cfm?id=360
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-0616 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=14022
The Visitation Academy
200 East 2nd Street Frederick, MD 21701The Visitation Academy in Frederick was used as a Union army hospital after the Battle of Antietam.
On September 11, 1846, eleven nuns from the Catholic Visitation Sisters order in Georgetown arrived in Frederick to take over operation of St. John’s Benevolent Female Free School. Founded in 1824, the school had been run by the Sisters of Charity. The Sisters of Charity, however, moved to Emmitsburg to continue their work, turning over administration of the school to the Visitation Sisters.
On September 21, 1862, following the Battle of Antietam, the academy was turned into a military hospital, becoming part of General Hospital No. 5. While the Visitation sisters continued to teach lessons in the monastery for sixty female boarders, the Sisters of Charity returned from Emmitsburg to work as nurses in the hospital.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Visitation Academy website: http://www.thevisitationacademy.org/about/history.html
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md0335
Dr. John Tyler House
108 West Church Street Frederick, MD 21701The home of Dr. John Tyler was used as Union military headquarters early in the war, and a cast-iron dog was stolen by Confederate soldiers when they occupied Frederick in September 1862.
The home of Dr. John Tyler, a pioneer in ophthalmology, was used as a Union military headquarters early in the war. During the Confederate occupation of Frederick in September 1862, a group of soldiers stole a cast iron dog modeled after Dr. Tyler’s dog “Guess.” Although their intention was to melt and recast the iron as bullets or cannonballs, the iron dog was recovered near Antietam Battlefield and was returned to Dr. Tyler.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Frederick Tourism website: http://www.fredericktourism.org/what-to-see/tours/walking-tours
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-0669 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
All Saints Episcopal Church
106 West Church Street Frederick, MD 21701All Saints Episcopal Church in Frederick was used as a Union military hospital following the Battle of Antietam.
Founded in 1742, All Saints Episcopal Church is the oldest Episcopal parish in western Maryland. Former Maryland Governor Thomas Johnson and Francis Scott Key, author of the Star Spangled Banner, attended services at All Saints. The original church building served the parish for sixty years until it was replaced in 1814 by a new building on Court Street, now used as a parish hall and classrooms. The present building was constructed in 1855, and its steeple was one of the “clustered spires” referred to in the John Greenleaf Whittier poem “Barbara Fritchie.”
With the outbreak of the Civil War, tensions within the parish were high. The rector supported the Union, while some parishioners favored the South. Following the Battle of Antietam, the church was used as a Union military hospital. Many of the parishioners tended to the sick and wounded soldiers.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
All Saints Episcopal Church website: http://www.allsaintsmd.org/history.php
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md0394
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter FHD-0670 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Laboring Sons Cemetery and Memorial Grounds
Chapel Alley and 5th Street Frederick, MD 21701The Laboring Sons Cemetery and Memorial Grounds in Frederick is the final resting place for six Civil War veterans who served in the United States Colored Troops.
Established in 1851 by the Beneficial Society of the Laboring Sons of Frederick City, the cemetery was created to provide a final resting place for African Americans. Six Civil War veterans of United State Colored Troops regiments are interred in the cemetery. The city of Frederick acquired the property in 1950 and established a playground on the site. Beginning in 1999, protests about the use of the property resulted in the removal of the playground, and in 2003 the site was dedicated as a cemetery and memorial ground.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
African American Heritage Sites of Frederick County: http://www.frederickhsc.org/pdf/hsc_aahsbro.pdf
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=14024
Jacob Rudy House
504 West Main Street Middletown, MD 21769The Jacob Rudy House in Middletown was where future U.S. president Rutherford B. Hayes was taken for care following a wound to his arm at the Battle of South Mountain.
At Turner’s Gap during the Battle of South Mountain, Lt. Col. Rutherford B. Hayes of the 23rd Ohio Infantry, a future U.S. president, was struck in the left arm just below the elbow. After his wound was dressed at a field hospital, he was taken to Middletown where local merchant Jacob Rudy agreed to let Hayes recuperate in his home. Hayes’ wife, Lucy, arrived in Middletown on September 23. She tended to her husband and visited other wounded soldiers. On October 5, Hayes and his wife left Middletown to further recuperate at their home in Ohio.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center:
http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/civilwar/display.asp?id=311&subj=civilwar
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=21911
Resurrection German Reformed Church
3 East Main Street Burkittsville, MD 21718The Resurrection German Reformed Church in Burkittsville was converted into Hospital D following the fight for Crampton’s Gap in the September 14, 1862 Battle of South Mountain.
Following the September 14, 1862 fight at Crampton’s Gap in the Battle of South Mountain, the Resurrection German Reformed Church was converted into the Sixth Corps’ Hospital D. Mostly Union soldiers were treated in the Church, while Confederates were placed in the front lawn and later moved to the homes of local southern sympathizers. The Church remained a hospital until January 1863 when the remaining wounded were moved to Frederick. The wounded who died were interred in the town cemetery until after the war when the Union dead were moved to Antietam National Cemetery and the Confederate dead to Hagerstown’s Washington Cemetery.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Burkittsville Walking Tour website: http://burkittsville-md.gov/Walking-Tour.php#Reformed Church
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1864
St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
5 East Main Street Burkittsville, MD 21718St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church was converted into Hospital B following the fight for Crampton’s Gap in the September 14, 1862 Battle of South Mountain.
Following the September 14, 1862 fight at Crampton’s Gap in the Battle of South Mountain, St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church was converted into the Sixth Corps’ Hospital B. The Church remained a hospital until January 1863 when the remaining wounded were moved to Frederick. The wounded who died were interred in the town cemetery until after the war when the Union dead were moved to Antietam National Cemetery and the Confederate dead to Hagerstown’s Washington Cemetery.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Burkittsville Walking Tour website: http://burkittsville-md.gov/Walking-Tour.php#Lutheran Church
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1864
Monocacy Aqueduct
Mouth of Monocacy Road, confluence of Monocacy & Potomac Rivers Dickerson, MD 20842The Monocacy Aqueduct of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal survived a number of Confederate attempts to destroy it.
The Monocacy Aqueduct, which carries the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal over the Monocacy River, was designed by engineer Benjamin Wright. Completed in 1833, the 516-foot long aqueduct, supported by seven arches, was the longest aqueduct on the canal and was considered one of the canal company’s most significant engineering achievements.
From the beginning of the Civil War the Confederates recognized that the C&O Canal could be used as a Union supply line and repeatedly tried to disable it. As early as June 10, 1861 Confederate General Robert E. Lee urged the destruction of the aqueduct as a means to halt canal navigation. During the Maryland Campaign of 1862 the Confederates undertook their most serious attempts to destroy it. After crossing the Potomac on September 4, Brig. Gen. Daniel H. Hill detailed men to destroy the aqueduct, but he lacked black powder and tools sufficient to accomplish the task. On September 9, while encamped near Frederick, Lee sent Brig. Gen. John G. Walker back to the Monocacy with instructions to destroy the aqueduct. Walker had tools and powder at hand, but he found the aqueduct so well constructed that it was “virtually a solid mass of granite.” The drills available were too dull to bore holes for powder charges. He too gave up the attempt. On July 4, 1864, a small band of Confederates from Partisan Ranger John S. Mosby’s command engaged in a skirmish for control of the aqueduct from Union troops who held it. The Rangers drove the Union troops away and burned canal boats, but made no attempt to damage the aqueduct, which survived the war intact.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
C&O Canal Companion Review: http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/supplemental/canal/mile42monoaqued.html;
C&O Canal Historic Resource Study: Study:http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/choh/unrau_hrs.pdf
National Park Service C&O Canal National Historical Park site: http://www.nps.gov/choh/historyculture/themonocacyaqueduct.htm
Smithsonian Civil War Studies – http://civilwarstudies.org/articles/vol_5/monocacy.shtm
Timothy R. Snyder, Trembling in the Balance: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal During the Civil War (Boston: Blue Mustang Press, 2011), 48, 126, 127–129, 194–195
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md0390
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter F-1-092 or M: 12-27 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Historical Marker Database:
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=714
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=34906
Catoctin Furnace
Catoctin Furnace Road Thurmont, MD 21788The Catoctin Iron Furnace produced three tons of pig iron a day, which was shipped to arsenals where it was forged into war material, including ironclad warships.
Located twelve miles northwest of Frederick, the Catoctin Iron Furnace was founded in the mid-1770s by future Maryland Governor Thomas Johnson and his brothers. Early in the eighteenth century, Baker Johnson obtained sole ownership of the furnace. When Baker Johnson died, the furnace was sold and changed hands a number of times until the mid-1850s, when Jacob Kunkle bought the furnace. Kunkle owned and operated the furnace for the next thirty years.
During the Civil War the Catoctin Iron Furnace operated two furnaces non-stop, with its employees working twelve-hour shifts. Three tons of pig iron were produced each day, which was shipped east to arsenals that forged the iron into war materials, including for use in the production of ironclad warships. Local tradition is that after the Battle of Gettysburg, soldiers from both armies, lost and disoriented, wandered onto the grounds of the iron furnace where they were offered jobs because of a labor shortage.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter F-6-045 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1545
Mt. Airy (Grove Farm)
Shepherdstown Pike (MD 34) Sharpsburg, MD 21782Following the Battle of Antietam,Mt. Airy served as a hospital for wounded soldiers, was headquarters for Union General Porter, and was visited by President Lincoln.
Mt.Airy, which is located west of Sharpsburg, was likely built in the 1820s. It was purchased in 1821 by Philip Grove. Upon his death in 1841, the property was acquired by his son Stephen P. Grove who would own it throughout the Civil War
After the September 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam, the Confederates used the property as a hospital before withdrawing from the battlefield. On September 19–20, 1862, Union Maj. Gen. Fitz-John Porter used the house as headquarters as he directed forces that initially pursued the retreating Confederates, and a signal station was established on the roof of the house. The property was then used as a hospital for Union wounded. On October 3, President Abraham Lincoln, who had come to the region to prod Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan into an aggressive pursuit of the Confederates, reviewed Porter’s Fifth Corps in the surrounding fields. The visit was recorded in a photograph taken by Alexander Gardner. The house continued to be used as a hospital until 1863.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Kathleen A. Ernst, Too Afraid to Cry: Maryland Civilians in the Antietam Campaign, 1999; paperback edition, 2007.
John W. Schildt, Four Days in October, 1978.
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md1122
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md1288
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md1289
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0469 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Civil War Trails marker:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1969
Good-Reilly House
107 E. Main Street(MD 34) Sharpsburg, MD 21782The Good-Reilly House was home to Oliver T. Reilly, who as a five year-old boy witnessed the Battle of Antietam, and who became a preeminent battlefield tour guide.
The Good-Reilly House is located on the northeast corner of the town square inSharpsburg,Maryland. It was built by William Good, one of the earliest property owners inSharpsburg, and likely dates from the 1780s. After passing through a number of owners, in 1894 the house was sold to Oliver T. Reilly.
As a five year-old boy Reilly had witnessed portions of theSeptember 17, 1862Battle of Antietam. At age fifteen, he began providing tours of the battlefield. By the late nineteenth century Reilly was making a living as a prominent battlefield tour guide and relic dealer. He provided tours to hundreds of veterans of the battle who returned to visit the battlefield. In 1906 he published a book about the battle and his memories of it. In 1927 he placed a monument on the battlefield to the “memory” of the Dunker Church, an oak tree that had stood in front of the church, and Sharpsburg’s Civil War veterans. When the battlefield was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service, officials from the latter questioned Reilly’s training and credentials to provide tours, but he continued to do so. Although Reilly sold the house in 1939, the deed allowed him to live in it and sell relics and cigars until his death, which occurred in 1945.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Kathleen A. Ernst, Too Afraid to Cry: Maryland Civilians in the Antietam Campaign, 1999; paperback edition, 2007.
Vernell Doyle and Tim Doyle, Sharpsburg, Images of America, 2009.
MarylandInventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0715 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=6908
Catoctin Aqueduct
Lander Road Jefferson,MD 21755The Catoctin Aqueduct was part of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, and was protected by a nearby Union gun emplacement that was established to protect both the C&O Canal and B&O Railroad.
The Catoctin Aqueduct carried the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal over Catoctin Creek. The 130-foot aqueduct, consisting of three arches, was completed in 1834. It was one of eleven stone aqueducts that comprised a part of the C&O Canal.
During the Civil War, a Union gun emplacement was established on a hill just north of the aqueduct to protect both the canal and the nearby Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. On June 17, 1863, Confederate Lt. Col. Elijah V. White and 125 men crossed the river near the aqueduct, captured a train and clashed with Union cavalry atPoint of Rocks, Maryland and near Frederick, Maryland.
The Catoctin Aqueduct is now a part of the Cheseapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. In 1973, due to poor construction, the passage of time, and repeated flood damage, the aqueduct collapsed into Catoctin Creek. In 2011, however, work to rebuild the Catoctin Aqueduct was completed.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.fredericktourism.org/members/view/112/sect:v
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/choh/unrau_hrs.pdf
http://canaltrust.org/trust/index.php?page=catoctin
Civil War Trails maker:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=743
Dahlgren Chapel
US-40A Boonsboro MD 21713 (301)371-7090 http://www.dahlgrenchapel.com/
The Dahlgren Chapel was built by Madeleine V. Dahlgren, whose husband was a Union naval officer, and whose son was a Union cavalry officer who died in the war.
The Dahlgren Chapel is a stone Gothic Revival chapel that was begun in 1881 and completed in 1884 by Madeleine V. Dahlgren. A private Catholic chapel, it was originally called the “Chapel of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.” It was built on the summit of South Mountain at Turner’s Gap, at which location one of the principal battles in the Battle of South Mountain had taken place on September 14, 1862.
Madeleine Dahlgren was the widow of John A. Dahlgren. The latter was a Civil War naval officer whose pre-war work on naval ordnance resulted in the development of the “Dahlgren Gun” and other innovations, for which he has become known as the “father of American naval ordnance.” During the Civil War, he was commandant of the Washington Navy Yard in 1861, chief of the Bureau of Ordnance in 1862 and commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron in 1863, reaching the rank of Rear Admiral. Remaining in the navy after the war, he died in 1870.
Ulric Dahlgren, son of John and Madeleine Dahlgren, was a pre-war lawyer who enlisted in the Union army in 1862. He served as staff officer and in the cavalry. In 1863 he was wounded in the foot in a cavalry battle in Hagerstown during the Confederate retreat from Gettysburg, which resulted in the amputation of his lower leg. In early 1864 he led a controversial raid on Richmond, during which he was killed.
After Madeleine Dahlgren’s death in 1898, she was buried in a family crypt within the chapel. The church passed into the hands of her daughter, who in 1922 deeded the chapel to Sisters of St. Mary’s of Notre Dame as a religious retreat location. The chapel was returned to the family in 1925. Over the next thirty years vandals and neglect took their toll on the chapel. The remains of the Dahlgren family were removed and interred in a church cemetery. In 1960 the chapel was sold to Richard Griffin, who began efforts to restore it. In 1996 the Central Maryland Heritage League acquired the chapel in order to maintain and preserve the structure. As preservation efforts continue, the chapel is available for concerts and weddings.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.dahlgrenchapel.com/
http://www.history.navy.mil/bios/dahlgren.htm
Byron L. Williams, The Old South Mountain Inn: An Informal History, 1990.
MarylandInventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter F-4-043 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Other markers: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1297&Result=1
Chaney House
41 E. Baltimore Street/1 S. High Street Funkstown MD 21734After the July 10, 1863 Second Battle of Funkstown, the Chaney House served as a hospital for Confederate wounded.
As General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army retreated from the Battle of Gettysburg, it prepared defensive works around Williamsport, Maryland while it waited for the rain-swollen Potomac River to drop. Hoping to provide Lee with additional time to complete the earthworks, his Chief of Cavalry, Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, engaged Union forces under Brig. Gen John Buford in the July 10, 1863 Second Battle of Funkstown. The battle produced a total of 479 casualties from both sides before Union forces withdrew. After the battle, Dr. Joseph P. Chaney’s house was used as a hospital for Confederate wounded. Witnesses wrote that limbs were amputated on a table under a tree in the yard.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.funkstown.com/history/historic-walking-tour/
Kent Masterson Brown, Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania Campaign, 2005.
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-I-536 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Civil War Trails marker: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1158
Other markers: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=388
St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church
2 E. High Street Hancock MD 21750 (301)678-6569 http://www.stthomashancock.org/
St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church was the site of a Union battery in early 1862, and the building was used as both a Union barracks and hospital.
Although Episcopal sacraments were administered in Hancock, Maryland at least as early as 1797,St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church was officially established in 1835. The brick church building was completed late that year.
On January 5, 1862 Confederate General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson commenced a bombardment of Hancock,Maryland. A two-gun Union battery, located on the ground between the St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church and a neighboring Catholic Church, countered the Confederate fire. Jackson moved away on January 7. Union General Alpheus S. Williams arrived in Hancock on January 8, during which time St. Thomas’ was used as a barracks and then as a hospital. Union troops vacated the church in March 1863. The church later submitted a claim against the government for $1,662 in damages committed during the Union occupation. Confederate Major James Breathed, whose family was instrumental in helping to found St. Thomas’, served in Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s horse artillery. After the war he returned to town and, upon his death in 1870, was buried in the church cemetery.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.stthomashancock.org/
http://www.hancockmd.com/HancockMDHistory.pdf
John H. Nelson. “Bombard and Be Damned:” The Effects of Jackson’s Valley Campaign on Hancock, Maryland and Fulton County, Pennsylvania, 1997.
MarylandInventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-HAN-132 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Pennsylvania Hall (College Edifice, Old Dorm) of Gettysburg College
Intersection of Water Street and N. Washington Street Gettysburg, PA 17325 (717) 337-6300 http://www.gettysburg.edu/
During the Battle of Gettysburg, the cupola of Pennsylvania Hall was used as an observation post and signal station, and the building was used as a hospital.
GettysburgCollege—then calledPennsylvaniaCollege—was founded in 1832 by abolitionist Pastor Samuel Simon Schmucker. The college moved into Pennsylvania Hall (College Edifice, Old Dorm), which had been built on land donated by fellow abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens, five years later.
During the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Union army used the cupola of the building as an observation post and signal station. When the Confederates overran the position, they used the tower of the building for the same purposes. Pennsylvania Hall was also used as a field hospital, first by the Confederates, and then by the Union army after the battle.
Today Pennsylvania Hall serves as an administration building forGettysburgCollege.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.gettysburg.edu/about/college_history/
Charles Henry Glatfelter, Yonder Beautiful and Stately College Edifice: A History of Pennsylvania Hall (Old Dorm), Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1970.
James Gindlesperger and Suzanne Gindlesperger, So You Think You Know Gettysburg? The Stores Behind the Monuments and the Men Who Fought One of America’s Most Epic Battles, 2010.
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.pa0009
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=11049
First Battle of Falling Waters (Battle of Hoke’s Run; Battle of Hainesville)
Falling Waters, WV 25419
At the July 2, 1861 First Battle of Falling Waters, Union Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson’s army defeated a smaller Confederate army near Hainesville, Virginia (now WV).
On July 2, 1861 Union Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson’s 11,000-man army forded the Potomac River at Williamsport,Maryland. Col. Thomas J. Jackson, who commanded the Confederate force, ordered the Fifth Virginia Infantry and a four-gun battery to advance and meet the enemy. Union brigades commanded by Col. John J. Abercrombie and Col. George H. Thomas engaged the Confederates near Hainesville, Virginia (WV). In the half hour battle, the advance of Thomas’s brigade threatened to outflank the smaller Confederate force.Jackson, under orders to withdraw in the face of superior numbers, did so, retreating to Big Spring below Martinsburg. During the battle, Confederate cavalry commanded by Col. J.E.B. Stuart captured nearly fifty Union soldiers who mistook him for a Union officer because he still wore his pre-war U.S. Army blue uniform.
Because Jackson gave up the field to Patterson, the First Battle of Falling Waters was a minor Union victory. Casualties on both sides were light, however.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.battleoffallingwaters.com/newbattle.htm
Robert Patterson, A Narrative of the Campaign in the Valley of the Shenandoah in 1861, 1865
Civil War Sites Advisory Commission’s Battle Summary:
http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/wv002.htm
Civil War Trails markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=45605
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=58080
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=58078
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=45596
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=58083
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=41631
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=45769
Ball’s Bluff Road Leesburg,VA20176 (703)737-7800 https://www.nvrpa.org/park/ball_s_bluffAt the October 21, 1861 Battle of Ball’s Bluff, the Confederate force routed the Union force on the heights overlooking the Potomac River in Loudoun County,Virginia.
On October 20, 1861 Union Brig. Gen. Charles P. Stone sent a small force across the river to reconnoiter toward Leesburg,Virginia. Due to delays, the scouting party did not depart until after dark, and it returned with information that it had located a Confederate camp near Leesburg. Stone ordered a second force to cross the river and destroy the camp. The second party crossed and ascended the heights, but failed to find the camp. Early the next day it engaged Confederate skirmishers, however, and using discretion that Stone had given it, the party decided to stay on theVirginiaside until reinforced. Stone ordered Col. Edward D. Baker (a sitting U.S. Senator from California and a close friend of President Abraham Lincoln) to take command of the force on Ball’s Bluff. In a subsequent Confederate attack, the southern forces routed the Union troopers and Baker suffered a mortal wound. The Union soldiers fled down the precipitous bluff to the river, only to find that some of their boats were missing, while another became overloaded with men and overturned in the river. Some tried to swim to safety only to drown in the swollen Potomac. The Union side suffered over 500 casualties and an equal number who were captured.
While not of great military significance, the Confederate victory resulted in the formation of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, which was formed in the U.S. Congress to determine why the war effort was floundering. Controlled by Radical Republicans, the committee made Stone the scapegoat for the debacle at Ball’s Bluff, even though he was not on the field, questioning his loyalty to theUnion. Stone was eventually arrested and held in confinement for just over six months, although no charges were brought against him. When he was released and given a field assignment, rumor and suspicion followed him until he resigned from the army in 1864.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
https://www.nvrpa.org/park/ball_s_bluff
James A. Morgan, III, A Little Short of Boats: The Fights at Ball’s Bluff and Edwards Ferry, October 21–22, 1861, 2004.
Civil War Sites Advisory Commission’s Battle Summary:
http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/va006.htm
Civil War Trust:
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/ballsbluff.html
Civil War Trails marker:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1517
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1491
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=27839
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2238
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2223
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2234
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2233
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2230
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2229
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2231
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=221
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2203
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=223
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=223
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2829
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=985
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2252
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2759
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2213
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2205
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2241
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2224
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2237
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2112
Bolivar, WV 25425At the October 16, 1861 Battle of Bolivar Heights, Confederate Col. Turner Ashby unsuccessfully attacked a Union force commanded by Col. John W. Geary.
In October 1861 Abraham Herr, a Unionist who operated a mill on Virginius Island at Harpers Ferry, gave Union Col. John W. Geary 20,000 bushels of wheat from his mill. When Confederate Col. Turner Ashby learned of Herr’s intentions, on October 16, 1861 he attacked Geary’s defensive line on Bolivar Heights, which overlooked Harpers Ferry from the west. Although the Confederates drove the Union defenders back into the town of Bolivar, Geary forwarded reinforcements, which counterattacked. In the six-hour battle, Geary’s force beat back the assault, ultimately sending Ashby’s force into full retreat after it attacked the Confederate left flank. About 600 men were engaged on the Union side, 500 on the Confederate side.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.nps.gov/hafe/upload/Batof-BH61-schedule-of-eventsprogram.pdf
Dennis E. Frye, Harpers Ferry Under Fire – A Border Town in the American Civil War (2012)
Joseph Barry, The Strange Story of Harper’s Ferry, with Legends of the Surrounding Country, 1903; reprint 1994.
Historical Marker Database:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5319
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5367
Battle of Antietam
Sharpsburg, MD 21782 (301)432-5124 http://www.nps.gov/ancm/index.htmThe September 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single day in American military history, stopping the Confederates’ first drive north of the Potomac River and leading to the issuance of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
The Battle of Antietam began at dawn on September 17, 1862 when Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s First Corps attacked the Confederate left flank, commanded by Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. Heavy fighting took place in Miller’s Cornfield, the East Woods and the West Woods, near which sat the Dunker Church. Confederate lines withstood the series of attacks. In the late morning the battle shifted to the Confederate center where units from Union Maj. Gen. Edwin Summer’s Second Corps attacked the Sunken Road, which afterwards became known as Bloody Lane. Repeated Union assaults broke Confederate lines at the Sunken Road, but Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan failed to exploit the breakthrough. In the afternoon, the action moved to the Confederate right flank. Union forces commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside had spent 3 hours trying to storm the Lower or Rohrbach Bridge, now known as Burnside Bridge, before finally succeeding at about1:00 p.m.Rather than advance and roll up the Confederate flank, it took Burnside two hours to cross his corps and then reorganize it for an advance. The delay allowed time for Confederate Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill’s Light Division to arrive on the field of Harpers Ferry, which checked Burnside’s advance. The following day the opposing sides remained in position, but neither took the offensive. That evening Lee began to withdraw to Virginia.
Although the battle was a tactical draw, McClellan had thwarted Lee’s invasion of the North. President Lincoln considered this enough of a victory to issue the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which decreed that on January 1, 1863 slaves residing in those states in rebellion would be free. Of the approximately 110,000 troops on both sides during the battle, over 23,000 become casualties, which made the Battle of Antietam the bloodiest single day in American military history.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.nps.gov/ancm/index.htm
Ted Alexander, Battle of Antietam: The Bloodiest Day, 2011.
James M. McPherson, Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam, 2002.
James V. Murfin, The Gleam of Bayonets: The Battle of Antietam and Robert E. Lee’s Maryland Campaign, September 1862, 1965; reprint, 1982.
Stephen Sears, Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam, 1993.
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0477 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Civil War Sites Advisory Commission’s Battle Summary:
http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/md003.htm
Civil War Trust:
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/antietam.html
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=20624
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=20755
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=20714
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=22643
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=37716
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=20742
Battle of Gettysburg
Gettysburg,PA (717)338-1243 http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htmThe three-day Battle of Gettysburg, a Union victory, was the single bloodiest battle during the Civil War, and stopped the furthest Confederate advance into Union territory.
The Battle of Gettysburg began unexpectedly on July 1 when Union cavalry commanded by Brig Gen. John Buford encountered Confederate troops heading into Gettysburg. The fighting began in mid-morning along the ridges west of the town as both sides sent reinforcements forward. Successful Confederate assaults pushed the Union force off of Seminary Ridge. Union troops rallied on Cemetery Hill south of town and were later extended onto Culp’s Hill to the southeast of the town, and onto Little Round Top and Big Round Top south of Cemetery Ridge. The result of the first day’s fighting was a southern victory.
In the afternoon of July 2, units from Confederate Maj. Gen. Longstreet’s corps attacked the Round Tops. Although inadequately defended at first, additional troops were shuttled to the south and repulsed the Confederate assaults.Col.Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain of the Twentieth Maine would later win the Congressional Medal of Honor for his defense of Little Round Top. Severe fighting also took place at the Peach Orchard, the Wheat Field, and Devil’s Den, places in a “salient” created by Union Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles when he advanced his Third Corps without orders. Sickles was driven back to Cemetery Ridge with heavy losses. At the northern end of the line, Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell’s corps unsuccessfully attacked Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Ridge.
At mid-day on July 3 the Confederates began an artillery bombardment of the Union positions on Cemetery Ridge. Just before 2:00 p.m.ten infantry brigades, about 15,000 men, from Longstreet’s corps advanced over open fields against the Union center in a movement that has become known as Pickett’s Charge. Moving toward a clump of trees near a part of the line called “the Angle,” the Confederate assault advanced the last several hundred yards under heavy fire from Union infantry and canister rounds. The Confederate left began to collapse under the fire, and hand-to-hand combat broke out in “the Angle” where Union lines were momentarily breached. Additional Union units were forwarded to help beat back the Confederate assault, which is often referred to as the “High Tide” of the Confederacy. The Confederate force then began to retreat back toward Seminary Ridge. The next day the Army of Northern Virginia began to withdraw toward the Potomac.
With about 51,000 casualties over three days, the Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle during the Civil War. The Confederate defeat at Gettysburg, coupled with a nearly simultaneous Confederate surrender at Vicksburg,Mississippi, is seen by many as the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. Following the battle, on November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln came to Gettysburg to give “a few appropriate remarks” at a dedication of a cemetery for those who died at the Battle of Gettysburg, which has become known as the Gettysburg Address.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm
Stephen W. Sears, Gettysburg, 2004.
Carol Reardon, Pickett’s Charge in History and Memory, 1997.
Edwin B. Coddington, The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command, 1997.
Civil War Sites Advisory Commission’s Battle Summary:
http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/pa002.htm
Civil War Trust:
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg.html
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=15095
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=13319
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=13321
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=13523
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=14074
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=12961
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=21257
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=14934
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=15500
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=17036
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=14119
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=14921
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=17444
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=14987
Corbit’s Charge (Battle of Westminster)
Westminster, MD 21157During Corbit’s Charge, Union Captain Charles Corbit led a spirited charge against Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry division at Westminster, Maryland.
On June 28, 1863 two companies from the First Delaware Cavalry arrived in Westminster, Maryland to guard the depot of the Western Maryland Railroad. Meanwhile, three brigades of Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry division had crossed the Potomac River on June 27 and were heading north to Pennsylvania. In the late afternoon of June 29 Union Captain Charles Corbit received notice that Confederate cavalry was approaching town. Unaware of the size of the force, Corbit led about sixty horsemen on a charge through the streets of town. Corbit initially drove the Confederates back and a fierce fight ensued with both pistol and saber. Additional Confederate cavalry came forward and quickly overwhelmed the small Union force. Corbit and another Union officer were taken prisoner. Two Delawareans died and eleven were wounded. On the Confederate side, two men died and ten were wounded. The wounded of both sides were tended by local citizens. After the battle, Stuart and his cavalry spent the night in and around Westminster.
The cavalry clash in Westminster is one of many factors that delayed the arrival of Stuart’s cavalry until late in the second day during the Battle of Gettysburg. Critics contend that Stuart’s tardiness may have contributed to the Confederate defeat in Pennsylvania
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.westgov.com/explore/explore_preserve_events.html
http://www.carrollcountytourism.org/PDFs/Corbits-Charge-Tour.pdf
G. Thomas LeGore, “‘Corbit’s Charge’: The Battle of Westminster,” Catoctin History, Issue #7: 19-25.
Frederic Shriver Klein, ed., Just South of Gettysburg, Carroll County, Maryland in the Civil War: Personal Accounts and Descriptions of a Maryland Border County, 1861-1865, 1963.
Civil War Trails marker:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=13832
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=3024
Battle of Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry,WV (304)535-6029 http://www.nps.gov/hafe/index.htmDuring the Battle of Harpers Ferry, three separate Confederate commands surrounded the town and recorded the single largest capture of Union troops during the war.
During the Maryland Campaign of 1862, Confederate commander General Robert E. Lee had expected the Union troops garrisoning Harpers Ferry and Martinsburg, Virginia to be withdrawn. When he realized that neither town had been evacuated, on September 9 Lee devised Special Orders 191. The orders divided the Confederate army into a number of separate parts, three of which were directed to surround Harpers Ferry. Under the overall command of Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, on September 10 the three columns got underway. The command under Brig. Gen. John G. Walker occupied Loudoun Heights to the southeast of Harpers Ferry. The column led by Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws approached Harpers Ferry from the north and ascended Maryland Heights. Jackson moved toward Harpers Ferry from the west after first capturing Martinsburg. The Union troops holding Martinsburg, commanded by Brig. Gen. Julius White, withdrew to Harpers Ferry. By September 14 the Confederates were in position on the high ground that surrounded Harpers Ferry, and artillery fire was exchanged. Jackson directed Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill to move his forces along the Shenandoah River so as to flank the Union position on Bolivar Heights. Hill was able to place them within 1,000 yard of the Union left flank. During the night, however, 1,500 Union cavalrymen made a successful escape from the town.
On the morning of September 15, Confederate artillery opened fire on Harpers Ferry. Following a two hour bombardment, the Union garrison surrendered. After the white flag had been raised, Union commander Col. Dixon Miles was struck by a shell fragment, one of the last rounds that had been fired during the battle, and died. Jackson captured 12,700 Union soldiers, which was the largest single capture of Union troops during the war. He also captured 13,000 arms and 47 pieces of artillery.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.nps.gov/hafe/index.htm
http://www.nps.gov/hafe/historyculture/1862-battle-of-harpers-ferry.htm
James V. Murfin, The Gleam of Bayonets: The Battle of Antietam and Robert E. Lee’s Maryland Campaign, September 1862, 1965; reprint, 1982.
Civil War Sites Advisory Commission’ Battle Summary:
http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/wv010.htm
Civil War Trust:
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/harpers-ferry.html
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5350
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=23320
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=20532
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5395
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5351
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5322
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5391
Battle of Monocacy
Frederick, MD 21704 (301)662-3515 http://www.nps.gov/mono/index.htmThe Battle of Monocacy, often called “The Battle that Saved Washington,” delayed the Confederate army’s march on Washington,D.C.until after Union reinforcements arrived.
Hoping to alleviate pressure upon the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia at Petersburg, Virginia, General Robert E. Lee ordered Lt. Gen. Jubal Early to lead his 15,000-man corps across the Potomac and to threaten Washington, D.C. Early began to cross the Potomac on July 4 near Shepherdstown, West Virginia and reached Frederick, Maryland on July 8.
Union Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace, who commanded the Middle Department, Eighth Army Corps, with headquarters in Baltimore, organized a scratch force of less than 7,000 men to confront Early and advanced with them to Monocacy Junction. On July 9 the battle began. After some early morning skirmishing at Monocacy Junction, at around 10:00 a.m.Confederate cavalry forded the Monocacy River below the Junction and forced Union cavalry to retreat. The Confederates clashed with Union infantry commanded by Brig. Gen. James Ricketts. Another Confederate attack was made at Monocacy Junction in the late morning, prompting Wallace to order the covered bridge over the river burned, which stranded the Union force west of the Monocacy River. In the late afternoon the Confederates made a series of attacks on Rickett’s battle line. After an attack on the weakened Union right flank, Wallace ordered his force, also low on ammunition, to retreat. They made their way toward Gambrill Mills and then to Baltimore. Early’s exhausted men camped on the battlefield.
The Battle of Monocacy was the only Confederate military victory in the North. The stubborn defense put up by Wallace’s outnumbered force, however, delayed Early’s advance against Washington,D.C.It gave additional time for Union reinforcements to arrive at Washington and swell the city’s defenses. Early advanced to the outskirts of the capital and probed for weaknesses, but chose not to risk an attack against the string of reinforced forts that surrounded it.
See these sources and websites for additional information
http://www.nps.gov/mono/index.htm
Monocacy National Battlefield Staff, The Battle of Monocacy, July 9, 1964 [Handbook] 2010.
Brett W. Spaulding, Last Chance for Victory: Jubal Early’s 1864 Maryland Invasion, 2010.
National Historical Landmarks summary:
http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=687&ResourceType=Site
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter F-3-042 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Civil War Sites Advisory Commission’s Battle Summary:
http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/md007.htm
Civil War Trust: http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/monocacy.html
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=3218
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=41915
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=41916
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=3270
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=3271
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=3247
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=3246
Zion Lutheran Church
107 West Main Street Middletown, MD 21769The Zion Lutheran Church was used as a hospital following the battles of South Mountain and Antietam.
In April of 1860, Lutherans in Middletown celebrated their first service in a new church building. Two and a half years later, following the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, the building was turned into a hospital for wounded soldiers. Pews were removed and replaced by cots, and church services were moved to a nearby hall. In January 1863 the building was returned to the Lutherans, along with $2,395 to pay for damages. The Lutherans returned to the church for worship services in August 1863.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Charles S. Adams, The Civil War in Frederick County, Maryland – A Guide to 49 Historic Points of Interest(Shepherdstown, WV: The Author, 1995):22
http://www.zionmiddletown.org/about/history.html
