See The Sites
Storer College
Fillmore Street Harpers Ferry WV 25425 http://www.nps.gov/hafe/historyculture/storer-college.htmStorer College was founded after the Civil War when a philanthropist donated $10,000 for the establishment of a school without regard to a student’s race, sex, or religion.
In 1865 Rev. Nathan Cook Brackett founded the Freewill Baptist School at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The School was located in the Lockwood House, formerly the U.S. Armory Paymaster’s home on Camp Hill. Brackett’s efforts inspired philanthropist John Storer, who lived in Sanford, Maine, to donate $10,000 for the establishment of a school in the South without regard to a student’s race, sex, or religion. Additionally, the donation had to be matched within a year and the school had to become a degree-granting college. The money was raised, and on October 2, 1867, Storer Normal School was opened at Harpers Ferry. Two years later the U.S. government transferred the Lockwood House and three other buildings on Camp Hill to the school. Frederick Douglass was an early trustee of the College.
Many local residents opposed the school, however, and over the years teachers and students were occasionally taunted or assaulted. The college primarily trained students to become teachers, but courses in higher education and industrial training were eventually added. In 1906 the campus was the location of the second conference of W.E.B. DuBois’s Niagara Movement, the predecessor of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1954 legal segregation ended with the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision, Brown v. Board of Education. The decision also ended federal and state funding for the school, however, and it closed in 1955. In 1960 the campus of Storer College was incorporated into Harpers Ferry National Monument. Today the National Park Service owns the former Storer College property and uses Anthony Hall as the Stephen T. Mather Training Center.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.nps.gov/hafe/historyculture/storer-college.htm
http://www.nps.gov/hafe/historyculture/upload/Storer%20College.pdf
Dawne Raines Burke, An American Phoenix: A History of Storer College from Slavery to Desegregation, 1865–1955, 2006.
National Register of Historic Places summary:
http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/jefferson/01000781.pdf
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.wv0367
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.wv0368
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.wv0369
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.wv0370
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.wv0371
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.wv0372
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.wv0403
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.wv0162
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2937
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=10180
Site of John Brown Hanging - Gibson-Todd House
515 S. Samuel Street Charles Town, WV 25414The Gibson-Todd House was the site where John Brown was hanged for his failed raid against the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry.
The Gibson-Todd House in Charles Town, West Virginia, was the location where John Brown was hanged on December 2, 1859 for his failed raid against the U.S. Arsenal in Harpers Ferry. Brown’s six fellow conspirators were also hanged at the same place, four on December 16, 1859 and the last two on March 16, 1860. At the time of the raid, Col. John T. Gibson commanded the Jefferson Guards, which was the first Virginia militia company to arrive at Harpers Ferry. At the hanging, Gibson commanded about 800 troops who were on duty to keep order and prevent any attempt to rescue Brown. The site was then part of a farm owned by Rebecca Hunter.
During the Civil War Gibson served as an officer in the Confederate army. After the war, he returned to Jefferson County and in 1892 built the Gibson-Todd House. The gallows stood just north of the house.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.historiccharlestownwv.com/landmarks.htm
Millard K. Bushong, Historic Jefferson County, 1973.
National Register of Historic Places summary:
http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/jefferson/83003238.pdf
Civil War Trails marker:
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=41650
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=12603
Antietam Aqueduct
Canal Road, confluence of Potomac River & Antietam Creek Sharpsburg, MD 21782 C&O Canal National Historical Park: (301) 739-4200Confederate troops inflicted heavy damage to the Antietam Aqueduct during the Monocacy Campaign in July 1864.
The fourth of eleven stone aqueducts on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, the Antietam Aqueduct was completed in 1835 to carry the canal over Antietam Creek. In July 1864, during the Monocacy Campaign, the Confederates inflicted serious damage to the Antietam Aqueduct. In an effort to disrupt a Union supply line, soldiers tore out much of the masonry on both sides of the structure and removed some of the stonework from two of the arches. By the end of September, however, the company had completed enough repairs to the aqueduct to resume navigation.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/choh/unrau_hrs.pdf
Timothy R. Snyder, Trembling in the Balance: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal During the Civil War (Boston: Blue Mustang Press, 2011), 199, 200–201, 212–213.
National Register of Historic Places: http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/66000036.pdf
Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) documentation: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md0616
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0124 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Conococheague Aqueduct
Confluence of Conococheague Creek and the Potomac River Williamsport, MD 21975 C&O Canal National Historical Park: (301) 739-4200The Conococheague Aqueduct was damaged by Union troops during the Antietam Campaign and by the Confederates in the Gettysburg and Monocacy campaigns.
The fifth of eleven stone aqueducts, the Conococheague Aqueduct was completed in late 1835 to carry the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal over Conococheague Creek. While the Battle of Antietam was raging, Union General George B. McClellan ordered Capt. Charles Russell of the 1st Maryland Cavalry and some Pennsylvania militia units to Williamsport to destroy the means by which the Confederates might cross the Potomac River or canal. An unsuccessful attempt was made to destroy the Conococheauge Aqueduct, but only minor damage was inflicted.
In the Gettysburg Campaign the Confederates committed extensive damage to the Conococheauge Aqueduct. Work parties tore out the masonry on each of the four corners of the structure down to the bottom of the canal. A large hole was also made in one of the aqueduct’s arches nearly the width of the canal and ranging from six to ten feet in length. During the Monocacy Campaign and subsequent screening operations in July–August 1864, the Confederates again damaged the Conococheague Aqueduct, although much less extensively than they had in 1863.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/choh/unrau_hrs.pdf
Timothy R. Snyder, Trembling in the Balance: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal During the Civil War (Boston: Blue Mustang Press, 2011), 130, 160, 171, 200, 204.
National Register of Historic Places: http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/66000036.pdf
Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) documentation: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/md1492/ and http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/md0627/
Civil War Trails Marker: http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=1118
Dam Number 4
Dam No. 4 Road C&O Canal Washington County, MD C&O Canal National Historical Park: (301) 739-4200The Confederates attempted to damage Dam Number 4 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in June and December 1861.
Dam Number 4, located fifteen miles below Williamsport, was the fourth of seven dams built in the Potomac River to impound and divert water from the river into the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Construction of the dam commenced September 1832 and was completed in June 1835. The dam was initially built of cribs, which were hollow cages built of heavy timbers that were anchored to the riverbed, filled with rock and sheeted with planks. A series of floods in 1857 seriously damaged Dam Number 4. Temporary repairs were made and in 1861, a contractor replaced the crib dam with a masonry structure.
Before evacuating Harpers Ferry, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston sent work parties to the Potomac to breech Dam Number 4, hoping to disable the canal prior to his evacuation of Harpers Ferry. On June 10, 1861, the Confederates made their first attempt, but were unable to harm the new masonry structure. On June 13 the Confederates were observed drilling holes in the solid rock abutment of the dam for a black powder charge, but they were driven away by the Sharpsburg Rifles and another company from Boonsboro.
On December 11 Confederate Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson sent a small force, led by Turner Ashby, to disable Dam Number 4. In the mid-morning the Confederates fired artillery rounds at the Twelfth Indiana Volunteers who protected the dam on the Maryland side. A raiding party with boats approached the river opposite the guard lock about a mile above the dam, while another party approached the river at a gristmill below the dam. Heavy infantry fire from the Union side compelled Ashby to withdrawn his men. Later a small number of Indiana soldiers crossed to Virginia to determine if the Confederates had left and were taken prisoner. No damage was done to the dam.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/choh/unrau_hrs.pdf
Timothy R. Snyder, Trembling in the Balance: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal During the Civil War (Boston: Blue Mustang Press, 2011), 20–21, 22, 28, 44, 45, 80, 83.
National Register of Historic Places: http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/66000036.pdf
Dam Number 5
Dam No. 5 Rd. C&O Canal Washington County, MD C&O Canal National Historical Park: (301) 739-4200The Confederates attempted to damage Dam Number 5 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in June 1861, and three more times between December 1861 and early January 1862.
Dam Number 5, located seven miles above Williamsport, was the fifth of seven dams built in the Potomac River to impound and divert water from the river into the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. The dam was built of cribs, which were hollow cages built of heavy timbers that were anchored to the riverbed, filled with rock and sheeted with planks. Construction of the dam commenced March 1833 and was completed in December 1834. A series of floods in 1857 seriously damaged Dam Number 5, at one point washing out 500 feet of the structure. Temporary repairs were made, but financial difficulties prevented the canal company from undertaking permanent restoration of the dam prior to the Civil War.
Before evacuating Harpers Ferry in June 1861, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston sent work parties to the Potomac to breech Dam Number 5, hoping to disable the canal prior to his evacuation of Harpers Ferry. On June 8 the Confederates set off a powder charge in the dam and over the next two days skirmished with the Clear Spring and Williamsport home guards. No significant damage was done to the dam.
In December 1861 and early 1862 troops from Confederate Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s command made a series of attempts to disable Dam Number 5. From December 6–8 a force led by Turner Ashby attempted to cut the cribs and to dig a trench to divert water around the southern abutment of the dam. Strong defensive positions and heavy fire from Union infantry forced Ashby to abandon the undertaking. From December 17–20 Jackson accompanied his brigade to the Potomac for another attempt to damage the dam. Demonstrations were made against Falling Waters and Williamsport and a work detail attempted to cut the cribs after dark. All attempts to inflict damage to the dam were unsuccessful until the last night when Jackson sent a sizable portion of his force upriver with boats. The Union defenders followed, which gave Jackson’s men an evening to work without detection. When the work party heard timber cracking, they assumed they had made a significant breech. Jackson left the river, but soon learned that canal navigation had resumed. On January 1 a small force under Ashby arrived at the dam again, where they spend two more nights widening the breach. The damage to the dam was not significant enough to halt navigation on the waterway, although a serious winter flood in late January accomplished the task for Jackson.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/choh/unrau_hrs.pdf
Timothy R. Snyder, Trembling in the Balance: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal During the Civil War (Boston: Blue Mustang Press, 2011), 20–21, 76, 79–80, 83–85, 99.
National Register of Historic Places: http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/66000036.pdf
Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) documentation: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/md0593/
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-V-085 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=23561
Bowen’s Chapel and School
4070 Bark Hill Road Union Bridge, MD, 21791The Bowens Chapel and School structure was an important part of the African-American community in the general Union Bridge Area.
A group of nine trustees who had split from the all-black Mt. Olivet congregation purchased the lot for the chapel in 1867. The deed for the lot notes that the intended purpose for the lot was to provide a school for the “colored part of the population of Uniontown District” with the assistance of the Freedmen’s Bureau. Though the building was soon completed with the aid of a few local citizens and the Bureau, and was officially listed as a school in Bureau records, it served much more early on as a meeting place and house of worship than as a school. This reflects the critical importance of a religious meeting place for African-American Union Bridge citizens, an importance that trumped even that of education. Bowen’s Chapel initially associated itself with the African Union Methodist Protestant Church, the first fully independent African American denomination.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter CARR-1092 in search box to right of “Site No.”) (Note: entry may not yet be up on Maryland Inventory website)
Union Street Methodist Episcopal Church
22 Union Street Westminster, MD 21157 410-861-5822 http://www.gbgm-umc.org/unionstreet/
The Union Street Methodist Episcopal Church was an African-American church founded by Reverend John Baptist Snowden in 1867.
Reverend John Baptist Snowden was born a slave in Westminster in 1801. He began to preach locally at the age of twenty-one and bought his freedom shortly thereafter. He helped found the Washington Conference in 1864, an organization of African American Methodists in Maryland and Washington, D.C. Part of his duties included overseeing the Western Chapel Charge in Carroll County, and he was approached by a delegate from Westminster in 1866 about building a Methodist Episcopal Church in that town. The church on Union Street was built in 1867 on land donated by Amos and Rebecca Bell, with Snowden as one of the five original trustees. After the Civil War, the church sponsored a Freedman’s Bureau school. Classes began by January 1868 and were held in the church until the completion of the schoolhouse in November 1869.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) documentation: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.md1000 (Union Street district)
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter CARR-503 in search box to right of “Site No.”) (Note: entry may not yet be up on Maryland Inventory website)
Simon Murdock House
2824 Wakefield Valley Road New Windsor, MD 21776Simon Murdock was a Civil War veteran and an important member of the New Windsor African-American community following the war.
Simon Murdock, a farmer in the New Windsor area, enlisted in Company F of the 4th Regiment United States Colored Troops on August 4, 1863, at the age of twenty-six. He was struck on the forehead by a shell on June 15, 1864, near Petersburg, Virginia and sent to Summit House General Hospital in Philadelphia. He was honorably discharged from the hospital on May 5, 1865, with a Certificate of Disability. Though he never fully recovered from his wound, Murdock was still very active in the New Windsor community. He was a member, and also president, of the local New Windsor veterans’ organization for African-American Civil War soldiers, the Thaddeus Stevens Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). He married Cecilia Murdock in 1870 and lived in New Windsor as a farm laborer. He and Cecilia saw seven children live to adulthood and took in many of their grandchildren. Murdock died in April 1933, well into his nineties.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter CARR-1716 in search box to right of “Site No.”) (Note: entry may not yet be up on Maryland Inventory website)
Carroll County Farm Museum
500 South Center Street Westminster, MD 21157 410-386-3880 http://www.carrollcountyfarmmuseum.org/The fields around this former almshouse served as a staging point during the Battle of Gettysburg.
This complex of historic buildings began its existence in 1852 as the Carroll County Almshouse, and served in that capacity until 1965, when it was acquired by the county’s Department of Tourism, and became the Carroll County Farm Museum in 1966. During the week of June 28th-July 4th, 1863, it also served as a “point of entry and service center” for both Union and Confederate troops fighting in the Battle of Gettysburg, who filled the surrounding meadows and fields with men, mules, and wagons. The skirmish between General J.E.B. Stuart and a mixed group of Union troops, known as “Corbit’s Charge,” also took place in the fields behind the almshouse on June 29th, 1863.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.carrollcountyfarmmuseum.org/
National Register of Historic Places Summary:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter CARR-38 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Daniel Stouffer House
212 Main Street New Windsor, MD 21776General Bradley T. Johnson made his headquarters here during his raid on New Windsor in July, 1864. Because General Johnson had connections to Mr. Stouffer’s wife, this home was one of the few properties in New Windsor not looted by Confederate soldiers during the raid.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://newwindsoronline.com/content/daniel-stouffer-house-212-main-street
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter CARR-1494 in search box to right of “Site No.” Info is on pages 44-45.)
John Forney’s Undertaking Shop
15 West Broadway Street Union Bridge, MD 21791This shop prepared and iced the body of Union Major-General John Fulton Reynolds, killed at Gettysburg.
Major-General John Reynolds was killed by a sharpshooter on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863. His body was taken to Union Bridge where it was iced down and prepared for shipment to Baltimore, as Union Bridge was at the time the western terminus of the Western Maryland Railway. Union Bridge cabinetmaker John Hollenberger made the coffin.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
‘Roads to Gettysburg’ Pamphlet: http://www.carrollcountytourism.org/PDFs/Civil-War-Driving-Tour-2.pdf
Westminster Opera House (Odd Fellows Hall)
[CC ID no. 117, MHT no. CARR-382] 140 E. Main Street (MD 32) Westminster, MD, 21157An entertainer was found decapitated outside following a satirical show depicting Federal leaders.
Plans were drawn up for an opera house here, the site of a former tanning yard and shop, by the International Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) in 1850, and the new building was complete by 1854, when it was sold to the Odd Fellows for $375. It was very much a community building, both during the Civil War and for many years afterwards. It served as the headquarters for the 17-member, strongly anti-Southern provost guard, Lieutenant Bowman’s 150th New York Infantry. It became the home of the Westminster Library in 1863, and frequently hosted “soirees” on behalf of the local dancing academy, despite the war raging in the background. Sometime during the Reconstruction period after the war, it reportedly held a satirical show portraying Lincoln, Grant, and other Federal leaders; it is said that the next morning an entertainer was found decapitated in the rear stables. An evening that received a much better reception was a speech given by Frederick Douglass in October 1870, who was highly praised by the local paper the next day.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter CARR-382 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Sherman-Fisher-Shellman House
206 East Main Street Westminster, MD 21157Confederate General Bradley T. Johnson and Colonel Harry Gilmor made this house their headquarters for a few hours in July 1864 during their raid through Maryland.
Gen. Bradley Johnson and Col. Harry Gilmor spent a few hours in the house during their raid through Maryland in July 1864. The house was built by Jacob Sherman in 1807 and later inhabited by the Shellman family for eighty years. Mary Bostwick Shellman, who lived in the house as a girl, recalled:
“Soldiers often passed through Westminster during the remaining months of the war but it was not until the summer of 1864 that the Cavalry force, under the command of Genl. Bradley J. Johnson and Major Harry Gilmore made their famous raid extending to the very doors of Baltimore, that we were again visited by the Rebels. Our house was made headquarters during their brief stay, they only remaining a few hours.”
Earlier, in 1863, a fourteen-year-old Shellman had another, perhaps more intimate encounter with a Confederate General. She and other children were out in the streets watching General J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalry ride by, and unable to contain herself, she yelled out ‘Johnny Reb’ at Stuart. Her derision did not fall upon deaf ears:
“Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, noting my antagonism, amidst the pronounced joy of my companions, had shown me unusual courtesy and called me his little captive, and given me the much wished for kiss, and therefore, I was an object of envy and under the ban.”
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Mary Bostwick Shellman, Recollections of “Stuart’s Raid” Through Maryland and Westminster’s Part in the “Battle of Gettysburg” (Historical Society of Carroll County) 2007. Note: Quotes above from this source.
See Carroll County Historical Society for more information: http://hscc.carr.org/property/Shellman.htm
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter CARR-136 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Carroll County Courthouse
Court Street Westminster, MD 21157The Carroll County Courthouse served as a meeting place for Union sympathizers as tensions ran high during the war.
The Courthouse was built in 1838 and is still in use today. A simple but dignified structure, it serves as a good example of ante-bellum Greek architectural style, with its heavy columns and monumental portico. The courthouse with its high-flying Union flag was an important focal point for Carroll County Unionists during the war, making it an attractive target for Confederate forces. To protect the flag while Confederate general J.E.B. Stuart was passing through town on June 29, 1863, Abraham Huber, clerk of the court, took down the flag flying from the courthouse cupola and locked it in the vault in the clerk’s office. Gen. Stuart ordered Capt. John Esten Cooke and some of his men to retrieve the flag. The detail broke into the vault and removed the flag which they presented to Stuart. The flag had been made by 13 local women, organized by Huber’s wife, Mollie, who had signed their names on the stars.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter CARR-558 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
John Brooke Boyle House
70 East Main Street Westminster, MD 21157The John Brooke Boyle House, also called “Rosser’s Choice,” is the site where Confederate Colonel Thomas Lafayette Rosser spent a night while leading his cavalry regiment through Westminster in September 1862.
During the Antietam Campaign, Confederate Colonel Thomas Lafayette Rosser and his Fifth Virginia Cavalry spent the night of September 11, 1862, at the John Brooke Boyle House after raiding local Union forces. Rosser and his men remained only one night before continuing on toward Sharpsburg. Before leaving Westminster, Rosser managed to capture the local Union provost marshal and destroy Union enrollment books for the draft.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
“Roads to Gettysburg” Pamphlet: http://www.carrollcountytourism.org/PDFs/Civil-War-Driving-Tour-2.pdf
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter CARR-433 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Pine Grove Chapel
S. Main Street Mount Airy, MD, 21771Pine Grove Chapel was occupied by the Northern army as a barracks for troops guarding the railroad.
Pine Grove Chapel (formerly Ridge Presbyterian Church) was founded in 1846 on land donated by Henry and Eliza Bussard, one of the first families in Mount Airy. The church was constructed by slaves owned by Bussard and two other men. It offered not only church services but also a private school, located in the basement, to the Mount Airy community. Both services were halted during the Civil War when the Northern army took control of the church as a barracks for Company K of the 14th New Jersey Infantry. Company K guarded both the B & O Railroad, a major link in the North’s supply chain, as well as the crossroads in Ridgeville (now incorporated into modern-day Mount Airy). While the officers and men slept on pews in the church building, a mess tent was erected behind the church, in what is now the cemetery. Reportedly, “a sick and delirious soldier who wandered into Ridgeville and died” was the first person to be buried behind the church. Following the war, the church resumed services, though the basement school was then public.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
“Roads to Gettysburg” Pamphlet: http://www.carrollcountytourism.org/PDFs/Civil-War-Driving-Tour-2.pdf
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter CARR-964 in search box to right of “Site No.” Info is on pages 2, 5 and 7.)
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=12493
White Rock United Methodist Church
6300 White Rock Road Sykesville, MD, 21784 410-795-1110White Rock Church was built in 1868, probably by newly-freed black citizens.
The White Rock Church was built in 1868, barely four years after Maryland’s emancipation of her slaves. Its founding members were probably former slaves, to whom a church was a symbol of freedom and independence. The church’s cemetery contains members of black families that are still prominent in the Sykesville area.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter CARR-1011 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Antrim
30 Trevanion Road Taneytown, MD, 21787 410-756-6812Antrim served as Union General Meade’s headquarters in the days preceding the Battle of Gettysburg.
Built in 1844, this home was Union General Meade’s headquarters in late June 1863 as he awaited a clash with Confederate General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, which was making its way north. Meade, newly appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac, had set up his forces along the “Pipe Creek Defense Line,” a twenty-mile stretch of hills along Big Pipe Creek with Taneytown at its center, to prevent the Confederates from advancing eastward to Baltimore. Instead of challenging Meade’s defenses, however, Lee’s army turned north and moved into Pennsylvania, forcing the Union Army to follow them to their ultimate confrontation at Gettysburg, over the first three days of July 1863.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
National Register of Historic Places summary: http://mht.maryland.gov/nr/NRDBDetail.aspx?HDID=433
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter CARR-264 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
John Brown House
225 E. King Street Chambersburg, PA 17201 (717) 264-1667 http://johnbrownhouse.tripod.com/index.htmlJohn Brown rented a room in this house while preparing for his raid on Harpers Ferry.
Home of the famous abolitionist John Brown from June until mid-October 1859. Working under the pseudonym “”Dr. Issac Smith”" as an iron mine developer and Sunday school teacher, he formulated plans and secured weapons for his ill-fated 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. Visitors to Brown’s residence included co-conspirators Frederick Douglass, Shields Green, J. Henry Kagi (also operating under the pseudonym of John Henry), and other abolitionist leaders.
The oldest section of this building probably dates to 1820-1840. In 1849, it was purchased by Abram Ritner; following his death in 1851, his widow Mary expanded the building and opened it as a boarding house. Her most famous boarder rented an upstairs bedroom from June to mid-October, 1859. John Brown lived in this house under the alias Dr. Isaac Smith, claiming he was a developer of iron mines. While here, he bought tools from a local business, Lemnos Edge Iron Works, and stored them, along with the weapons he was concurrently stockpiling, in a local warehouse. These were later sent to the Kennedy Farm in Washington County, MD. Brown was visited in Chambersburg by Frederick Douglas, Shields Green, and John Henry Kagi (the latter two members of his raid), as well as other abolitionist leaders. After the failed insurrection at Harpers Ferry, several raiders returned to Chambersburg, asking Mary Ritner to help them. She hid them in a nearby grove, allowing them to escape successfully.
The house evaded damage during the Confederate destruction of Chambersburg, being just outside the downtown area that was torched. Today, the John Brown House is open to the public for tours.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://johnbrownhouse.tripod.com/index.html
http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/travel/underground/pa2.htm
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=8103
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=18531
Harrison Hall
205 N. King St Leesburg, VA 20175On September 4, 1862, General Robert E. Lee met here with his officers to plan their advance into Maryland that led ultimately to the Battle of Antietam.
Located at 205 N. King Street in Leesburg, Harrison Hall was built in 1780. On October 21, 1861, ladies of the house watched the Battle of Ball’s Bluff from the upper-story windows. Afterward, wounded soldiers were cared for at the Hall, including Col. E.R. Burt of the 18th Mississippi, who died there four days after the battle. During the course of the war, the Hall enjoyed a reputation as a hospitality center for visiting Confederate officers. On September 4, 1862, its most prominent guest arrived. Gen. Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, arrived in an ambulance wagon, and left with his two hands bandaged in splints after an accident with his horse Traveler. That night, Lee conducted a meeting in the front parlor of the house. In attendance were his top commanders, including Gens. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, James Longstreet, Lewis A. Armistead, and J.E.B. Stuart. They finalized plans for the invasion of Maryland, which would lead to the Battle of Antietam. Today, Harrison Hall is known as the Glenfiddich House. [Text from http://civilwar.visitloudoun.org]
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Loudoun Convention and Visitors Association “Civil War 150th” website: http://civilwar.visitloudoun.org
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=42333
Second Street School
15611 Second Street Waterford, VA 20197 Waterford Foundation: (540) 882 3018After the Civil War, Waterford Quaker Reuben Schooley sold property on Second Street to be used by the “colored people of Waterford and vicinity.” With assistance from the Freedmen’s Bureau, the local Quaker meeting, and Waterford’s African American community, a school for African American children was built on the property in 1867. This was the first school for African Americans in Waterford. The Waterford Foundation now offers educational programs about the Second Street School.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.waterfordhistory.org/history/second-street-school.htm
Morven Park
17263 Southern Planter Lane Leesburg, VA 20176 703 777-2414 http://www.morvenpark.org/
Morven Park was the home of Thomas Swann, Jr., former mayor of Baltimore, at the time of the Civil War.
Morven Park was the home of Baltimore’s former mayor, Thomas Swann, Jr., at the time of the Civil War. During the winter of 1861-62, following the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, Confederate soldiers of the 17th Mississippi Regiment built a camp on the property they named Camp Carolina. The soldiers’ huts were constructed of log with canvas or plank roofs. Each held four to six soldiers, and some had wood stoves installed inside. The mansion, where the officers stayed, had several Italianate-style towers rising above it, and many soldiers referred to it in their writings as “Swan’s Castle.” Today there are depressions and artifacts throughout the property where more than 60 Confederate soldier huts once stood. Replicas of those log huts have been constructed and provide the setting for portrayals of everyday camp life during special educational programs. Living “soldiers” share their war stories, with drilling and firing demonstrations for the public. [Text from http://civilwar.visitloudoun.org]
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Morven Park Website: http://www.morvenpark.org/
Loudoun Convention and Visitors Association “Civil War 150th” website: http://civilwar.visitloudoun.org
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1214
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=13676
Village of Waterford
Waterford, VA 20132Loudoun Independent Rangers, the only Union force from Virginia, was raised here in 1862 by Samuel Means, a Waterford miller.
Virginia’s only Union army was created in 1862 when Samuel C. Means, a Quaker and miller from Waterford, was offered a commission to raise an independent cavalry company. Despite the pacifism of their religion, some Quakers from Waterford and Lovettsville took up the fight and enlisted in the newly formed Loudoun Independent Rangers. On the night of August 26th, 1862, the Unionist Loudoun Rangers made their camp at Waterford, with most bivouacked for the evening in the Waterford Baptist Church. Early on the morning of the 27th, they were under Confederate attack. A few hours later, there was one dead on each side, but many lay wounded inside the church. Nineteen Union soldiers and officers surrendered that morning. The capture of White’s nemesis, Capt. Means, however, eluded him because Means had spent the night at a family house and escaped. The fight in Waterford is remembered for literally pitting brother against brother. Capt. Elijah V. White’s 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, known as White’s Comanches, was made up of men from the same area of Loudoun as the Rangers. When the Rangers surrendered outside the church, they surrendered to their former friends, neighbors, and relatives. In fact, two brothers fought on opposing sides in this battle. Later in the war, during Gen. Sheridan’s “Burning Raid” of 1864, Union soldiers burned Waterford barns to deny food for the Confederates and their horses. The village is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [Information from http://civilwar.visitloudoun.org]
See these sources and websites for additional information:
Loudoun Convention and Visitors Association “Civil War 150th” website: http://civilwar.visitloudoun.org
Schmucker Hall (Old Dorm) of Lutheran Theological Seminary
111 N West Confederate Ave. Gettysburg PA 17325 (800)658-8437 http://www.ltsg.edu/Schmucker Hall (Old Dorm) was used as an observation post by both sides during the Battle of Gettysburg, and it served as a hospital following the battle.
The Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was founded in 1826 by Samuel Simon Schmucker, an abolitionist who personally hid runaway slaves in his home and barn. It is the oldest continuing Lutheran seminary in North America. Schmucker Hall (Old Dorm) was completed in 1832. During the three-day Battle of Gettysburg, its cupola was used as an observation post by both sides. On the first day of the battle Union Brig. Gen. John Buford used it to observe Confederate troop movements. When the Confederates took control of the area, they used the cupola to watch Union troop movements. Following the battle, the building served as a Union field hospital for two months.
Until recently Schmucker Hall housed the Adams County Historical Society. The building is presently undergoing major renovations, with the expectation that the work will be completed by July 2013, the 150th anniversary of the battle.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://www.gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/Places/Seminary.php
http://www.ltsg.edu/LTSG-News/January-2012/REHABILITATION-OF-OLD-DORM-TO-BECOME-FLAGSHIP-OF-B
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.pa0007
Other markers: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=15304
Town of Sharpsburg
Sharpsburg MD 21782 (301)432-4428 http://sharpsburgmd.com/Sharpsburg, Maryland, suffered damage during the Battle of Antietam, and many of its buildings were used as hospitals after the battle.
In 1763 Joseph Chapline laid out the town of Sharpsburg, which was named to honor Maryland Colonial Governor Horatio Sharpe. At the time of the Civil War the town’s population was 1,300. At the September 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam, or the Battle of Sharpsburg, the town was behind Confederate lines. The armies incurred over 23,000 casualties during the battle and a number of the town’s buildings suffered damage. More damage was inflicted to the town after the battle when many of its building were used as hospitals.
Following the war, Antietam National Cemetery was established in Sharpsburg. It was dedicated on September 17, 1867, the fifth anniversary of the Battle of Antietam. In the decades that followed, Sharpsburg was often a destination for veterans and others arriving to tour the battlefield and visit the cemetery.
See these sources and websites for additional information:
http://sharpsburgmd.com/history/
http://www.nps.gov/anti/historyculture/antietam-national-cemetery.htm
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 Series, 2009.
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties: http://www.mdihp.net/ (Select “Search by Property” tab, and enter WA-II-0723 in search box to right of “Site No.”)
Civil War Trails marker: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1970
Other markers:
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1968 http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=6293 http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5903 http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=6268
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=6519
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=456
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. OnJune 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 at Point 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 onRichmond, 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.
Maryland Inventory 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.
Maryland Inventory 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.
Gettysburg College—then called Pennsylvania College—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
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
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.”)
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.”)
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 that Needwood Forest was 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 “Forest of Needwood” 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 of South Mountain and Antietam. 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 of Needwood Forest, a Southern Sympathizer, cared for Mell at the estate until the soldier’s death on Oct. 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
The Mansion House
2 South Main Street Mercersburg, PA 17236In the summer of 1862, Company C, 126th Pennsylvania Infantry held recruiting rallies in front of the mansion.
The mansion was built circa 1798 and used as a dormitory by Marshall College. It was acquired by Colonel Murphy in 1845 who managed it as a prominent hotel until 1864. In the summer of 1862, Company C, 126th Pennsylvania Infantry held recruiting rallies in the front of the mansion. On July 3, 1863, three scouts of the Virginia 12th Cavalry skirmished with two Federal infantrymen. One Confederate fled, one was captured, and Pvt. J.W. Albans was killed instantly.
Franklin County native James Buchanan addressed a political gathering from the balcony here in 1856, shortly before he attained the presidency.
See these sites and sources for additional information:
Mansion website: http://www.colonelmurphysmansionhouse.com/
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=8041
“Bridgeside,” Steiger Family House
120 North Main Street Mercersburg, PA 17236Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart stopped at the Steiger house in October, 1862, intending to use the house as his headquarters.
Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart stopped at the Steiger house in October, 1862, during the first Chambersburg Raid. He planned on using the house as his headquarters while his troops gathered supplies and civilian hostages from Mercersburg. Mrs. Steiger perhaps saved her family’s belongings by suggesting to Stuart that he not enter her home because her children had measles. Stuart complied and instead ate lunch on the side porch. Coincidentally, Stuart and his troops encountered George Steiger when they were leaving town later in the day (George was not home when Stuart had arrived). The Confederates seized Steiger’s horses and wagon and held him hostage. He was able to escape and traveled a circuitous route home to avoid capture. He finally arrived home at 1:00 a.m. to the shock and delight of his family and neighbors.
See these sites and sources for additional information:
The Steiger House is now a Bed and Breakfast: http://steigerhouse.com/index.html
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=18534
