See The Sites
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
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 2178Following 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
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
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.”)
“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
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 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. On June 28, 1863, General Joseph Hooker, commander of the Army of the Potomac, 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.”)
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
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=18536
Winger House
Northeast corner of Routes 75 and 995 intersection, Claylick Mercersburg, PA 17236On October 10, 1862, Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalrymen captured ten Mercersburg citizens, including Joseph Winger, the postmaster of nearby Claylick.
General J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalrymen passed through Mercersburg on their way to Chambersburg on October 10, 1862. They captured ten Mercersburg citizens, including Joseph Winger, the postmaster of nearby Claylick. Some captives were soon released because of their age, while others, including Winger, were taken to Richmond’s Libby Prison and paroled some months later. Winger’s son, Benjamin, became a colonel for the Union Army and was responsible for recruiting volunteers from the Chambersburg area in the fall of 1862. After the war, he and his unit were responsible for helping to reconstruct ravaged south-central Virginia.
See these sites and sources for additional information:
Greencastle Museum information:http://www.greencastlemuseum.org/Special_Exhibits/civil_war.htm
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=8030
Chambersburg Raids
Blairs Valley Road Mercersburg, PA 17236This road served as a popular entry point for Confederate forces invading Pennsylvania.
On October 10, 1862, Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart entered Pennsylvania. Among his goals was the destruction of an iron bridge at Chambersburg. Stuart’s men were unable to fully destroy the bridge, though they seized horses, food, ammunition, and hostages. They then moved on to Chambersburg, where they took more horses, cut telegraph wires, and burned railroad shops. They departed back into Maryland near Emmitsburg the following day.
On July 29, 1864, Confederate General John McCausland’s cavalry unit, numbering 2,800 men, marched north on this road. They reached Chambersburg the next day and demanded a 100,000 dollar (in gold) or a 500,000 dollar (in Union currency) ransom for the town. When the residents failed to raise the ransom, McCausland and his men burned the town, destroying more than 500 structures and leaving more than 2,000 citizens homeless. Between the fire and drunken Confederate soldiers looting homes and abusing civilians, the total damage was estimated to be 1.6 million dollars. In retaliation, mobs of angry townspeople killed several soldiers. Not all Confederates acted with wanton abandon; some helped citizens escape with their valuables, and one officer, Colonel William Peters, refused to take part in the burning, for which McCausland arrested him. Chambersburg was the only Northern town to be destroyed by Confederates, and the raid helped to inspire the Union to adopt a more aggressive strategy for the remainder of the war.
See these sites and sources for additional information:
“Explore Franklin County” brochure: http://www.explorefranklincountypa.com/pdf/FCVB-Civil-War.pdf
Historical Marker Database: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=43132
