Gettysburg Campaign
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MARYLAND CIVIL WAR TRAILS How to Use this Map-Guide This guide depicts four scenic and historic driving tours that follow the routes taken by Union and Confederate armies during the June-July 1863 Gettysburg Campaign. Information contained here and along the Trail tells stories that have been hidden within the landscape for more than 140 years. Follow the bugle trailblazer signs to waysides that chronicle the day-to-day stories of soldiers who marched toward the Civil War’s most epic battles and civilians who, for a second time in nine months, watched their countryside trampled by the boots of the “Blue and Gray.” The Trail can be driven in one, two or three days depending on traveler preference. Destinations like Rockville, Westminster, Frederick, Hagerstown and Cumberland offer walking tours that can be enjoyed all-year long. Recreational activities such as hiking, biking, paddling and horseback riding add a different, yet powerful dimension to the driving experience. Amenities along the Trail include dining, lodging, shopping, and attractions, which highlight Maryland’s important role in the Civil War. For more detailed travel information, stop by any Maryland Welcome Center, local Visitor Center or contact any of the organizations listed in this guide. For additional Civil War Trails information, visit www.civilwartrails.org. For more travel information, visit www.mdwelcome.org. Tim Tadder, www.tadderphotography.com Tadder, Tim Biking through C&O Canal National Historical Park. Follow these signs to more than 1,000 Civil War sites. Detail of painting “Serious Work Ahead” by Civil War Artist Dale Gallon, www.gallon.com, (717) 334-0430. H THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN H he Battle of Gettysburg lasted The Shenan- three days. The Gettysburg Cam- doah Valley in Vir- paign took 35 days, with most of ginia and the Cum- T the advance and retreat occurring berland Valley in in Maryland. The first battle of the cam- Maryland became paign—the largest cavalry engagement of Lee’s avenue of inva- the Civil War—occurred on June 9, 1863, at sion. By June 15, Brandy Station, Virginia, on the Orange & Lee’s army had Alexandria Railroad. Despite being sur- cleared its path with prised, Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart ral- a victory at the lied and held the high ground at the end of Second Battle of Win- the day, thus protecting Gen. Robert E. chester. Throughout Lee’s right flank. the next week, the Lee was moving north. Motivated by Confederates Gen. Robert E. Lee his recent stunning victories at Freder- splashed northward icksburg and Chancellorsville, he decided across the Potomac River at Boteler’s Ford to launch a second invasion into Union ter- and at Williamsport, then marched through ritory. The first incursion had ended nine Western Maryland towns like Hagerstown months earlier with the Confederate retreat and Smithsburg. The bulk of the 75,000 Con- from Antietam. This time Lee intended to federates entered Pennsylvania by June 25. carry the war across the Mason and Dixon Meanwhile, the U.S. Army searched des- Line into Pennsylvania. perately for the Confederates. The Blue Ridge Mountains effectively screened Lee’s The Confederate cavalry crossing the movements, and Union cavalry probes at Potomac River, June 11, 1863. H THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN H HARRISBURG Carlisle PENNSYLVANIA Wrightsville Dover York Chambersburg Cashtown GETTYSBURG Hanover Greencastle MASON AND DIXON LINE Waynesboro Emmitsburg BigPipe Creek Hagerstown Manchester Taneytown Williamsport Middleburg Westminster Martinsburg Sharpsburg Frederick Bunker MARYLAND & O h i Hill ( B a l t i m o r e o R R ) Harpers Ferry BALTIMORE Stephenson Depot R Stuart’s E V I Route Berryville R Winchester H A O Leesburg ND A N E Rockville H Upperville S P Aldie Dranesville O T O Middleburg M A C R I Front Royal V E Fairfax R WASHINGTON, D.C. Salem Court House (Marshall) Fairfax Station Centreville r i a R R ) A l e x a n d e & a n g Manassas Junction ( O r Warrenton MEADE (Hooker) Sperryville Brandy R A Station P P Stafford A H Court House Kelly’s A Culpeper N N O C Court House Ford K Aquia Landing R I V V E R E R R I LEE N Chancellorsville A FREDERICKSBURG D P I R A Orange VIRGINIA Court House THE GETTYSBURG WHO’S IN COMMAND CAMPAIGN Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville had failed to discover him. Finally, on June 24, the Union began crossing the Poto- mac at Edward’s Ferry to concentrate at Frederick. They then lurched north toward Emmitsburg and east into Car- roll County on a dual mission to con- front the invaders and protect Balti- Gen. Joseph Hooker Gen. George Meade more and Washington, D.C., along the “Pipe Creek Line.” en. Joseph Hooker was Stuart, meanwhile, separated furious. The Army of the from Lee, conducted a cavalry raid Potomac’s commander had east of the main Union army. Although Gdemanded that Washington Stuart captured 125 wagons and 400 authorize him to abandon Maryland prisoners near Rockville, his raid Heights and transfer the 10,000 men through central Maryland deprived Lee guarding the mountain fortress at of his army’s “eyes and ears” during Harpers Ferry to the main army in much of the campaign. Frederick, Md. After the War Depart- On July 4, following their defeat ment refused, Hooker, in a rage, offered at the Battle of Gettysburg, the Confed- his resignation on June 27, 1863. erates began retreating through Wash- It was a bad time to pick a fight ington County, reversing the paths with the Lincoln administration, since they had followed two weeks earlier. Gen. Robert E. Lee had invaded Mary- A flooded Potomac River prevented land and Pennsylvania after thrashing immediate escape, and for nearly one Hooker at Chancellorsville, Va. Lincoln week, pursuing Union troops trapped could not afford petty bickering during the Confederates at Williams port and this dire emergency. He accepted Hook- Falling Waters. The Gettysburg Cam- er’s resignation and replaced him with paign ended on July 14 when Lee finally Gen. George G. Meade. recrossed the river. A courier delivered Lincoln’s orders to an unsuspecting and startled “Cannons on the Square” by Ron Lesser. Meade at 3 A.M. on Sunday, June 28, near Frederick. Meade had not cam- paigned for the job; his steady record of success had earned him the position on merit. “I am moving at once against Lee,” he wrote to his wife. “[A] battle will decide the fate for our country and our cause.” WHERE’S STUART CHESAPEAKE BAY onfederate Gen. James Ewell ommunications are extremely Brown Stuart served as Gen. important in wartime, both for Robert E. Lee’s “eyes and locating and predicting the Cears” as the Army of North- Cmovements of the enemy and ern Virginia invaded Northern soil in for keeping track of friendly forces. The June 1863. Lee directed him to protect Civil War was the first war in which the his right flank, avoid protracted electric telegraph was used extensively. engagements with the Union troops, The U.S. Signal Corps, established in and capture provisions while gathering June 1860 under Maj. Albert J. Myer, information. was the first corps of officers and men Stuart dis- whose sole mission was communication. rupted Union Myer had developed a flag-signaling sys- communication tem in the 1850s called “wigwagging.” and supply A student of his, Edwin Porter Alexan- lines, alarming der, went South and founded the Confed- Washington erate Signal Corps. At night torches were and Baltimore. used instead of flags, but each method He also lost could only be used when the weather contact with allowed good visibility. Both sides used Lee, rendering Myer’s system to communicate during him blind and battles as well as during campaigns. deaf to the Wigwag signal stations were placed whereabouts of on high ground with unobstructed views the Union and and moved when the army moved. Capt. frustrating him Lemuel Norton was U.S. Chief Signal Gen. J.E.B. Stuart as the military Officer during the Gettysburg cam- situation changed. paign, and Col. William Norris headed Once Lee’s infantry stumbled into the Confederate Signal Corps. Gen. George G. Meade’s Army of the Civil War signal station. Potomac at Gettysburg early on July 1, 1863, Stuart’s absence further limited Lee’s options. Delayed by a captured Union wagon train and various engage- ments, Stuart did not reach Gettysburg until late on July 2. Union Gen. David McM. Gregg’s cavalry command thwarted his attack on the Union’s rear the next day. Criticism of Stuart’s per- formance in the Gettysburg Campaign began soon after the battle and has con- tinued ever since. HHHINVADED AGAIN HHH uring the Civil War, Marylanders struggled to maintain normality despite repeated military Dincursions. At the start of the war, U.S. troops were immediately deployed to occupy areas sympathetic to the South. Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia invaded in 1862 and 1863, and Gen. Jubal A. Early’s forces invaded in 1864. The Federal government suspended some civil rights in areas under martial law and arrested citizens for many rea- Courtesy of the Historical Society Frederick County sons, including “disloyalty.” Confederates The only known photographs of Confederate troops march- under Gen. J.E.B. Stuart arrested Union ing under arms were taken at the intersection of Patrick supporters, including Mollie Dawson’s father and Market Streets in Frederick in September 1862. in Rockville, to prevent them from trans- mitting information. Members of Mollie’s “Had we reported him our lives would not family fought on both sides.