Nearby Civil War Sites
 

Four important sites in the War Between the States are within easy driving distance of Mont Alto. In chronological order of the events that took place there, they are:

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park  South of Hagerstown (about 60 miles from Mont Alto), in a scenic setting at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, Harpers Ferry, West Virgina, was the site of a federal arsenal and armory built in 1796. On the night of October 16, 1859, the arsenal and armory were captured by a band of abolitionists led by zealot John Brown, who hoped to arm the slaves and incite them to rebellion; Brown was subsequently captured by forces under the command of Col. Robert E. Lee, tried for treason and hanged. Two years later Harpers Ferry was invaded by Confederate forces, in the face of whose advance the federal garrison there destroyed the armory to prevent its capture. On September 15, 1862,  Harpers Ferry was again attacked by Confederates, who, under the command of  General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, captured some 12,500 Union soldiers —  the largest federal surrender in the Civil War. Immediately afterward, Jackson hurried north to Sharpsburg, Maryland, to take part in the Battle of Antietam. For more information, see http://www.nps.gov/hafe/. And for information about the connection to Lewis and Clark, see  http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/lewisandclark/har.htm

Antietam National Battlefield, situated between Harpers Ferry and Hagerstown (about 45 miles from Mont Alto), commemorates the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, which took place there on September 17, 1862. During that single day, more than 23,000 soldiers were killed: 12,410 of General George McClellan’s 87,000-man Army of the Potomac and 10,700 of Lee’s 40,000-man Army of Northern Virginia. The battle marked the end of the first of Lee’s three attempts to carry the war northward into Union territory. Neither side claimed a decisive victory, but Lee’s failure to advance delayed Britain’s recognition of the Confederacy and gave Lincoln the opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. For more information, see http://www.nps.gov/anti/

Gettysburg National Military Park (about 25 miles) marks the site of the three-day battle, July 1 – 3, 1863, that halted Lee’s second attempt to invade the North. The Union victory there is considered the turning point of the Civil War. The numerous sites in an around the town of Gettysburg where forces were engaged are marked by a plethora of  monuments  — more than any other Civil War battleground. The Gettysburg National Cemetery, where Lincoln gave his address, is adjacent to the battlefield, as is the Eisenhower National Historic Site (the farm that General Eisenhower owned, to which he retired after his presidency). For more information, visit the web site at http://www.nps.gov/gett/home.htm

Also it is worth mentioning that in approaching Gettysburg to engage the Union forces, General Lee’s forces actually came through Chambersburg (about 12 miles west of Mont Alto), which also later claimed the distinction of having been the only town north of the Mason-Dixon line to have been torched during the war. Our foray headquarters in Mont Alto is on the route taken by General Jubal Early to Gettysburg from Waynesboro. For more information, visit  http://www.chambersburg.org/community/history.asp

Monocacy National Battlefield, a few miles southeast of Frederick, Maryland (about 50 miles from Mont Alto), is a small, lesser-known site where the third and last attempt by Confederate forces to advance into Union territory was thwarted. After the removal to Petersburg, Virginia of most of General Grant’s forces, Lee realized that Washington, D.C., was vulnerable to invasion from the north, and so sent a force under General Jubal Early to attempt to clear Union forces from the Shenandoah Valley.  Because Grant was slow to recognize the threat, Union forces under General Lew Wallace were hurriedly drawn up to confront the advancing Confederates, who by then were making their way west (once more) from Harpers Ferry. The troops engaged at Monocacy Junction on July 9, 1864. After several attacks and counterattacks in which more than 1100 Union and 900 Confederate soldiers were lost, the Union forces retreated to Baltimore. But by delaying the Confederate advance on Washington, the battle of Monocacy gave Grant time to send troops back north to defend the Federal capital. See http://www.nps.gov/mono/