Last Shots at Camden Station

— Baltimore - A House Divided —

(Preface):
On April 19, 1861, Confederate sympathizers attacked the 6th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment as it changed trains en route to Washington, which the secessionists hoped to isolate. To learn more about the Baltimore Riot, the city's role in the Civil War, and railroad history, please visit the Baltimore Civil War Museum—President Street Station, at the corner of President and Fleet Streets. Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Part of the 6th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment transferring to Camden Station to change trains from Washington reached the terminal safely aboard horse-drawn cars on April 19, 1861. Maj. Benjamin Watson's Company K disembarked here at Howard Street, however, because a secessionist mob had torn up the track, and marched the final two blocks under a shower of bricks and bullets.

The mob attacked the regiment's last four companies, as Capt. Albert S. Follansbee marched them along Pratt Street, and killed several soldiers a few blocks east. As the troops reached this point, the mob renewed its assault, incited by a man waving a secessionist banner, and soldiers aboard the waiting train opened fire to protect their comrades.

When the crowd closed in, brandishing knives and guns, regimental commander Col. Edward Jones ordered the cars' window blinds drawn to discourage further attacks. A final shot came from the train as it departed at 1:30 p.m., killing wealthy merchant Robert W. Davis on the Spring Garden side of Camden Station. Five soldiers died, and more than thirty-six were wounded. Among civilians, twelve were killed and many more wounded.

That night secessionists burned railroad bridges north of the city, and President Abraham Lincoln quickly suspended troop movements, but the pro-Confederate victory was short-lived. Within a month, Union Gen. Benjamin F. Butler had occupied Federal Hill and promised to shell Baltimore if any more trouble occurred. The city remained quiet for the rest of the war.

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