"Great excitement in... Harford County," July 11, 1864
What caused the "great excitement" in Harford County during the summer of 1864? It was the arrival of a detachment of the Confederate cavalrymen led by partisan Major Harry Gilmore. He and his trooper, mostly Marylanders, were part of a 12,000-man force under General Jubal A. Early that entered their home state from Virginia's Shenandoah Valley earlier in July. Their purpose was to threaten the lightly defended city of Washington, D.C., in an attempt to draw off part of the Union army menacing Richmond and Petersburg, Va.After brushing aside an inferior Federal force at the Battle of Monocacy, near Frederick, Maryland, Early detached his cavalry under General Bradley T. Johnson to ride around Washington's eastern defenses and liberate Confederate prisoners at Point Lookout in Southern Maryland. Johnson then detached Gilmore to pass north and east of Baltimore and sever communications with the North. As Gilmore and his men rode, they burned houses and bridges, seized supplies, and on July 11, captured Union Gen. William B. Franklin, who escaped the next day. Arriving here at the village of Jerusalem Mill, they "requisitioned" from David Lee's (now McCourtney's) Store "boots, shoes, and other wearing apparel." They also seized Lee's horses. The Confederates then departed, soon rejoining the main body and returning to Virginia. Early's 1864 Maryland campaign failed to breach the capital's defenses or free prisoners, but it did lure substantial numbers of Federal troops away from Richmond and Petersburg to strengthen the Washington garrison.
| HM Number | HM15KG |
|---|---|
| Tags | |
| Placed By | Maryland Civil War Trails |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Wednesday, September 24th, 2014 at 10:27pm PDT -07:00 |
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 18S E 380526 N 4369089 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 39.46310000, -76.38880000 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 39° 27.786', W 76° 23.328' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 39° 27' 47.16" N, 76° 23' 19.68" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 443, 410 |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 2708-2748 Jerusalem Rd, Kingsville MD 21087, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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