A House Divided
— War on the Chesapeake Bay —
During the Civil War, Baltimore and its environs exemplified the divided loyalties of Maryland's residents. The city had commercial ties to the South as well as the North, and its secessionist sympathies erupted in violence on April 19, 1861, when pro-Confederate mobs attacked Massachusetts troops en route to Washington, D.C. Because of Baltimore's strategic importance, President Abraham Lincoln acted swiftly, stationing Federal troops in the city and jailing civilians suspected of disloyalty. Some area residents joined the Confederate army, but many others supported the Union. After the Emancipation Proclamation permitted African-American enlistment in 1863, U.S. Colored Troops regiments were recruited and trained in Baltimore and the vicinity. Naval vessels, such as USS Constellation, supported the Union war effort on the Chesapeake Bay and the high seas, countering the flow of contraband goods to the Confederacy. In 1863, during Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early's attack on the Washington defenses, Maj. Harry Gilmor's cavalry threatened Baltimore, burned nearby bridges, and raided supplies. Throughout the war, the city served as a hospital and prisoner-of-war assembly center. Political prisoners were detained at Fort McHenry, home of the "Star-Spangled Banner." Despite the city's divided loyalties, Baltimore remained a Union stronghold until the end of the war.| HM Number | HM1IDW |
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| Tags | |
| Placed By | Maryland Civil War Trails |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Wednesday, December 17th, 2014 at 1:01am PST -08:00 |
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 18S E 363738 N 4349044 |
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| Decimal Degrees | 39.28005000, -76.57981667 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 39° 16.803', W 76° 34.789' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 39° 16' 48.18" N, 76° 34' 47.34" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 410 |
| Which side of the road? | Marker is on the right when traveling South |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 2579-2611 Boston St, Baltimore MD 21224, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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