Flag Waving at Fawn Street

— 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.

Capt. Albert S. Follansbee quickly ran into trouble as he led four companies of the 6th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment to Camden Station by President and Pratt Streets on April 19, 1861. Although part of the regiment had reached the terminal with little opposition, a large pro-Confederate crowd gathered at President Street Station and waved a large Palmetto flag - a secession symbol - to taunt the remaining soldiers.

Follansbee had received orders to proceed to Camden Station on foot. As the 240 Massachusetts men marched up President Street, the mob threw bricks and other objects at them. A few Southern sympathizers strutted at the head of the column, insulting the troops by forcing them to march behind the Palmetto flag. Others, taking up the rear, cheered for Confederate President Jefferson Davis and the Southern Confederacy, and shouted insults at the troops. As the soldiers reached the corner of Fawn Street here, rocks knocked down and injured two of them. Having endured enough, Lt. Leander Lynde stepped from the ranks, seized the Palmetto banner, and tore it from its staff. He then coolly tucked it under his coat and rejoined his company. The only help for the beleaguered soldiers came in the form of a lone Baltimore policeman standing here. He demonstrated extraordinary courage by agreeing to help Follansbee's men reach Camden Station, more than a mile away.

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