Capture of Crook and Kelly

In the predawn darkness of February 21, 1865, Confederate Lt. Jesse McNeill and his partisan (guerrilla) rangers rode into Cumberland from the west on this road. Unlike most raiderswho targeted the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad for attack, McNeill had other targets in mind: Union Gens. Benjamin F. Kelley, who commanded the troops guarding the railroad, and George Crook.

McNeill's men overpowered two guardunits and deceived others who challenged themby claiming, to be scouts from New Creek, west oftown. One group rode to the Barnum Hotel andrushed upstairs to Kelley's door, where they "persuaded" his adjutant to admit them. Once inside, they rudely awakened Kelley, ordered him todress, and marched him and the adjutant downstairs. Other rangers occupied the Revere House and knocked on Crook's locked door. When Crook invited them inside, ranger Joseph Vandiver entered with a light in one hand and a pistol in the other. He identified himself to Crook as Confederate Gen. Thomas L. Rosser, perhaps to make surrender more palatable, and told Crook, "You are in my power, and you have two minutes in which to dress. There are your clothes; either put them on or go without."

Leaving town, McNeill's rangers and their prisoners rode west on Baltimore Street, then turned left on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canaltowpath. At Wiley's Ford, they crossed the Potomac River into West Virginia. McNeill's daring raidstunned Federal officials, who quickly arranged a prisoner exchange for the two generals.

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Show me all markers in:  Cumberland, MD  |  Allegany County  |  21502  |  Maryland  |  United States of America

Capture of Generals
A Boom for Cumberland
Capture of Generals B.F. Kelly and George Crook
Christ's (St. Paul's) Lutheran Church
B'er Chayim (Well of Life) Congregation
The First National Bank and Trust Company of Western Maryland
Cumberland City Hall
Cumberland Veterans Memorial, a War Memorial
First Federal Court and Postoffice
Military Hospital

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