Jackson and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
— Antietam Campaign —
In April 1861, as the Civil War erupted, Confederate forces seized the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from Harpers Ferry west. On May 24, Gen. JosephE. Johnston ordered Col. Thomas J. (later "Stonewall") Jackson to destroythe rolling stock here at Martinsburg, a Unionist stronghold. Jackson beganhis task on June 13, soon burning 300 cars and destroying 42 locomotives."It was sad work," Jackson wrote his wife Anna, "but I had my orders andmy duty was to obey." He dismantled a few of the locomotives, and 40-horseteams dragged them up the Martinsburg and Winchester Turnpike and thenalong the Valley Turnpike to Strasbourg, where the first engine was reassembled. Ironically, the track there was of a different width, so the locomotivescould not be used in the Shenandoah Valley. Several were transportedin pieces to Richmond, reassembled, and put to use. In Martinsburg,by the end of June, the roundhouse complex had been strippedof all the stationary equipment, tools, and a 40-foot turntable.The roundhouse and shops suffered only minor damage.| HM Number | HM4F |
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| Series | This marker is part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) series, and the West Virginia Civil War Trails series. |
| Tags | |
| Placed By | West Virginia Civil War Trails |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Thursday, October 23rd, 2014 at 6:39pm PDT -07:00 |
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 18S E 245221 N 4371989 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 39.45980000, -77.96130000 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 39° 27.588', W 77° 57.678' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 39° 27' 35.28" N, 77° 57' 40.68" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 304, 540 |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 131-199 E Race St, Martinsburg WV 25401, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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