A Signalman's Lot

— Antietam Campaign 1862 —

You are at the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain, where on September 5-6, 1862, Union observers watched the Army of Northern Virginia cross the Potomac River to invade Maryland. A signal station had been established here in the summer of 1861, one in a chain of such stations. It communicated with a signal station and U.S. Signal Corps school southeast of Darnestown, from which messages were relayed to Washington, and with the Point of Rocks railhead of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to the northwest, where messages would be passed to Harpers Ferry. The signals were made by holding a flag in various positions, representing letters, and sometimes in code.

On September 5, 1862, only Lt. Brinkerhoff "Brink" Miner and his aide Pvt. A.H. Cook manned the signal station. After signaling the invasion of the Confederate army to Darnestown and Point of Rocks, they made a hasty retreat down the mountain but decided to return the next morning. They ran headfirst into the 1st North Carolina Cavalry and took advantage of mutual surprise to turn around and escape, capturing a Confederate courier who had ridden out ahead of the troopers.

Later, the Confederates caught up with the group four miles toward Urbana at the home of a young woman friend of Miner. As they were dragged outside and searched, Gen. J.E.B. Stuart rode up and told the Federal prisoners, "Good morning, gentlemen. I am very happy to see you." Miner replied, "Good morning, General, we are sorry we cannot return the compliment."

(Sidebar) Quarters were probably located below the summit on the west side near where a small stone fort (constructed in the 1930s) is located today. The station itself was located below the stone fort where the road to the summit meets the loop road at a circle.

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