BGuthrie Photos: WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Maryland Heights Trail and Vista

WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Maryland Heights Trail and Vista:

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. HARPMH_120408_002.JPG: Exploring Maryland Heights: As the highest ridge surrounding the town of Harpers Ferry, Maryland Heights once bustled with private industry and Civil War occupation. Antietam Iron Works, a major nail producer in the early 1800s, burned the timber of the heights for charcoal to fuel furnace and forges. Traces of charcoal hearths and roads remain today as testimony to this industry. Civil War earthworks, stone fortifications, and encampments transformed the mountain into a fortress from 1862 to 1865. Today, these former defenses and camps are some of the best preserved Civil War ruins in the United States. Nature has reclaimed Maryland Heights, but hiking these trails offers a look at the weathered and silent ruins of the past.
2. HARPMH_120408_074.JPG: Naval Battery: Positioned 300 feet above the Potomac River the Naval Battery was the first Union fortification on Maryland Heights. Hastily built in May 1862, its naval guns were rushed here from the Washington, D.C., Navy Yard. Along with a detachment of 300 sailors and marines, the battery was equipped to protect Harpers Ferry from Confederate attack during Stonewall Jackson's famous Valley Campaign in the spring of 1862. Thwarted that spring, Jackson returned to Harpers Ferry in mid-September 1862, during the Confederacy's first invasion of the North. Jackson's three-day siege included an infantry battle on the crest of Maryland Heights on September 13, in which the Confederates advanced south along the ridgetop. The Naval Battery guns were turned uphill to pound the crest, but orders to retreat forced the Federals to abandon the mountain and this battery. On September 22, one week after the Union surrender at Harpers Ferry, U.S. forces returned to Maryland Heights to build fortifications at better locations on the crest and slope of the Heights. The Naval Battery lost its defensive importance and eventually became an ordnance depot.
3. HARPMH_120408_079.JPG: Hiking Maryland Heights: Here the trail divides and the choice is yours. Time and hiking difficulties are important factors as you select your trail route. The Stone Fort Trail: To your left, is a strenuous but rewarding hike to the summit. The route passes Civil War forts and campgrounds, scenic overlooks and weathered charcoal hearths. Distance: 3.3 miles Time: 3 hours round trip. The Road to Retreat: You are hiking the same mountain road that defeated Federal troops descended on September 13, 1862. Despite a six-hour resistance upon the crest against a 2,000-man Confederate advance, Union defenders received orders at 3:00 p.m. to withdraw from Maryland Heights and "fall back to Harpers Ferry in good order." Forty hours later, with the capture of Harpers Ferry by Stonewall Jackson, Union commander Col. Dixon S. Miles surrendered 12,500 men, including the 2,000 defenders from Maryland Heights. The Overlook Cliff Trail To your right, is a moderate but pleasant hike to a scenic overlook of Harpers Ferry and the Shenandoah Valley. Distance: 1.4 miles Time: 1.5 hours round trip
4. HARPMH_120408_090.JPG: Harpers Ferry -- Changes Through Time: Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, Harpers Ferry was named for Robert Harper, a millwright who continued a ferry operation here in 1747. The waterpower of the two rivers - harnessed for industry - generated tremendous growth in Harpers Ferry. By the mid-19th century, the town had become an important arms-producing center and east-west transportation link. John Brown's raid and the Civil War brought Harpers Ferry to national prominence. Destruction from the war and repeated flooding eventually led to the town's decline.
5. HARPMH_120408_254.JPG: Maryland Heights -- Mountain Fortress of Harpers Ferry: You are standing on the border between North and South during the Civil War. As the highest ridge surrounding Harpers Ferry, Maryland Heights played a prominent role in the strategic operations of both the Union and Confederacy. Southern forces under Col. Thomas J. Jackson first occupied this ground in early May 1861, violating Maryland's neutrality. Confederates remained here until they abandoned Harpers Ferry on June 15, 1861. "I have finished reconnoitering the Maryland Heights, and have determined to fortify them at once, and hold them...be the cost what it may." -- Col. Thomas J Jackson, May 7, 1861 Jackson returned fifteen months later, during the Confederacy's first major invasion of the North. "Stonewall" Jackson, as he was now called, directed a three-pronged siege of the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, seizing Maryland Heights from the north on September 13, 1862. Two days later Federal commander Dixon Miles surrendered, allowing Jackson to rush his forces to Sharpsburg to join Gen. Robert E. Lee. On September 22, 1862, five days after the Battle of Antietam and Confederate withdrawal from Maryland, Union troops once again occupied the Heights. Federal Commander George B. McClellan ordered fortifications built to deter future invasion, protect the B&O Railroad, and guard the U.S. supply depot at Harpers Ferry. By the end of 1863, Union troops had built eight fortifications, at times defended by 10,000 soldiers. "I have determined to fortify [Maryland Heights] in order to avoid a similar catastrophe to the one which happened to Colonel Miles." -- Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, September 26, 1862 Despite this mountain fortress, Confederate invasion continued. During the Gettysburg Campaign, General Lee sidestepped the Heights position, crossing the Potomac 12 miles northwest near Shepherdstown. In July 1864, Jubal Early's 14,000 Rebels demonstrated against these defenses, but left them behind en route to Washington, D.C. Federal soldiers and their cannon finally departed Maryland Heights in July 1865, three months after Lee's surrender. Behind them they left their forts and campgrounds - reminders of America's bloodiest war.
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AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Maryland Heights Trail and Vista) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2006_WV_Harpers_MH: WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Maryland Heights Trail and Vista (31 photos from 2006)
- 2003_WV_Harpers_MH: WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Maryland Heights Trail and Vista (12 photos from 2003)
- 2000_WV_Harpers_MH: WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Maryland Heights Trail and Vista (47 photos from 2000)
- 1997_WV_Harpers_MH: WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Maryland Heights Trail and Vista (25 photos from 1997)
- 1992_WV_Harpers_MH: WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Maryland Heights Trail and Vista (19 photos from 1992)
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [(NPS) Harpers Ferry Natl Historic Park] [Display ALL (NPS) Harpers Ferry Natl Historic Park photos] [Civil War] [Park (National Park Service)] [Vistas]
2012 photos: Trips this year: three Civil War Trust conferences (Shepherdstown, WV, Richmond, VA, and Williamsburg, VA), a week-long family reunion cruise of the Caribbean, another week-long family reunion in the Wisconsin Dells (with lots of in-transit time in Ohio and Indiana), and my 7th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including side trips to Zion, Bryce, the Grand Canyon, etc). Ego strokes: I had a picture of Miss DC, Ashley Boalch, published in the Washington Post. I had a photograph of the George Segal San Francisco Holocaust memorial used as the cover of Quebec Francais (issue 165). Not being able to read French, I'm not entirely sure what the article is about but, hey! And I guess what could be considered to be a positive thing, my site is now established enough that spammers have noticed it and I had to block 17,000 file description postings for Viagra and whatever else.. Equipment this year: My mainstays were the Fuji S100fs, Nikon D7000, and the new Fuji X-S1. I also used an underwater Fuji XP50 and a Nikon D600. The first three cameras all broke this year and had to be repaired. Number of photos taken this year: just below 410,000.
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