Existing comment:
In The Heat of Battle:
Pre-Civil War Maryland:
As a border state with a sizeable pro-Southern constituency, Maryland was a crucial linchpin for both the preservation of the Union, as well as the Southern strategy for independence. Issues of slavery and states rights had strong ties to the nearby Mason-Dixon Line, as did the 1857 Dred Scott decision. John Brown's 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, and the hotly contested 1860 Presidential election. Marylanders faced the choice of remaining with the Union or seceding with the South. The state was predominantly pro Union but, to ensure the state's loyalty. Abraham Lincoln advised Maryland Governor Thomas Hicks to convene the 1861 General Assembly in Frederick, where Union sentiment was stronger than in Annapolis. The state legislature met in Frederick for several sessions in 1861, but sputtered to a halt in September after Federal soldiers arrested pro-Southern legislators to ensure Maryland's loyalty. With these delegates incarcerated prior to reaching Frederick, a quorum could not be reached and a vote on secession could not be taken.
Maryland and the Civil War:
Maryland was the site for many battles and skirmishes during four years of Civil War. Its mountains were used for defense and represented obstacles for invading soldiers. The bordering Potomac river and other waterways were used for defense. Existing transportation routes dictated by the landscape, like the National Road, were used by both armies traveling to and from battlegrounds. The Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad, coveted by the North as vital transportation and supply links, became favorite targets of Confederate destruction. Nearly 85,000 Marylanders enlisted to fight in the war; approximately 25,000 traveled south to fight for the Confederacy and about 60,000 served in all branches of the Union military, some signing up largely because they were promised home garrison duty. |