Existing comment:
Crossroads of Conflict:
"I was with the company that set fire to [the bridge], and when ... I saw the glowing windows in my home on the hill beyond the river... I realized that the war had begun."
-- Observations by Henry Kyd Douglas, 1861
Vital transportation routes along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Boonsboro Turnpike, and the Shepherdstown bridge enabled Ferry Hill residents to prosper for decades, but practically caused their ruin.
Because of its strategic location on the border of two rival forces, adversaries occupied Ferry Hill at various times during the Civil War. Union troops feared opposition from across the Potomac River. Confederate soldiers were concerned about attacks at Harpers Ferry and in the Shenandoah Valley.
In 1861, when Union soldiers marched past Ferry Hill toward Virginia, Confederates destroyed the Shepherdstown bridge to halt the Federal army's progress. During the 1862 Antietam campaign, Ferry Hill Plantation became critical to Union and Confederate commanders as the mansion turned into headquarters, hospital, and artillery park. Both Union and Confederate troops trampled and pillaged the property when they crossed Boteler's Ford to engage at Gettysburg in 1863 and Monocacy in 1864. |