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Daring Escapes
The boat ramp in front of you was the site of two daring escapes in the Battle of Harpers Ferry. Under the cover of darkness, 1,400 Union cavalrymen fled on horseback down the ramp. crossing a pontoon bridge into Maryland on September 14, 1862. The next day Confederates captured the remaining 12,500 Union soldiers. Among them were free black laborers, working for Union Colonel William Trimble's regiment.
Here at this ramp Confederate soldiers began dragging the free black laborers away. falsely claiming the Union was "stealing their slaves." Colonel Trimble shouted "My men are unarmed - I am not. Unhand them!" Then he ordered "Regiment march," swiftly moving both the laborers and the soldiers past the Confederate guards, down this ramp, and across the bridge to safety in the North. |