Day 6 – the Battle that saved Washington DC

Today we stayed nearby … we had a bit of a late start to our day – but, hey! it’s our vacation so that’s perfectly fine.

Near Frederick is the Monocacy National Battlefield, which is a small national park commemorating the July 9, 1864 battle.

This was the third ‘invasion’ into Maryland by Confederate forces (the other two that led to the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg). It’s referred to as the “Battle that saved Washington” because, although it was a Union defeat, the Confederate forces were delayed in their march to Washington allowing for the Union to better setup and arrange the defenses around Washington DC. Had this battle not occurred it would be very likely that the Confederate forces could have captured the capital city.

The Visitor Center is located near the first line of battle where the Confederate forces set up one of their artillery units … Here’s a canon just outside of the museum; and take a look at these canon and mortar shells … imagine having a bunch of these raining down on you.

The Union forces were commanded by General Lew Wallace. The visitor center museum includes his frock coat, vest, shoulder boards, along with other items from the General.

And what was General Wallace’s other claim to fame?
He wrote Ben Hur

After the museum at the visitor center, we took a car audio tour of the battlefield itself.

The battlefield includes several farm buildings and homes from that period. Here is the third stop of the auto tour – the Worthington Home. The building is closed … all buildings are closed to the public … but you can walk its grounds and its veranda. The Worthington family witnessed the battle on that day. This was the site of the Confederate cavalry crossing the Monocacy River … the Confederate forces were being held by Union forces along the major crossing of the river. The Confederate, then, had to find another location to cross the river … winding up pretty much in the Worthington’s back yard.

View more photos in the Flickr set