1861: Maryland
Elections
November -
Major Stone who was the provost-marshal for the areas of Woodsboro,
Myersville, Wolfsville, Emmitsburg, Mechanicstown, and Wolf's Tavern
sent troops of infantry and cavalry for the protection of pro-Union
voters.
1862: The Maryland
Campaign and Stuart’s Chambersburg Raid
September 13 –
Confederate General D.H. Hill guarded the rear of Lee’s Army on South
Mountain.
September 14
– The Maryland Campaign: The battles of Turner's Gap, Frostown Gap,
Fox's Gap, Brownsville Pass and Crampton's Gap.
September 17
– Washington Monument is used as a signal corps station and
observation point during the battle of Antietam.
October 11
– Stuart’s Chambersburg Raid: Confederate General JEB Stuart’s cavalry
passes through Cashtown Gap after it leaves Chambersburg. Thinking
that Stuart was returning to the Potomac River via Williamsport, Union
Captain Benjamin F. Fisher was ordered to open Washington Monument for
observation in order to pinpoint Stuart’s location.
1863:
Mountaintop News
March 6 - It was reported in
the Waynesboro Village
Record
that
Samuel Wade of Co. A, 77th Regiment P. V., was shot near Buena Vista
Springs (on South Mountain, near Monterey Pass) while trying to escape from the Provost
Guard, who had arrested him earlier. Though serious, the piece
relates, Wade's wounds are not life threatening.
1863: The
Pennsylvania Campaign
June 18
– Union Major General Joseph Hooker requested that a signal station be
built at Crampton's Gap on South Mountain, as well as requesting
cavalry support from Harper's Ferry to seize all mountain gaps from
Maryland Heights to Boonsboro. General Robert C. Schenck fulfills Hooker’s request.
June 19
- General Hooker ordered General Samuel P. Heintzelman, who was at
Poolesville, to help General Schenck seize the mountain gaps on South
Mountain. General Heintzelman's force consisted of 1,600 infantry, one
battery of artillery and five troops of cavalry.
June 22
- A skirmish erupted at Monterey Pass near the Mason and Dixon Line of
South Mountain between a portion of the 14th Virginia
Cavalry and Captain Robert Bell's 21st Pennsylvania, Captain David
Conaughy's Home Guard and a detachment of 1st Troop Philadelphia City
Cavalry under Captain Samuel Randall.
June 23 – 24
– General William French was in charge of the South Mountain
operations as Union scouts were overlooking and watching the
Hagerstown Valley and Pleasant Valley while the Confederate
Army concentrates in Pennsylvania.
June 25
- General John Reynolds ordered General Oliver O. Howard to send a
brigade of infantry along with a battery of rifled guns to report to
General Stahel and his cavalry at Crampton's Gap.
Union General
Julies Stahel reported to General Reynolds through a dispatch that the
whole Confederate Army had passed through Hagerstown and was now in
Pennsylvania. General Anderson's Division of General A.P. Hill Corps
had passed through Boonsboro around 6am.
June 26
- General Oliver O. Howard's 11th Corps began to occupy the mountain
gaps along South Mountain. General Howard posted one brigade at
Crampton's Gap, one at Turner's Gap, another brigade on the road
to Burkittsville and the final brigade on the Hagerstown Road. During
the evening General Howard sent a dispatch to General Reynolds that
stated that no Confederate force was reported to have been seen at
Crampton's Gap. General John Reynolds led his 1st Corps to Jefferson,
Maryland and would proceed to Middletown the following day.
Union General
Stahel's deployment was stretched all across South Mountain. He had
one brigade and a section of artillery posted at Crampton's Gap as
well as a brigade and two sections of artillery from General Howard's
Corps. Stahel had one regiment at Turner's Gap and one brigade and two
sections of artillery at Middletown.
June 27
- After arriving in the area of Jefferson and Burkittsville, General David Birnery was ordered by General Reynolds to send one
infantry brigade and a battery of rifled guns to Crampton's Gap to
relieve the forces of General Howard. While General Howard's
men at Crampton's Gap were waiting to be relieved, Colonel William D.
Mann, commanding the 7th Michigan Cavalry occupied Turner's Gap and
sent patrols throughout the valley toward Hagerstown.
During the
afternoon, General Oliver O. Howard occupied Turner's Gap and
established
his headquarters at the Mountain House. At midnight Hooker’s
resignation is finally accepted.
June 28
– Skirmish at Fountain Dale in Pennsylvania near the base of South
Mountain. General Joseph Hooker is relieved of command and General
George Meade takes his place. Meade issues orders to withdraw from South
Mountain and head northward.
June 29
- The Federal cavalry and Battery A of the 2nd U.S. Artillery under
John Buford moved toward Pennsylvania, investigating the Confederate
forces in the area. General Buford left Middletown taking the
National Pike to Boonsboro and headed to Smithsburg. From there he
traveled up to Monterey Pass and saw Confederate infantry marching in
the Cumberland Valley.
General Wesley
Merrit and his cavalry, stationed near Thurmont, Maryland were ordered to guard Harman's Pass on the Catoctin Mountain and
monitor Wolf's Tavern Pass on South Mountain.
July 4
– Confederate General Robert E. Lee ordered the two key passes of
Monterey and Fairfield on
South Mountain to be secured for the
Confederate withdraw from Gettysburg. The Confederate wagon train of
wounded will go through Cashtown Gap.
July 4 – 5
– The battles of Monterey Pass and Fairfield Gap occur as Union
cavalry under General Judson Kilpatrick is ordered to harass the
retreating Confederate Army. The 1st Vermont is ordered
from Monterey Pass to head to Leitersburg via Raven Rock Pass on South
Mountain to disrupt the Confederate wagon train, making the battle of
Monterey Pass the only battle to be fought on both sides of the Mason
and Dixon Line.
July 5
– The battle of Smithsburg occurs between General Stuart’s Cavalry and
Kilpatrick’s Cavalry.
The majority of Lee’s
Infantry marches through Monterey Pass.
July 6
– The last of General Lee’s main army crosses South Mountain at
Monterey Pass.
The Union Army
begins its pursuit of General Lee. General John Buford reaches
Turner's Gap where General Morris was stationed. General Buford
ordered a small group of signal corpsmen to begin observation from the
top of Washington Monument.
July 7
- A party of signal officers under the charge of Captain William J. L.
Nicodemus arrived from Washington for the purpose of working in
conjunction with the signal corps of the Federal Army. Captain Nicodemus
opened a line of communication between Frederick and (Turner’s Gap)
South Mountain Pass.
July 8
- Captain Ernst A. Denicke and Lieutenant C.F.M. Denicke opened a
signal station at Washington Monument early in the morning around 9:00am.
The Confederate
cavalry under General JEB Stuart was ordered by General Lee to attack
and stall General Meade's movements as they were holding the western
approach of South Mountain Pass.
Elements of the
Eleventh Corps guard Turner’s Gap.
July 9
- The headquarters of the Union Army is moved to Turner's Gap. General Meade
utilizes the Mountain House as his headquarters as the Army of the Potomac
closed behind Lee's Army. He ordered a signal station to occupy
Turner's Gap, communicating through others at Middletown and
Crampton's Pass, with Maryland Heights.
July 10
- General Neill's expeditions from a point on Franklin's Cliff, South
Mountain Range, near Leitersburg, discovered the numbers and position
of the enemy in and around Hagerstown.
July 11
- A small group of Federal soldiers led by Captain William G. McCreary
went to Black Rock, a bare and elevated rock on the South Mountain
Range between Boonsboro and Smithsburg. A reconnaissance of the area
was made. With most of the action occurring in the Hagerstown and
Boonsboro area, the observation team went back into the valley.
July 14
- General Meade issued marching orders to his corps commanders. By the
end of the day all signal operations and observation stations were
discontinued. Lee’s Army had crossed the Potomac River.
July 15
- The 12th and 2nd Corps marched to Pleasant Valley, encamping
there for the night. The 3rd Corps marched to Brownsville,
encamping in Pleasant Valley near Harper's Ferry. The 5th and 1st
Corps would march on the Boonsboro Road to the Sharpsburg Road
crossing over South Mountain at Fox's Gap to Burkittsville and
encamping for the night at Berlin. The 6th and 11th Corps along with
the artillery reserve marched through Turner's Gap to Middletown
and on to Berlin.
1864: Early’s
Maryland Campaign and the Burning of Chambersburg
July 6
– The Confederate 1st Maryland Cavalry skirmishes with elements of
Mean’s Loudoun County Rangers, the 8th Illinois
Cavalry, and a section of artillery.
July 7
– Confederate forces under General John C. Breckinridge encamp at the
western base of South Mountain in Rohrersville.
July 8
- Confederates with the 1st Maryland Cavalry skirmishes with elements
of Mean’s Loudoun County Rangers, the 8th Illinois
Cavalry, and a section of artillery.
Breckinridge
marches over South Mountain at Fox’s Gap while General Jubal Early
marches through Turner’s Gap.
July 9
- Major John B. Burt, an Aid-de-Camp wrote a dispatch to Major Schultze
that Confederate troops were fortifying South Mountain near the old
battlefield. He stated that two of his men were in a Confederate camp
at Wolfsville on South Mountain. The Federal scouts stated that about
fifty Confederate infantrymen were on picket duty and that they were
part of a chain of pickets that stretched across South Mountain from
Boonsboro to Monterey Pass.
July 10
- Confederate cavalry foraged South Mountain from Monterey to
Frederick, stealing horses, and creating much alarm.
Lieutenant
Colonel Lawrence scouted the area on South Mountain at Black Rock
Bridge. Reports were of Confederate cavalry and a section of artillery
moving along the Westminster and Baltimore Pike, moving from the
direction of
Boonsboro. The Westminster and Baltimore Pike was a roadway that led
from Hagerstown over South Mountain at Wolf's Tavern and over the
Catoctin Mountain through Emmitsburg, continuing to Westminster.
July 29 – 30
– Various elements of Union cavalry units guarded many of the northern passes on South Mountain.
July 31
- The 11th West Virginia Infantry Battalion, General Duffie's First
Cavalry Division and Second Brigade, and the First Infantry Division were
encamped in the fields surrounding Wolfsville.
August 1
- Union Lieutenant Ellis reported from High Rock that the town of Chambersburg
had been
burned.
