Welcome to the website of the Monterey Pass Battlefield Association.
Our goal is to raise awareness of this strategic battle and to
educate the public about the historical Civil War significance of the
Monterey Area and by doing so interpreting and preserving the Monterey
Pass Battlefield.
Monterey Pass is the second largest battle that occurred in
Pennsylvania and was the only battle ever to be fought on both sides
of the Mason and Dixon Line, taking place in four counties, Frederick
and Washington Counties, Maryland and Adams and Franklin Counties,
Pennsylvania. Monterey Pass is situated on the South Mountain range
and being a direct route to the Potomac River, it was used by the bulk
of the Confederate Army during it’s withdraw from Gettysburg.
Our website features a new
interpretive
program
designed to enhance the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Civil War
and the battle of Monterey Pass as well as our new
Interpretative Programs
for kids and five different
Guided Tours
that we will be offering starting in 2010. Our Civil War Heritage of the Mountaintop
program focuses on an area known as the mountaintop, situated
primarily on South Mountain and encompasses the towns of modern day
Blue Ridge Summit and Cascade. This area was a major crossroads
leading into the towns of Fairfield, Waynesboro, Emmitsburg and
Smithsburg during the Civil War. This program will explore six main
areas of Civil War history.
The first
area of interest within the Civil War Heritage of the Mountaintop is the
The Battlefield, which
will explain the logistics of the battle of Monterey Pass. The second
area of interest is entitled
The Civilian
Experience.
Here you will learn about
how the civilians of the mountaintop impacted the battle of
Monterey Pass. The third area of interest is called
Life on the Home
Front, which explores daily life in the area as
taken from
official newspaper accounts and diaries on such topics as civilian
life, soldier occupation and political views. The next area of interest is
The Soldier's
Experience, where we will
compare
the average Civil War soldier from the Waynesboro/Monterey area to
those invading this area during the Civil War.
The Civil War Heritage
of Emmitsburg will explain the importance of the town of
Emmitsburg throughout the entire Civil War, not just leading up to and
after the battle of Gettysburg. The final area of interest,
The Living Historian will give our visitors an understanding
of how we, as an organization, accurately portray the life of those
who lived and visited the mountaintop and its surrounding areas
during the Civil War.
