Monterey Pass is a
mountain pass
A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...
located in
Franklin County, southern
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
.
Geography
The
saddle area lies near Happel's Meadow, between
Monterey Peak (1,663 ft) and Clermont Crag (1627 ft), in the
South Mountain Range of the northern
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...
System.
It is located near
Blue Ridge Summit and the historical
Mason–Dixon line
The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virginia ...
.
History
Gettysburg Campaign
It was the site of the July 1863
Fight at Monterey Pass during the
Retreat from Gettysburg
The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia began its Retreat from Gettysburg on July 4, 1863. Following General Robert E. Lee's failure to defeat the Union Army at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), he ordered a retreat through Mary ...
in the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
.
The first
military engagement
A military engagement is a combat between two forces, neither larger than a division nor smaller than a company, in which each has an assignor perceived mission. An engagement begins when the attacking force initiates combat in pursuit of its missi ...
at Monterey Pass was on June 22, 1863. Captain Robert B. Moorman, commanding Company D of the
14th Virginia Cavalry was dispatched eastward from the area between
Greencastle, Pennsylvania
Greencastle is a borough in Franklin County in south-central Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,996 at the 2010 census. Greencastle lies within the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania.
History
James Patton, who came to America at ag ...
, and
Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland,
United States and the county seat of Washington County. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2020 census was 43,527, and the population of the Hagerstown metropolitan area (exten ...
, to obtain horses reportedly available from local Southern sympathizers. After the company passed through
Leitersburg, Maryland
Leitersburg is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washington County, Maryland, United States. The population was 523 at the 2000 census.
History
Bell-Varner House, Huckleberry Hall, and Leitersburg Historic District are listed on the National Reg ...
, and on to
Caledonia Furnace; at Monterey the company encountere
Bell's Adams CountyCavalry
and the
First Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry
The First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, also known as the First City Troop, is a unit of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. It is one of the oldest military units in the United States still in active service and is among the most decorat ...
, both temporarily based in Gettysburg. After a very brief skirmish, the Confederate troops withdrew toward Hagerstown, joining General
Richard S. Ewell
Richard Stoddert Ewell (February 8, 1817 – January 25, 1872) was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate general during the American Civil War. He achieved fame as a senior commander under Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. L ...
, who was advancing with a larger force.
[Emmitsburg Area Historical Society]
/ref>
Previous combat in the area included a June 21 engagement at Fairfield, and subsequent engagements prior to the Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...
included the first combat of Adams County, Pennsylvania
Adams County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,852. Its county seat is Gettysburg. The county was created on January 22, 1800, from part of York County, and was named for the secon ...
, during the Civil War. (Pennsylvania militia at Fountain Dale on June 28) and at Emmitsburg, Maryland
Emmitsburg is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States, south of the Mason-Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania. Founded in 1785, Emmitsburg is the home of Mount St. Mary's University. The town has two Catholic pilgrima ...
, on June 24.
In addition to the July 4–5 Fight at Monterey Pass, July 4 combat in the area included the Skirmish at Fairfield Gap, Pennsylvania, and skirmishes near Emmitsburg MD (9.4 miles east)
Zora, Pennsylvania
and Waynesboro, Pennsylvania
Waynesboro is a borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, on the southern border of the state. Waynesboro is in the Cumberland Valley between Hagerstown, Maryland, and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. It is part of Chambersburg, PA Micropolitan Stat ...
(6.5 miles west).[ As late as July 8, Union forces such as Company D, 10th New York Cavalry, were still in the area.]
See also
*
* Monterey Country Club
Monterey Country Club, built before 1885, is home to one of the oldest golf courses in the United States. The club sits just below the peaks of 1,720 Mt. Dunlap and 1,365 Monterey Peak in Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania and is less than one mile (1 ...
References
External links
Emmitsburg.net: Map of Monterey Pass area military engagements
{{Gaps of the Appalachian Mountains
Mountain passes of Pennsylvania
Landforms of Franklin County, Pennsylvania
South Mountain Range (Maryland−Pennsylvania)