HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
(1861–1865),
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
, a
slave state In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were not. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states ...
, was one of the border states, straddling the
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
and
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...
. Despite some popular support for the cause of the
Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
, Maryland did not secede during the Civil War. Governor Thomas H. Hicks, despite his early sympathies for the South, helped prevent the state from seceding. Because the state bordered the
District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...
and the opposing factions within the state strongly desired to sway public opinion towards their respective causes, Maryland played an important role in the war. The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865) suspended the constitutional right of ''
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, ...
'' from Washington to Philadelphia. Lincoln ignored the ruling of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney in "Ex parte Merryman" decision in 1861 concerning freeing
John Merryman John Merryman (August 9, 1824 – November 15, 1881) of Baltimore County, Maryland, was arrested in May 1861 and held prisoner in Fort McHenry in Baltimore and was the petitioner in the case ''" Ex parte Merryman"'' which was one of the best ...
, a prominent Southern sympathizer arrested by the military. The first fatalities of the war happened during the Baltimore Civil War Riots of Thursday/Friday, April 18–19, 1861. The single bloodiest day of combat in American military history occurred during the first major Confederate invasion of the North in the Maryland Campaign, just north above the
Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...
near Sharpsburg in Washington County, at the
Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union ...
on September 17, 1862. The battle of Antietam, though tactically a draw, was strategically enough of a Union victory to give Lincoln the opportunity to issue, in September 1862, the
Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War, Civil War. The Proclamation c ...
. It did not affect Maryland. In July 1864 the Battle of Monocacy was fought near
Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...
as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864. Monocacy was a tactical victory for the
Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
but a strategic defeat, as the one-day delay inflicted on the attacking Confederates cost rebel General Jubal Early his chance to capture the Union capital of Washington, D.C. Across the state, some 50,000 citizens signed up for the military, with most joining the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
. Approximately a tenth as many enlisted to "go South" and fight for the Confederacy. Abolition of slavery in Maryland came before the end of the war, with a new third constitution voted approval in 1864 by a small majority of Radical Republican Unionists then controlling the nominally Democratic state.


The approach of War


Maryland's sympathies

Maryland, as a slave-holding border state, was deeply divided over the
antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ar ...
arguments over states' rights and the future of slavery in the Union. Culturally, geographically and economically, Maryland found herself neither one thing nor another, a unique blend of Southern agrarianism and Northern mercantilism. In the leadup to the American Civil War, it became clear that the state was bitterly divided in its sympathies. There was much less appetite for secession than elsewhere in the Southern States (
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
,
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
,
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...
,
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
,
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...
) or in the border states (
Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
and
Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
), but Maryland was equally unsympathetic towards the potentially
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...
position of Republican candidate
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
. In the presidential election of 1860 Lincoln won just 2,294 votes out of a total of 92,421, only 2.5% of the votes cast, coming in at a distant fourth place with
Southern Democrat Southern Democrats, historically sometimes known colloquially as Dixiecrats, are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Southern Democrats were generally much more conservative than Northern Democrats wi ...
(and later Confederate general) John C. Breckinridge winning the state. In seven counties, Lincoln received not a single vote. The areas of
Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...
and Eastern Shore Maryland, especially those on the
Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...
(which neighbored Virginia), which had prospered on the tobacco trade and slave labor, were generally sympathetic to the South, while the
central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
and
western areas Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
of the state, especially Marylanders of German origin, had stronger economic ties to the North and thus were pro-Union.Field, Ron, et al., p.33, ''The Confederate Army 1861–65: Missouri, Kentucky & Maryland''
Osprey Publishing (2008), Retrieved August 2012
Not all blacks in Maryland were slaves. The 1860 Federal Census showed there were nearly as many free blacks (83,942) as slaves (87,189) in Maryland, although the latter were much more dominant in southern counties. However, across the state, sympathies were mixed. Many Marylanders were simply pragmatic, recognizing that the state's long border with the Union state of
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, ...
would be almost impossible to defend in the event of war. Maryland businessmen feared the likely loss of trade that would be caused by war and the strong possibility of a blockade of
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
's port by the
Union Navy The Union Navy was the United States Navy (USN) during the American Civil War, when it fought the Confederate States Navy (CSN). The term is sometimes used carelessly to include vessels of war used on the rivers of the interior while they were un ...
.Mitchell, p.12
Retrieved November 2012
Other residents, and a majority of the legislature, wished to remain in the Union, but did not want to be involved in a war against their southern neighbors, and sought to prevent a military response by Lincoln to the South's secession. After
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...
in 1859, many citizens began forming local militias, determined to prevent a future slave uprising.


Baltimore Riot of 1861

The first bloodshed of the Civil War occurred in Maryland. Anxious about the risk of secessionists capturing Washington, D.C., given that the capital was bordered by Virginia, and preparing for war with the South, the federal government requested armed volunteers to suppress "unlawful combinations" in the South. Soldiers from Pennsylvania and Massachusetts were transported by rail to
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
, where they had to disembark, march through the city, and board another train to continue their journey south to Washington. As one Massachusetts regiment was transferred between stations on April 19, a mob of Marylanders sympathizing with the South, or objecting to the use of federal troops against the seceding states, attacked the train cars and blocked the route; some began throwing cobblestones and bricks at the troops, assaulting them with "shouts and stones".Andrews, p.514 Panicked by the situation, several soldiers fired into the mob, whether "accidentally", "in a desultory manner", or "by the command of the officers" is unclear. Chaos ensued as a giant brawl began between fleeing soldiers, the violent mob, and the Baltimore police who tried to suppress the violence. Four soldiers and twelve civilians were killed in the riot. The disorder inspired James Ryder Randall, a Marylander living in Louisiana, to write a poem which would be put to music and, in 1939, become the
state song Forty-eight of the fifty U.S. states have one or more state songs, a type of regional anthem, which are selected by each state legislature as a symbol (or emblem) of that particular U.S. state. Some U.S. states have more than one official state ...
, "
Maryland, My Maryland "Maryland, My Maryland" was the state song of the U.S. state of Maryland from 1939 until 2021. The song is set to the melody of "Lauriger Horatius" — the same tune " O Tannenbaum" was taken from. The lyrics are from a nine-stanza poem written ...
" (it remained the official state song until March 2021). The song's lyrics urged Marylanders to "spurn the Northern scum" and "burst the tyrant's chain" — in other words, to secede from the Union.
Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
bands would later play the song after they crossed into Maryland territory during the Maryland Campaign in 1862. After the April 19 rioting, skirmishes continued in Baltimore for the next month. Mayor George William Brown and Maryland Governor Thomas Hicks implored President Lincoln to reroute troops around Baltimore city and through
Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...
to avoid further confrontations.Andrews, p.517 In a letter to President Lincoln, Mayor Brown wrote: Hearing no immediate reply from Washington, on the evening of April 19 Governor Hicks and Mayor Brown ordered the destruction of railroad bridges leading into the city from the North, preventing further incursions by Union soldiers. The destruction was accomplished the next day. One of the men involved in this destruction would be arrested for it in May without recourse to habeas corpus, leading to the ex parte Merryman ruling. For a time it looked as if Maryland was one provocation away from joining the rebels, but Lincoln moved swiftly to defuse the situation, promising that the troops were needed purely to defend Washington, not to attack the South. President Lincoln also complied with the request to reroute troops to Annapolis, as the political situation in Baltimore remained highly volatile. Meanwhile, General Winfield Scott, who was in charge of military operations in Maryland indicated in correspondence with the head of Pennsylvania troops that the route through Baltimore would resume once sufficient troops were available to secure Baltimore.


To secede or not to secede

Despite some popular support for the cause of the
Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
, Maryland did not secede during the Civil War. However, a number of leading citizens, including physician and slaveholder Richard Sprigg Steuart, placed considerable pressure on Governor Hicks to summon the state Legislature to vote on secession, following Hicks to Annapolis with a number of fellow citizens: Responding to pressure, on April 22 Governor Hicks finally announced that the state legislature would meet in a special session in Frederick, a strongly pro-Union town, rather than the state capital of
Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...
. The
Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber ...
convened in Frederick and unanimously adopted a measure stating that they would not commit the state to secession, explaining that they had "no constitutional authority to take such action," whatever their own personal feelings might have been. On April 29, the Legislature voted decisively 53–13 against secession,Mitchell, p.87Radcliffe, George Lovic-Pierce, ''Governor Thomas H. Hicks of Maryland and the Civil War'', The Johns Hopkins Press, Nov-Dec 1901, pp. 73-74. though they also voted not to reopen rail links with the North, and they requested that Lincoln remove Union troops from Maryland. At this time the legislature seems to have wanted to avoid involvement in a war against its southern neighbors.


Imposition of martial law

On May 13, 1861 General Benjamin F. Butler entered Baltimore by rail with 1,000 Federal soldiers and, under cover of a thunderstorm, quietly took possession of Federal Hill. Butler fortified his position and trained his guns upon the city, threatening its destruction. Butler then sent a letter to the commander of
Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attac ...
: Butler went on to occupy Baltimore and declared
martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Martia ...
, ostensibly to prevent secession, although Maryland had voted solidly (53–13) against secession two weeks earlier, but more immediately to allow war to be made on the South without hindrance from the state of Maryland,Andrews, p.521 which had also voted to close its rail lines to Northern troops, so as to avoid involvement in a war against its southern neighbors. By May 21 there was no need to send further troops. After the occupation of the city, Union troops were garrisoned throughout the state. By late summer Maryland was firmly in the hands of Union soldiers. Arrests of Confederate sympathizers and those critical of Lincoln and the war soon followed, and Steuart's brother, the militia general George H. Steuart, fled to
Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen C ...
, after which much of his family's property was confiscated by the Federal Government. Civil authority in Baltimore was swiftly withdrawn from all those who had not been steadfastly in favor of the Federal Government's emergency measures. During this period in spring 1861, Baltimore Mayor Brown, the city council, the police commissioner, and the entire Board of Police were arrested and imprisoned at
Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attac ...
without charges. One of those arrested was militia captain
John Merryman John Merryman (August 9, 1824 – November 15, 1881) of Baltimore County, Maryland, was arrested in May 1861 and held prisoner in Fort McHenry in Baltimore and was the petitioner in the case ''" Ex parte Merryman"'' which was one of the best ...
, who was held without trial in defiance of a writ of ''
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, ...
'' on May 25, sparking the case of '' Ex parte Merryman'', heard just 2 days later on May 27 and 28. In this case U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, and native Marylander, Roger B. Taney, acting as a federal circuit court judge, ruled that the arrest of Merryman was unconstitutional without Congressional authorization, which Lincoln could not then secure: The ''Merryman'' decision created a sensation, but its immediate impact was rather limited, as the president simply ignored the ruling. Indeed, when Lincoln's dismissal of Chief Justice Taney's ruling was criticized in a September 1861 editorial by Baltimore newspaper editor Frank Key Howard (
Francis Scott Key Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet from Frederick, Maryland, who wrote the lyrics for the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner". Key observed the British bombardment ...
's grandson), Howard was himself arrested by order of Lincoln's Secretary of State Seward and held without trial. Howard described these events in his 1863 book ''Fourteen Months in American Bastiles'', where he noted that he was imprisoned in
Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attac ...
, the same fort where the
Star Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bo ...
had been waving "o'er the land of the free" in his grandfather's song. Two of the publishers selling his book were then arrested. In all nine newspapers were shut down in Maryland by the federal government, and a dozen newspaper owners and editors like Howard were imprisoned without charges. On September 17, 1861, the first day of the Maryland legislature's new session, fully one third of the members of the
Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber ...
were arrested, due to federal concerns that the Assembly "would aid the anticipated rebel invasion and would attempt to take the state out of the Union."William C. Harris, ''Lincoln and the Border States: Preserving the Union'' (University Press of Kansas, 2011) pp.71 Although previous secession votes, in spring 1861, had failed by large margins, there were legitimate concerns that the war-averse Assembly would further impede the federal government's use of Maryland infrastructure to wage war on the South. One month later in October 1861 one John Murphy asked the United States Circuit Court for the District of Columbia to issue a writ of habeas corpus for his son, then in the United States Army, on the grounds that he was underage. When the writ was delivered to General Andrew Porter Provost Marshal of the District of Columbia he had both the lawyer delivering the writ and the United States Circuit Judge, Marylander
William Matthew Merrick William Matthews Merrick (September 1, 1818 – February 4, 1889) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, a United States representative from Maryland and an associate justice of the Supr ...
, who issued the writ, arrested to prevent them from proceeding in the case United States ex rel. Murphy v. Porter. Merrick's fellow judges took up the case and ordered General Porter to appear before them, but Lincoln's Secretary of State Seward prevented the federal marshal from delivering the court order.
Inside Lincoln's White House: The Complete Civil War Diary of John Hay
', p. 28 (SIU Press, Michael Burlingame and John R. Turner Ettlinger eds. 1999).
The court objected that this disruption of its process was unconstitutional, but noted that it was powerless to enforce its prerogatives. The following month in November 1861, Judge Richard Bennett Carmichael, a presiding state circuit court judge in Maryland, was imprisoned without charge for releasing, due to his concern that arrests were arbitrary and civil liberties had been violated, many of the southern sympathizers seized in his jurisdiction. The order came again from Lincoln's Secretary of State Seward. The federal troops executing Judge Carmichael's arrest beat him unconscious in his courthouse while his court was in session, before dragging him out, initiating a public controversy. In another controversial arrest that fall, and in further defiance of Chief Justice Taney's ruling, a sitting U.S. Congressman Henry May (D-Maryland) was imprisoned without charge and without recourse to
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, ...
in Fort Lafayette. May was eventually released and returned to his seat in Congress in December 1861, and in March 1862 he introduced a bill to Congress requiring the federal government to either indict by grand jury or release all other "political prisoners" still held without habeas. The provisions of May's bill were included in the March 1863 Habeas Corpus Act, in which Congress finally authorized Lincoln to suspend habeas corpus, but required actual indictments for suspected traitors.


Marylanders fought both for the Union and the Confederacy

Although Maryland stayed as part of the Union and more Marylanders fought for the Union than for the Confederacy, Marylanders sympathetic to the secession easily crossed the
Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...
into secessionist
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
in order to join and fight for the Confederacy. During the early summer of 1861, several thousand Marylanders crossed the Potomac to join the
Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighti ...
. Most of the men enlisted into regiments from
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
or
the Carolinas The Carolinas are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina, considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east. Combining Nor ...
, but six companies of Marylanders formed at
Harpers Ferry Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...
into the Maryland Battalion. Among them were members of the former volunteer militia unit, the Maryland Guard Battalion, initially formed in Baltimore in 1859.Field, Ron, et al., ''The Confederate Army 1861–65: Missouri, Kentucky & Maryland''
Osprey Publishing (2008), Retrieved March 4, 2010
Maryland Exiles, including
Arnold Elzey Arnold Elzey Jones Jr. (December 18, 1816 – February 21, 1871), known for much of his life simply as Arnold Elzey, was a soldier in both the United States Army and the Confederate Army, serving as a major general in the American Civil War. At ...
and brigadier general George H. Steuart, would organize a "Maryland Line" in the
Army of Northern Virginia The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most oft ...
which eventually consisted of one infantry regiment, one infantry battalion, two cavalry battalions and four battalions of artillery. Most of these volunteers tended to hail from southern and eastern counties of the state, while northern and western Maryland furnished more volunteers for the Union armies. Captain Bradley T. Johnson refused the offer of the Virginians to join a Virginia Regiment, insisting that Maryland should be represented independently in the Confederate army. It was agreed that
Arnold Elzey Arnold Elzey Jones Jr. (December 18, 1816 – February 21, 1871), known for much of his life simply as Arnold Elzey, was a soldier in both the United States Army and the Confederate Army, serving as a major general in the American Civil War. At ...
, a seasoned career officer from Maryland, would command the 1st Maryland Regiment. His executive officer was the Marylander George H. Steuart, who would later be known as "Maryland Steuart" to distinguish him from his more famous cavalry colleague J.E.B. Stuart. The 1st Maryland Infantry Regiment was officially formed on June 16, 1861, and, on June 25, two additional companies joined the regiment in Winchester. Its initial term of duty was for twelve months. It has been estimated that, of the state's 1860 population of 687,000, about 4,000 Marylanders traveled south to fight for the Confederacy. While the number of Marylanders in Confederate service is often reported as 20-25,000 based on an oral statement of General Cooper to General Trimble, other contemporary reports refute this number and offer more detailed estimates in the range of 3,500 (Livermore) to just under 4,700 (McKim), which latter number should be further reduced given that the 2nd Maryland Infantry raised in 1862 consisted largely of the same men who had served in the 1st Maryland, which mustered out after a year. While other men born in Maryland may have served in other Confederate formations, the same is true of units in the service of the United States. The 1860 Census reported the chief destinations of internal immigrants from Maryland as Ohio and Pennsylvania, followed by Virginia and the District of Columbia. A similar situation existed in relation to Marylanders serving in the United States Colored Troops. Indeed, on the whole there appear to have been twice as many black Marylanders serving in the U.S.C.T. as white Marylanders in the Confederate army. Overall, the Official Records of the War Department credits Maryland with 33,995 white enlistments in volunteer regiments of the United States Army and 8,718 African American enlistments in the United States Colored Troops. A further 3,925 Marylanders, not differentiated by race, served as sailors or marines. One notable Maryland front line regiment was the 2nd Maryland Infantry, which saw considerable combat action in the Union
IX Corps 9 Corps, 9th Corps, Ninth Corps, or IX Corps may refer to: France * 9th Army Corps (France) * IX Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * IX Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German ...
. Another was the 4th United States Colored Troops, whose Sergeant Major, Christian Fleetwood was awarded the Medal of Honor for rallying the regiment and saving its colors in the successful assault on New Market Heights.


A state divided

Not all those who sympathised with the rebels would abandon their homes and join the Confederacy. Some, like physician Richard Sprigg Steuart, remained in Maryland, offered covert support for the South, and refused to sign an oath of loyalty to the Union.Helsel, David S., p.19, ''Spring Grove State Hospital''
Retrieved February 26, 2010
Later in 1861, Baltimore resident W W Glenn described Steuart as a fugitive from the authorities:


Civil War


Battle of Front Royal

Because Maryland's sympathies were divided, many Marylanders would fight one another during the conflict. On May 23, 1862, at the Battle of Front Royal, the
1st Maryland Infantry, CSA The 1st Maryland Infantry, CSA was a regiment of the Confederate army, formed shortly after the commencement of the American Civil War in April 1861. The unit was made up of volunteers from Maryland who, despite their home state remaining in the ...
was thrown into battle with their fellow Marylanders, the Union
1st Regiment Maryland Volunteer Infantry The 1st Regiment Maryland Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 1st Maryland was organized at Baltimore, Maryland and 4 companies (A, B, C and D) were mustered into U ...
. This is the only time in United States military history that two regiments of the same numerical designation and from the same state have engaged each other in battle.Andrews, p.531 After hours of desperate fighting the Southerners emerged victorious, despite an inferiority both of numbers and equipment. When the prisoners were taken, many men recognized former friends and family. Major William Goldsborough, whose memoir ''The Maryland Line in the Confederate Army'' chronicled the story of the rebel Marylanders, wrote of the battle: Among the prisoners captured by William Goldsborough was his own brother Charles Goldsborough. On 6 September 1862 advancing Confederate soldiers entered
Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...
, the home of Colonel Bradley T. Johnson, who issued a proclamation calling upon his fellow Marylanders to join his colors. Disappointingly for the exiles, recruits did not flock to the Confederate banner. Whether this was due to local sympathy with the Union cause or the generally ragged state of the Confederate army, many of whom had no shoes, is not clear.Andrews, p. 539 Frederick would later be extorted by Jubal Early, who threatened to burn down the city if its residents did not pay a ransom. Hagerstown too would also suffer a similar fate.


"Bloody Antietam"

One of the bloodiest battles fought in the Civil war (and one of the most significant) was the Battle of Antietam, fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, in which Marylanders fought with distinction for both armies. The battle was the culmination of
Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nor ...
's Maryland Campaign, which aimed to take the war to the North. Lee's
Army of Northern Virginia The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most oft ...
, consisting of about 40,000 men, had entered Maryland following their recent victory at Second Bull Run. While Major General George B. McClellan's 87,000-man
Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confede ...
was moving to intercept Lee, a Union soldier discovered a mislaid copy of the detailed battle plans of Lee's army, on Sunday 14 September.Andrews, p.541 The order indicated that Lee had divided his army and dispersed portions geographically (to
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. st ...
, 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 (exte ...
), thus making each subject to isolation and defeat in detail - if McClellan could move quickly enough. However, McClellan waited about 18 hours before deciding to take advantage of this intelligence and position his forces based on it, thus endangering a golden opportunity to defeat Lee decisively. The armies met near the town of Sharpsburg by the
Antietam Creek Antietam Creek () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Potomac River located in south central Pennsylvania and western Maryland in the ...
. Losses were extremely heavy on both sides; The Union suffered 12,401 casualties with 2,108 dead. Confederate casualties were 10,318 with 1,546 dead. This represented 25% of the Federal force and 31% of the Confederate. More Americans died in battle on September 17, 1862, than on any other day in the nation's military history. The Confederate General A. P. Hill described Although tactically inconclusive, the Battle of Antietam is considered a strategic Union victory and an important turning point of the war, because it forced the end of Lee's invasion of the North, and it allowed President Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, taking effect on January 1, 1863. Lincoln had wished to issue his proclamation earlier, but needed a military victory in order for his proclamation not to become self-defeating. As Lincoln himself stated, five days before the battle: Lee's setback at the Battle of Antietam can also be seen as a turning point in that it may have dissuaded the governments of
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
from recognizing the Confederacy, doubting the South's ability to maintain and win the war.


March to Gettysburg

In June 1863 General Lee's army again advanced north into Maryland, taking the war into Union territory for the second time. Maryland exile George H. Steuart, leading the 2nd Maryland Infantry regiment, is said to have jumped down from his horse, kissed his native soil and stood on his head in jubilation. According to one of his aides: "We loved Maryland, we felt that she was in bondage against her will, and we burned with desire to have a part in liberating her".Tagg, p.273 Quartermaster John Howard recalled that Steuart performed "seventeen double somersaults" all the while whistling ''
Maryland, My Maryland "Maryland, My Maryland" was the state song of the U.S. state of Maryland from 1939 until 2021. The song is set to the melody of "Lauriger Horatius" — the same tune " O Tannenbaum" was taken from. The lyrics are from a nine-stanza poem written ...
''. Such celebrations would prove short lived, as Steuart's brigade was soon to be severely damaged at 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 ...
(July 1–3, 1863), a turning point in the war and a reverse from which the Confederate army would never recover.


Battle of Monocacy

In 1864, elements of the warring armies again met in Maryland, although this time the scope and size of the battle was much smaller. The Battle of Monocacy was fought on July 9, just outside Frederick, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864. Confederate forces under
Lt. Gen. Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Jubal A. Early Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816 – March 2, 1894) was a Virginia lawyer and politician who became a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Trained at the United States Military Academy, Early resigned his U.S. Army commis ...
defeated Union troops under Maj. Gen.
Lew Wallace Lewis Wallace (April 10, 1827February 15, 1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of the New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Wallace is ...
. The battle was part of Early's raid through the
Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridg ...
and into Maryland, attempting to divert Union forces away from Gen. Robert E. Lee's army under
siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...
at
Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Econ ...
. However, Wallace delayed Early for nearly a full day, buying enough time for
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...
to send reinforcements from the Army of the Potomac to the Washington defenses.


Prisoners of war

Thousands of Union troops were stationed in Charles County, and the Federal Government established a large, unsheltered prison camp at Point Lookout at Maryland's southern tip in St. Mary's County between the
Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...
and the
Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...
, where thousands of Confederates were kept, often in harsh conditions. Of the 50,000 Southern soldiers held in the army prison camp, who were housed in tents at the Point between 1863 and 1865, according to the
Maryland Department of Natural Resources The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is a government agency in the state of Maryland charged with maintaining natural resources including state parks, public lands, state forests, state waterways, wildlife, and recreation areas. I ...
, (Maryland Park Service) nearly 4,000 died, although this death rate of 8 percent was less than half the death rate among soldiers who were still fighting in the field with their own armies.Point Lookout History, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Retrieved August 2012
The harshness of conditions at Point Lookout, and in particular whether such conditions formed part of a deliberate policy of "vindictive directives" from Washington, is a matter of some debate. The state capital
Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...
's western suburb of
Parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
became a camp where prisoners-of-war would await formal exchange in the early years of the war. Around 70,000 soldiers passed through Camp Parole until Lt. Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...
assumed command as General-in-Chief of the
Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
in 1864, and ended the system of prisoner exchanges.


Slavery and emancipation

Those who voted for Maryland to remain in the Union did not explicitly seek for the emancipation of Maryland's many enslaved people, or indeed those of the Confederacy. In March 1862, the Maryland Assembly passed a series of resolutions, stating that: In other words, the Assembly members could only agree to state that the war was being fought over the issue of secession. Because Maryland had not seceded from the United States the state was not included under the
Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War, Civil War. The Proclamation c ...
of January 1, 1863, which declared that all enslaved people within the Confederacy would henceforth be free. In 1864, before the end of the War, a constitutional convention outlawed slavery in Maryland.


Constitution of 1864, and the abolition of slavery

The issue of slavery was finally confronted by the constitution which the state adopted in 1864. The document, which replaced the Maryland Constitution of 1851, was largely advocated by Unionists who had secured control of the state, and was framed by a Convention which met at Annapolis in April 1864.Andrews, p.553 Article 24 of the constitution at last outlawed the practice of slavery. One feature of the new constitution was a highly restrictive oath of allegiance which was designed to reduce the influence of Southern sympathizers, and to prevent such individuals from holding public office of any kind. The new constitution
emancipated Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchi ...
the state's slaves (who had not been freed by President Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War, Civil War. The Proclamation c ...
), disenfranchised southern sympathizers, and re-apportioned the
General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...
based upon white inhabitants. This last provision diminished the power of the small counties where the majority of the state's large former slave population lived. The constitution was submitted to the people for
ratification Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent that lacked the authority to bind the principal legally. Ratification defines the international act in which a state indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty if the parties inten ...
on October 13, 1864 and it was narrowly approved by a vote of 30,174 to 29,799 (50.31% to 49.69%) in a vote likely overshadowed by the heavy presence of Union troops in the state and the repression of Confederate sympathizers.Andrews, p.554 Those voting at their usual polling places were opposed to the Constitution by 29,536 to 27,541. However, the constitution secured ratification once the votes of Union army soldiers from Maryland were included. The Marylanders serving in the Union Army were overwhelmingly in favor of the new Constitution, supporting ratification by a margin of 2,633 to 263. The new constitution came into effect on November 1, 1864, making Maryland the first Union slave state to abolish slavery since the beginning of the war. While it emancipated the state's slaves, it did not mean equality for them, in part because the franchise continued to be restricted to white males. The abolition of slavery in Maryland preceded the
Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Thirteenth Amendment (Amendment XIII) to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The amendment was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House of Representative ...
outlawing slavery throughout the United States and did not come into effect until December 6, 1865. Maryland had ratified the Thirteenth Amendment on February 3, 1865, within three days of it being submitted to the states. Emancipation did not immediately bring citizenship for former slaves. The Maryland legislature refused to ratify both the 14th Amendment, which conferred citizenship rights on former slaves, and the 15th Amendment, which gave the vote to African Americans. The right to vote was eventually extended to non-white males in the
Maryland Constitution of 1867 The current Constitution of the State of Maryland, which was ratified by the people of the state on September 18, 1867, forms the basic law for the U.S. state of Maryland. It replaced the short-lived Maryland Constitution of 1864 and is the fourt ...
, which remains in effect today. The Constitution of 1867 overturned the registry test oath embedded in the 1864 constitution.


Assassination of President Lincoln

The issue of slavery may have been settled by the new constitution, and the legality of secession by the war, but this did not end the debate. On April 14, 1865 the actor
John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth ...
assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
President
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
at
Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater bo ...
in Washington, D.C. After he shot Lincoln, Booth shouted " Sic semper tyrannis" ("Thus always to tyrants"). Other witnesses — including Booth himself — claimed that he only yelled "Sic semper!" Some didn't recall hearing Booth shout anything in Latin. Some witnesses said he shouted "The South is avenged!"Swanson, James. ''Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer''. Harper Collins, 2006. Others thought they heard him say "Revenge for the South!" or "The South shall be free!" Two said Booth yelled "I have done it!" After shooting the President, Booth galloped on his horse into Southern Maryland, where he was sheltered and helped by sympathetic residents and smuggled at night across the Potomac River into Virginia a week later. In a letter explaining his actions, Booth wrote:


Legacy

Most Marylanders fought for the Union, but after the war a number of memorials were erected in sympathy with the
Lost Cause of the Confederacy The Lost Cause of the Confederacy (or simply Lost Cause) is an American pseudohistorical negationist mythology that claims the cause of the Confederate States during the American Civil War was just, heroic, and not centered on slavery. Fir ...
, including in Baltimore a Confederate Women's Monument, and a Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Baltimore boasted a monument to
Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nor ...
and
Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in nearl ...
until they were taken down on August 16, 2017. A home for retired Confederate soldiers in
Pikesville, Maryland Pikesville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. Pikesville is just northwest of the Baltimore city limits. It is the northwestern suburb closest to Baltimore. The population was 30,764 at the 2010 cens ...
opened in 1888 and did not close until 1932. A brochure published by the home in the 1890s described it as: There is a Confederate monument behind the courthouse in
Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city that serves as the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, and is part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fifth-largest community in ...
, dedicated to "the thin grey line".
Easton, Maryland Easton is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Talbot County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,945 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population in 2019 of 16,671. The primary ZIP Code is 21601, and the secondary ...
also has a Confederate monument. Maryland has three chapters of the
Sons of Confederate Veterans The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) is an American neo-Confederate nonprofit organization of male descendants of Confederate soldiers that commemorates these ancestors, funds and dedicates monuments to them, and promotes the pseudohis ...
. War produced a legacy of bitter resentment in politics, with the Democrats being identified with "treason and rebellion", a point much pressed home by their opponents.Andrews, p.563 Democrats therefore re-branded themselves the "Democratic Conservative Party", and Republicans called themselves the "Union" party, in an attempt to distance themselves from their most radical elements during the war. The legacies of the debate over Lincoln's heavy-handed actions that were meant to keep Maryland within the union include measures such as arresting one third of the
Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber ...
, which was controversially ruled unconstitutional at the time by Maryland native Justice
Roger Taney Roger Brooke Taney (; March 17, 1777 – October 12, 1864) was the fifth chief justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. Although an opponent of slavery, believing it to be an evil practice, Taney belie ...
, and in the lyrics of the former Maryland state song, ''
Maryland, My Maryland "Maryland, My Maryland" was the state song of the U.S. state of Maryland from 1939 until 2021. The song is set to the melody of "Lauriger Horatius" — the same tune " O Tannenbaum" was taken from. The lyrics are from a nine-stanza poem written ...
'', which referred to Lincoln as a "despot," a "vandal," and, a "tyrant."


See also

* History of slavery in Maryland * History of the Maryland Militia in the Civil War * List of Maryland Union Civil War units * List of Maryland Confederate Civil War units *
Maryland Line (CSA) The Maryland Line in the Army of the Confederate States of America was made up of volunteers from Maryland who, despite their home state remaining in the Union, fought for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Of app ...


References

* Andrews, Matthew Page, ''History of Maryland'', Doubleday, New York (1929) * Arnett, Robert J., et al., ''Maryland: A New Guide to the Old Line State'' The Johns Hopkins University Press (1999)
Davis, David Brion, ''Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World''
Retrieved January 2013 * Curry, Denis, C.,
Native Maryland, 9000 B.C.–1600 A.D.
(2001). Retrieved August 2012 * Gallagher, Gary W.
''Antietam: Essays on the 1862 Maryland Campaign'', Kent State University Press (31 Dec 1992)
Retrieved January 2013
Gillipsie, James M., ''Andersonvilles Of The North: The Myths and Realities of Northern Treatment of Civil War Confederate Prisoners'', University of North Texas Press (2011)
Retrieved January 2013 * Goldsborough, W. W., ''The Maryland Line in the Confederate Army'', Guggenheimer Weil & Co (1900), . * Harris, William C. (2011) ''Lincoln and the Border States: Preserving the Union''. University Press of Kansas. * Hein, David (editor),. ''Religion and Politics in Maryland on the Eve of the Civil War: The Letters of W. Wilkins Davis.'' 1988. Rev. ed., Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2009. * Maryland State Archives (16 Sept. 2004

Retrieved August 2012. *
Mitchell, Charles W., ''Maryland Voices of the Civil War''.
Retrieved August 2012 * Scharf, J. Thomas (1967 (reissue of 1879 ed.)). History of Maryland From the Earliest Period to the Present Day. 3. Hatboro, PA: Tradition Press
Scharf, J. Thomas, ''History of Western Maryland: Being a History of Frederick, Montgomery, Carroll, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett Counties.'' (1882)
Retrieved November 2012 * Tagg, Larry, ''The Generals of Gettysburg'', Savas Publishing (1998), . * Whitman H. Ridgway. Maryland Humanities Council (2001).
(Maryland in) the Nineteenth Century
. Retrieved August 2012


Notes


Further reading

* Baker, Jean H. ''The Politics of Continuity: Maryland Political Parties from 1858 to 1870'' (Johns Hopkins UP, 1973
online
* Brugger, Robert J, et al. ''Maryland, a middle temperament, 1634-1980'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988), scholarly history of the state. * Cannon, Jessica Ann. "Lincoln's divided backyard: Maryland in the Civil War era" (PhD dissertation, Rice University, 2010
online
* Crittenden, Amy Gray. "Southern sympathies: The Civil War on Maryland's eastern shore" (Thesis. Salisbury University, 1991
online
* Davis, James A. ''Maryland, My Maryland: Music and Patriotism during the American Civil War'' (U of Nebraska Press, 2019). * Duncan, Richard Ray. "The social and economic impact of the Civil War on Maryland" (PhD dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1963) (ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1963. 6306239). * Fields, Barbara. ''Slavery and Freedom on the Middle Ground: Maryland During the Nineteenth Century'' (Yale UP, 1987). * Floyd, Claudia. ''Maryland Women in the Civil War: Unionists, Rebels, Slaves & Spies'' (Arcadia Publishing, 2014). * González, Felipe, Guillermo Marshall, and Suresh Naidu. "Start-up nation? Slave wealth and entrepreneurship in Civil War Maryland." ''Journal of Economic History'' 77.2 (2017): 373-405
online
* Manakee, Harold. ''Maryland in the Civil War'' (1961), broad survey. * Mills, Eric. ''Chesapeake Bay in the Civil War'' (1996) * Myers, William S. ''The Self Reconstruction of Maryland, 1864-1867'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1909)

* Radcliffe, George L. P. ''Governor Thomas H. Hicks of Maryland and the Civil War'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1901)
online
* Schearer, Michael. "The Lincoln Administration and Freedom of the Press in Civil War Maryland." (2021
online
* Schoeberlein, Robert W. "'A Record of Heroism': Baltimore’s Unionist Women in the Civil War" ''Maryland Historical Magazine'' 109#2 (2014), 189–201. * Scharf, J. Thomas. ''History of Baltimore City and County: From the Earliest Period to the Present Day'' (1881)
online
* Toomey, Daniel Carroll. ''The Civil War in Maryland'' (1983
online
* Wagandt, Charles Lewis. ''The Mighty Revolution: Negro Emancipation in Maryland, 1862-1864'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1964).


Historiography and memory

* Bell, Richard, et al. ''The Civil War in Maryland Reconsidered'' (LSU Press, 2021)
excerpt
good place to start * Miller, Richard F. ed. ''States at War, Volume 4: A Reference Guide for Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey in the Civil War'' (2015
excerpt
890pp. * Soderberg, Susan Cooke. ''Lest we forget: a guide to Civil War monuments in Maryland'' (1995
online


Primary sources

* Mitchell, Charles W., ed. ''Maryland Voices of the Civil War'' (JHU Press, 2007
excerpt


External links




Maryland Military Historical Society

American Civil War: Maryland Resources
{{Authority control Maryland in the American Civil War, American Civil War by state