At the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain, on September 5-6, 1862, Union observers watched the Army of Northern Virginia cross the Potomac River to invade Maryland. A signal station had been established here in the summer of 1861 as one in a chain of such stations. It communicated with a signal station and U.S. Signal Corps school southeast of Darnestown, from which messages were relayed to Washington, and with the Point of Rocks railhead of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to the northwest, where messages would be passed to Harpers Ferry. Signals were made by holding a flag in various positions representing letters, and sometimes in code. On September 5, 1862, only Lt. Brinkerhoff “Brink” Miner and his aide Pvt. A.H. Cook manned the station. After signaling the Confederate invasion to Darnestown and Point of Rocks, they made a hasty retreat down the mountain but decided to return the next morning. They ran into the 1st North Carolina Cavalry and used mutual surprise to turn around and escape, capturing a Confederate courier who had ridden out ahead of the troopers. Later, Confederates caught up with the group four miles toward Urbana at the home of a young woman friend of Miner. As they were dragged outside and searched, Gen. J.E.B. Stuart rode up and told the Federal prisoners, “Good morning, gentlemen. I am very happy to see you.” Miner replied, “Good morning, General, we are sorry we cannot return the compliment.”
