In June 1864, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee sent Gen. Jubal A. Early’s corps from the Richmond battlefields to the Shenandoah Valley to counter Union Gen. David Hunter’s army. After driving Hunter into West Virginia, Early invaded Maryland to attack Washington D.C., draw Union troops from Richmond, and release Confederate prisoners held at Point Lookout. On July 9, Early ordered Gen. Bradley T. Johnson’s cavalry brigade eastward to free the prisoners. Before the Battle of Monocacy, Early also directed Johnson to cut railroad and telegraph communications north of Baltimore, then move south to Point Lookout. Johnson sent 25 mounted troopers under Maj. Harry Gilmor to seize Cockeysville, where they arrived on Sunday, July 10, set up pickets, and burned the Northern Central Railway’s bridge across the Big Gunpowder Falls about half a mile north of here. Gilmor’s small force then rode east and attempted to burn the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Bridge across the Gunpowder River, while Johnson’s command moved south to burn Maryland Governor Augustus Bradford’s house. Union Gen. Lew Wallace delayed Early at the Battle of Monocacy on July 9, and Federal reinforcements soon strengthened Washington’s defenses. Early attacked near Fort Stevens on July 11-12 and then withdrew to the Shenandoah Valley with the Federals in pursuit, stopping them at Cool Spring on July 17-18. Plans to liberate Point Lookout were abandoned, and Johnson and Gilmor soon rejoined Early’s army. Although Early failed to take Washington or free the prisoners, he succeeded in diverting Federal resources. With connections to Harrisburg and beyond, the Northern Central Railway was vital for supplying Union armies in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. Though damaged by Baltimore authorities in 1861 and by Confederate raiders in 1863 and 1864, the railroad nearly tripled its revenue during the war, carried President Abraham Lincoln to Gettysburg in November 1863 for the dedication of the national cemetery, and two years later helped transport his body to Springfield, Illinois.

Photo: Allen C. Browne

Photo: Allen C. Browne

Photo: Allen C. Browne

Photo: Don Morfe

Photo: Don Morfe

Photo: Don Morfe

Photo: Don Morfe

Cockeysville, Maryland · USA