On July 9, 1864, Confederate forces under Gen. Jubal Early captured Frederick and demanded a $200,000 ransom, threatening to reduce the town to ashes if the money was not paid by day's end. Mayor William G. Cole and Frederick's Board of Aldermen delayed in hopes that Union soldiers might prevail at the Battle of Monocacy a few miles south of town, but by 5:00 PM, nine hours after the original demand, the town's leaders surrendered the money, supplied by five local banks and carried in wicker baskets at the site where the Market House, then used as City Hall, stood. After receiving the ransom, Confederate officers celebrated with champagne and ice cream. Frederick's citizens did not fully repay the banks until 1951, and diarist Jacob Engelbrecht captured the town's somber mood that day: "One day we are as usual & the next day in the hands of the enemy?"
