Hidden Memorials

Yesterday, on the real Veterans Day (11^th hour, 11^th day and so on…), Mama Wordbones and went for a walk around the hills of Ellicott City. At the top of Court Avenue we stopped at the Circuit Court courthouse facing what was originally the main entrance when the building was built in 1843. It remained the front door until a major renovation and expansion in 1986 moved the “court house steps” to the rear of the building.

It occurred to me that I had never stood at the original entrance so I bounded up the old granite steps to take a look. It was there that we discovered this memorial to the veterans of World War I, World War II, and the Korean “Conflict.”

This wasn't the only memorial we found up there. To the left of the entrance we discovered this memorial to the “brave men who fought so courageously in the Confederate Army.”

I was intrigued by the listing of a General James R. Herbert since I hadn't heard of any HoCo citizen that served as a general in the Confederate Army. A little research revealed that General Herbert was a Colonel in the Confederate Army but after the war became a Brigadier General commanding the Maryland National Guard in 1874. 

Happy Veterans Day (observed).

Columbia’s Confederate Roots

I finally got around to checking out “The War Came by Train” exhibit at the B&O Railroad museum in Ellicott City yesterday and I walked away with a new understanding of the origins of the Village of Harpers Choice in Columbia. It was once part of the farm of Lt. Robert Goodloe Harper Carroll, Aide De Camp to Confederate General Richard Ewell. He went south at the beginning of the war with the Howard Dragoons and saw action in Virginia and Maryland, including the retreat from Gettysburg. He resigned from his post in November of 1864, almost four months prior to Lee’s surrender on April 9, 1865.

Harper, as he was generally referred, returned to his farm in HoCo where he lived until he died in 1915. He was the great grandson of Charles Carroll of Carrollton.

Confederate Cavalry in Cooksville

This morning I met up with a colleague in Cooksville. TW lives in Olney so Cooksville made a convenient place to link up before we headed off together towards Frederick. I arrived before he did and as I pulled into the small park and ride lot I spotted this Maryland historical marker.

The marker commemorates a Civil War skirmish between J.E.B. Stuarts cavalry and an Eastern Shore militia led by Captain R.E. Duvall. As I have mentioned before, I’m a bit of a Civil War wonk so this was an unexpected treat. The skirmish didn’t go well for the Union troops that day as they retreated to Poplar Springs under cover of darkness. 

Captain Duvall may have gotten the last laugh though. Two days later Robert E. Lee would be surprised by the arrival of Union troops in Gettysburg because Stuarts cavalry had failed to inform him of their movement. The night before the epic battle commenced Stuart was resting from his Cooksville encounter in Union Mills in Carroll County. Captain Duvall would also arrive in Gettysburg in time to face General Stuart again on July 3rd.

The state marker is complimented by two additional panels that describe in greater detail Cooksvilles’ moment in Civil War history. This site is also part of the Gettysburg Invasion and Retreat Trail.

Number 569

Now that I’ve made the decision to join the eBook revolution I need to determine which eReader best suits me. To that end I decided to take advantage of the HoCo Libraries nook program in order to give that format a test run.

“You realize our nooks are the first version,” the helpful librarian informed me. “The newer versions have color."

“No matter,” I told her. “Go ahead and sign me up. I presume there is a waiting list.”

“Indeed there is,” she replied and then added, almost apologetically, “You are number 569.”

Wow! I figured the program was popular but I didn’t realize it was THAT popular. Still, I’m in no big hurry. In the meantime, since I’ve vowed to no longer buy printed books, I’m rediscovering borrowing books.  I had forgotten how much fun that can be, just browsing the racks, looking for something interesting.

I just finished “Stealing the General” by Russell Bonds and am now knee deep in “1861: The Civil War Awakening” by Adam Goodheart”

I'm a little stuck in the Civil War genre right now. I suppose its that sesquicentennial thing.

Decatur Dorsey

One of the greatest heroes of the Civil War came from HoCo, though not by choice. Decatur Dorsey, one of only sixteen African American soldiers in that conflict to receive the Medal of Honor for courage under fire, was born a slave in HoCo.

Actually, he was born here before there even was a HoCo. Prior to 1851 it was known as the the Howard District of Anne Arundel County. He became a free man in 1864 at the age of 28.

According to the National Park Service website, he “was released by his owner and enrolled in the 39th United States Colored Infantry (USCT) in Baltimore, Maryland. In May he was promoted to corporal and then by July, to sergeant.”

It was at the Battle of The Crater outside Petersburg, Virginia later that same month that people realized that Decatur Dorsey was one incredibly brave dude. Decatur was the colors bearer for his regiment which meant that when the troops charged into battle he carried a flag but no weapon. His hands were already full.

I’ve got to believe that the guy carrying the flag makes a pretty tempting target, especially if that guy also happens to be black in the south in 1864.

Though the men were able to breach the Confederate defenses they were soon driven back by a counterattack. Undaunted, Decatur rallied his men for a second assault.

According to this account from Wikipedia, at the end of the day his regiment “breached the Confederate works and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the defenders. They captured two hundred prisoners and two flags before being pushed back again and ordered to withdraw.”

Despite this, the battle overall went badly for the Union cause that day. Instead of being hailed as heroes, the black soldiers were blamed by some of their fellow white soldiers and newspapers for the defeat that claimed over 5,300 casualties on both sides.

I wasn’t able to find out much about his life after the war. I wasn’t even able to find a picture of him. I do know that he moved on from HoCo, settling in Hoboken, New Jersey where he died in 1891 at the age of 55.

His HoCo roots are honored today by Civil War history marker outside the restored Ellicott City Colored School on Old Frederick Road which, according to their website, also houses the Decatur Dorsey Institute.

The Howard Dragoons

Not all HoCo Civil War history is centered around Ellicott City and Elkridge. Citizen soldiers once drilled around Oakland Manor in Columbia Town Center before they headed south to join the Confederacy. They called themselves the Howard Dragoons and were led by the owner of the manor, George Riggs Gaither, Jr.

They actually served the Union side before later casting their lot with the secessionists. Captain Gaither and his Howard Dragoons helped keep the peace in Baltimore in the aftermath of the Baltimore Riot of 1861.

The marker at Oakland also tells the story of HoCo’s slavery history. Three Shipley brothers, William, Moses and Joseph who at the beginning of the conflict were slaves at Oakland, went on to fight for the Union. In 1863 they enlisted in the 9^th U.S. Colored Troops and saw action in Virginia. William Shipley was killed in battle at Deep Bottom near Richmond in 1864.

Captain Gaithers own wartime exploits were somewhat inglorious. He was hospitalized in Richmond in 1864 with a bad case of Hemorrhoids thereby ending his service in “K” Company, 1^st Virginia Cavalry.

The War Came By Train

As somewhat of a recreational history buff of the Civil War, I feel fortunate to be able to live in place that was in the thick of that conflict. The history literally surrounds us. Yesterday the commencement of the loco sesquicentennial commemoration was marked by the anniversary of the Baltimore Riot of 1861. The union soldiers escaped the mobs that day by boarding a train in Baltimore for Washington, DC. That train crossed over into HoCo via the Thomas Viaduct in Elkridge. I imagine they had pretty much stopped hyperventilating by then.

Later in the war, union troops occupied Ellicott City, at one time encamped on the grounds of the Patapsco Female Institute. It has also been reported that Confederate General Robert E. Lee was a house guest at Lilburn.

For the next five years, the B&O Railroad Museum in Ellicott City will host a satellite exhibit called "The War Came By Train." The main exhibit will be at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore. As described on the museums website, “The National Landmark Roundhouse will exhibit the largest assemblage of Civil War railroad equipment in the world featuring locomotives and rail cars that served during the war, significant military and personal artifacts that will change annually to portray each year of the war (some artifacts never before on public display), and a narrated train ride to the original site of Camp Carroll, the largest Union encampment in Baltimore.”

The Ellicott City Museum is open Wednesday thru Sunday from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM.