October 30
Mason Dixon Line. It was established because of a feud regarding the border between the Pennsylvania and the Maryland colonies. In 1760, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon were commissioned to survey and they established the border which was labeled the Mason Dixon Line. In 1820, a compromise indicated the line as the border between slave and free states. When we crossed the Mason Dixon Line on Sunday we immediately noticed one
thing. Wafflehouse logos were on signs at almost every exit on the Interstates. I guess we are now in the South.
We drove out to the Antietam battlefield and on to Harpers Ferry. The blue sky and warm sunshine projected an air of peace over the fields. However, in the 12 hour battle at Antietam in 1862, there were 23,100 casualties, more than any other day in the history of the U.S. Again, masses of men were sent in waves at each other. Clara Barton tended the wounded. Dr. William Childs, a Union Army surgeon later wrote:
“When I think of the battle of Antietam, it seems strange. Who permits it? To see or feel that a power is in existence, that can and will hurl masses of men against each other in deadly conflict, slaying each other by the thousands, is almost impossible. But it is so, and why, we cannot know.”
Although neither side won, it was the first battle of the young war where Federalist troops were not defeated. Both the Federalists and the Confederates withdrew to lick their wounds and fight another day. A few weeks after the battle, Lincoln dismissed General McClellan for not pursuing his friend “Bobbie Lee” and possibly ending the war. The war dragged on 3 more years.
Harpers Ferry lies at the bottom of a valley at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah River. Most of the historic village in now under the management of the National Park Service. I had no idea of the involved history of this town. It is most famous for the raid on the armory conducted by John Brown, the fierce abolitionist (we visited his community, Jefferson, Ohio, center of the abolition movement and terminus of the Underground Railroad). In 1859 he hoped to take the extensive arms manufactured and stored here to begin a campaign to rid the country of slavery. His plan failed and the local militia, under Lt. Col Robert E. Lee, captured Brown and his raiders. During the Civil War, many battles were fought here and the armory was burned.
However, many years before these battles, George Washington, as a young man, had survey
ed this area. It was Washington, as president, who ordered an armory built here because of the location’s strategic importance. In 1783 Thomas Jefferson, stopped by and did some exploring here on his way to serve in the Continental Congress, Lewis outfitted his expedition at the armory. Lincoln reviewed the troops here. Custer met his wife here. Jeb Stewart and Stonewall Jackson served here. Even though the raid on the armory was futile, it did increase the flames of abolitionists zeal. Fredrick Douglass and W.E.B. DuBois both used Harpers Ferry to launch civil rights campaigns. The NAACP has its roots here.
All this happened here and it really is just a small town at the confluence of two rivers.
Mason Dixon Line. It was established because of a feud regarding the border between the Pennsylvania and the Maryland colonies. In 1760, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon were commissioned to survey and they established the border which was labeled the Mason Dixon Line. In 1820, a compromise indicated the line as the border between slave and free states. When we crossed the Mason Dixon Line on Sunday we immediately noticed one
thing. Wafflehouse logos were on signs at almost every exit on the Interstates. I guess we are now in the South.We drove out to the Antietam battlefield and on to Harpers Ferry. The blue sky and warm sunshine projected an air of peace over the fields. However, in the 12 hour battle at Antietam in 1862, there were 23,100 casualties, more than any other day in the history of the U.S. Again, masses of men were sent in waves at each other. Clara Barton tended the wounded. Dr. William Childs, a Union Army surgeon later wrote:
“When I think of the battle of Antietam, it seems strange. Who permits it? To see or feel that a power is in existence, that can and will hurl masses of men against each other in deadly conflict, slaying each other by the thousands, is almost impossible. But it is so, and why, we cannot know.”
Although neither side won, it was the first battle of the young war where Federalist troops were not defeated. Both the Federalists and the Confederates withdrew to lick their wounds and fight another day. A few weeks after the battle, Lincoln dismissed General McClellan for not pursuing his friend “Bobbie Lee” and possibly ending the war. The war dragged on 3 more years.
Harpers Ferry lies at the bottom of a valley at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah River. Most of the historic village in now under the management of the National Park Service. I had no idea of the involved history of this town. It is most famous for the raid on the armory conducted by John Brown, the fierce abolitionist (we visited his community, Jefferson, Ohio, center of the abolition movement and terminus of the Underground Railroad). In 1859 he hoped to take the extensive arms manufactured and stored here to begin a campaign to rid the country of slavery. His plan failed and the local militia, under Lt. Col Robert E. Lee, captured Brown and his raiders. During the Civil War, many battles were fought here and the armory was burned.
However, many years before these battles, George Washington, as a young man, had survey
ed this area. It was Washington, as president, who ordered an armory built here because of the location’s strategic importance. In 1783 Thomas Jefferson, stopped by and did some exploring here on his way to serve in the Continental Congress, Lewis outfitted his expedition at the armory. Lincoln reviewed the troops here. Custer met his wife here. Jeb Stewart and Stonewall Jackson served here. Even though the raid on the armory was futile, it did increase the flames of abolitionists zeal. Fredrick Douglass and W.E.B. DuBois both used Harpers Ferry to launch civil rights campaigns. The NAACP has its roots here.All this happened here and it really is just a small town at the confluence of two rivers.
Pictures are the Appalacian Trail, the battle field, and downtown Harpers Ferry.
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