MD Scenic Byways - Digital Guide
Maryland Civil War Trails
2021-08-10 22:49:09
Five Civil War driving tours (each incorporating a variety of recreation diversions) take you beyond the battlefields of Antietam, South Mountain and Monocacy to trace troop movements during the Gettysburg campaign and the pursuit of John Wilkes Booth after the assassination of President Lincoln.
Antietam Campaign: Follow the September 1862 march of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Rebel forces, proceeding through South Mountain and ending in Sharpsburg, site of the war’s bloodiest single-day battle.
Attack on Washington: Follow the route of Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early’s July 1864 invasion of Maryland and attack on Washington, D.C., an unsuccessful attempt to release Confederate prisoners, and the last major Confederate invasion of the North.
Baltimore Region: Maryland’s largest city was not only popular for its navigable harbor, four railroads and proximity to Washington, D.C., but was also the site of the Civil War’s first bloodshed as Confederate sympathizers rioted in 1861.
John Wilkes Booth: Chasing Lincoln’s Assassin: After assassinating President Lincoln in 1865, John Wilkes Booth fled south before being cornered and killed in Virginia. Several sites just below Washington, D.C., and throughout Southern Maryland are linked to Booth’s escape.
Gettysburg Campaign: Explore destinations where, in 1863, both Union and Confederate soldiers stopped — and sometimes skirmished — on their way to and from one of the most important battles of the war.
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