Spring Break

Last Week was Spring Break. I had a full week of history sites planned for us to visit. We went to Harper’s Ferry, B&O railroad museum and Fort McHenry. Here is how all 3 sites tie into the civil war.

Harper's Ferry
In 1859 John Brown raided Harper's Ferry in hopes to take over the Arsenal and Armory and help free slaves. After a 36 hour raid he was captured and within weeks hung to death. This raid made a huge contribution to the starting of the Civil War. ( For more complete history and pictures of Harper's Ferry see my blog on Nov 2 2007 and the link. I visited Harper’s Ferry then, but the kids did not go so we wanted to go back so the kids could experience Harper’s Ferry. This time we experienced Harper’s Ferry in the rain. At least the babies were dry. Thankfully Austin thought to bring his poncho that we quickly rigged up on the stroller)

The Civil War started on April 12 1861 in Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Many people believe the Civil War was over Slavery. Although slavery was a contributing factor it was not the only cause. Another contributing factor was also the issue of government control. The South (Confederates) were getting very upset over government control especially when it came to taxes and slavery. Abraham Lincoln was very much for government control and the union. Within days of President Lincoln becoming president South Carolina succeeded from the union. They wanted their own government, their own money, their own laws. Abraham Lincoln called up 75,000 men from the north (Union) to fight the south to perserve the union. Everyone thought the war would last at the most 3 months. The war actually latest almost 4 years to the day. Harper’s Ferry changed hands 13 times during the Civil War.

B&O Railroad
Throughout the Civil War the B&O Railroads were raided many times. The B&O (Baltimore and Ohio Railroad) is one of the oldest commercial freight railroads in America. (Passenger Trains were built before this) It’s purpose was to provide not only an alternative to, but also a faster route for Midwestern goods to reach the East Coast than the seven-year-old, hugely successful, but slow Erie Canal across upstate New York. The B&O railroad began operation in 1830 and was intended to connect Baltimore to the Ohio River and then Baltimore to Washington DC. The B&O railroads first section was from Baltimore to Ellicott’s Mills (now Ellicott City where we live). The Ellicott’s Mills station is the oldest freight Station in America. It then continued west to Harper’s Ferry and ended at Wheeling, West Virgina. The B&O museum in Ellicott City was nice but we actually didn't learn too much about the railroad. Their main displays had to do with the Battle of Monocacy in Maryland. I want to visit that site so I'll reserve my learnings for the blog when I go there. The one cool thing at the Museum was the building was the actual freight building. Upstairs they build the waiting rooms when it became a passenger train. There is one waiting room for women and another for men. There was not any signs saying why so we asked. Back then the men were so vulgar and used to spit tobacco on the floor. The women in their long dresses didn't like this so they requested their own room. Men could go into the women's waiting room but they had to act like gentlemen.

Fort McHenry

On Friday Corrie and Ashlie had plans with their friends so Austin, Caitlynn, Dalton and I went to Fort McHenry in Baltimore. Fort McHenry was built between 1799 and 1802. The War of 1812 was fought between the British and France. We remained neutral. The British became irritated with our neutrality and took attack on us in 1814. They raided Washington DC burning the city and then headed to Baltimore. A gentleman by the name of Beans was being held captive on a ship. His best friend, Francis Scott Key, went aboard the ship to try and free him. He was successful but now they realized Fort McHenry in the Chesepeake Bay was going to be attacked. They ended up watching the 25 hours bombardment of Fort McHenry from the ship. The next morning when Francis Scott Key saw the Star Spangled Banner still flying he was inspired to right the poem which is now our National Anthem "Star Spangled Banner". The flag that was flown during that fight is now in the Smithsonian Museum. A couple of years ago when we were here we saw them cleaning and repairing the flag. It was amazing because they couldn't touch the flag because of the oils in our skin. So the hung over the top of the flag and sewed it.

The fort is shaped like a star. In the center of the star is the barricks. the outside of the star is surrounded by cannons. Inside each room in the barricks they have displays of various things like camp life, uniforms, etc. The whole fort was very cool and it was really nice to spend the time with Austin.

Fort McHenry also played an important role in the Civil war. President Lincoln suspended the writ of Hapeus Corpus which means anyone could be arrested and held captive for no reason. During the Civil War For McHenry became a prison camp for some $$$ prisoner of war. On the grounds of the fort there used to be tons of buildings that was used to hold the prisoners. The fort was also used during the WWI war. Unfortunately the exhibits didn't tell too much about the Civil War and WWI. It mainly talked about the bombardment on Sept 14 1814.