24. Monocacy National Battlefield, Maryland

               Hello and welcome back to our blog.  In this post, we return to western Maryland to another Civil War locale, Monocacy National Battlefield.

Entrance Sign

BACKGROUND:

               In the summer of 1864, with General Ulysses S. Grant continuing to push to take the Confederate capital of Richmond, the Confederates hoped to turn the tables on the Union by risking a bold lightning attack on the now lightly defended District of Columbia.  A Confederate army under the command of Jubal Early, swept out of the Shenandoah Valley to attack the national capital from the northwest.  Most of the garrison of Washington D.C. had been stripped from the city’s fortifications and sent to the front, leaving the capital dangerously unguarded.  As Early’s army came over the mountains of western Maryland, panic gripped the Union command as they desperately moved to counter the threat.  A small force cobbled together from available units was put under the command of Union General Lew Wallace, who would gain post-war fame as the author of the epic novel Ben-Hur, assembled ready to stall the Confederates along the banks of the Monocacy river south of the town of Frederick, Maryland.

Personal items belonging to General Lew Wallace, on display in the visitor center.

               On the morning of July 9^th, 1864, the Confederates marched south from Frederick to seize two bridges, one a vital railroad bridge, across the Monocacy river on the road to Washington.  Union troops skirmished north of the river before falling back across the river and burning the two bridges to prevent their use by the Confederates.  However, Confederate cavalry were able to find a shallow crossing to the west of the bridges and forded the river.  Fortunately for the Union, they detected the Confederates and ambushed them, forcing them back.  More Confederates arrived pushing the Union troops further back and threatening to flank them.  At this point, Wallace ordered his men to retreat.  While the Union had been defeated, Wallace’s scratch force had accomplished their mission of buying time for Union reinforcements to secure Washington.

The modern road bridge over the Monocacy river at the same location as the original covered bridge that was burned by Union troops during the battle.

               The Monocacy battlefield lay mostly forgotten until a bill for its creation as a National Park Service unit passed Congress in 1934.  Even then, the battlefield sat there mostly empty until the 1970s when a more active campaign to preserve the area was waged following the decision to construct Interstate 270 right across the middle of the battlefield.

THE BATTLEFIELD:

A view of the northern half of the battlefield from the visitor center.

               Monocacy National Battlefield lies at the southern edge of the town of Frederick, Maryland, on both the north and south banks of the Monocacy river.  The area along the north bank has been encroached upon the city development, but the area around the southern bank retains the rural look the area had in 1864.  The battlefield preserves several historic houses that existed on the land at the time of the battle, as well as a handful of monuments erected following the war.  The railroad line and the road to Washington D.C. still cross the battlefield in the exact same locations as in 1864.  The park also contains several trails across the battlefield, and the visitor center is located on the northern edge of the battlefield just off of Maryland Route 355.  The visitor center contains exhibits and artifacts from the battle as well as a topographical light-board which demonstrates the positions of the armies during the course of the battle.

 

A photo of the topographical light board in the visitor center.  The red lights represent Confederate units, blue Union.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Monocacy National Battlefield is open year-round with holiday exceptions from 9am to 5pm.  The battlefield is within a short drive from the nearby NPS units of Antietam NB and Harpers Ferry NHP, and is roughly a little over an hour’s drive outside of Washington D.C.  The visitor center and some of the trails are handicapped accessible.  Passport stamps can be found in the visitor center.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

The monument at the battlefield to Union troops from Pennsylvania.

The Thomas Farm at the center of the battlefield's southern half where most of the fighting took place.

A view from the Thomas farm looking west in the direction from which the Confederates attacked.

The Worthington House, near the western edge of the battlefield.  Confederate Cavalry forded to the river to the rear of the house and were ambushed by Union troops in the vicinity of the house.

23. Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, Ohio

               Hello, welcome back to our blog on the National Park Service.  For our latest post, we come home to our native Ohio to visit the location of Ohio’s greatest battle, and the monument that commemorates it and our greatest peace with a foreign nation, Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial.

Entrance sign

BACKGROUND:

               In September of 1813, Britain and the United States were contesting control of the Great Lakes as part of the War of 1812.  Whoever controlled Lake Erie in particular, would have near unfettered dominance of the upper Great Lakes and potentially lead to the conquest of either Michigan or Ontario.  Both sides rushed to build ships suitable for the lake and on September 10^th, 1813, they met in battle off South Bass Island in Lake Erie.

A view of the area on which the Battle of Lake Erie was fought, as seen from atop the Perry's Victory monument column.  The two squadrons engaged each other to the northwest, just beyond Rattlesnake Island, the small island in the center of the photo.  The anchorage of Put-In-Bay is seen at lower left.

               At first the British seemed to have the upper hand.  The American flagship, U.S.S. Lawrence, had become separated from the rest of the squadron and faced the entire Royal Navy force virtually alone.  Although her crew were able to dish out as much punishment as they received, the Lawrence was soon reduced to a wreck.  At this critical moment, rather than admit defeat, the American commander, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry decided to continue the fight.  Hauling down his battle flag, emblazoned with the last words of his best friend fellow naval officer James Lawrence, “Don’t give up the ship!” Perry boarded a small boat and rowed under enemy fire to reach the rest of the U.S. squadron.  After assuming command of the U.S.S. Niagara, Perry led the squadron back into battle decisively defeating the British, capturing the entire Royal Navy squadron.

Perry's famed "Don't Give Up the Ship" battle flag, which flew above both the U.S.S. Lawrence and U.S.S. Niagara during the battle, currently on display at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

               A century later, to celebrate the centennial of the battle, a massive stone column was erected as a monument, not only to the American victory at the Battle of Lake Erie, but to the lasting peace forged at the war’s end which lead to the United States and Canada enjoying the longest undefended border in the world.

A view of the monument column from the memorial grounds with the flags of Canada, Great Britain, and the United States in the foreground.  Note that the U.S. flag on display is the War of 1812 fifteen stars and fifteen stripes version.

THE MEMORIAL:

               Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial is located on South Bass Island, more commonly known as Put-In Bay after the town centered on the island’s harbor, among the Lake Erie Islands in Ohio.  The Memorial comprises a thin strip of land across the neck of South Bass Island, upon which sits the largest Doric column in the world.  The column stands atop the site where six officers who were killed during the battle, three American and three British, were laid to rest.  Within the base of column is a small rotunda where plaques list the U.S. casualties from the Battle of Lake Erie.  Directly above the rotunda is an elevator which transports visitors to an observation platform at the very top of the monument.  The visitor center is located at the south end of the park lawn surrounding the monument.

A statue depicting Commodore Perry on display in the visitor center.  The monument column is directly behind the statue through the windows.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               In order to visit Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, visitors will need to arrive on South Bass Island by either boat or aircraft.  It is recommended to take one of the several ferries from the mainland instead of a boat or plane rental.  While cars are allowed on the ferries it is generally recommended to park on the mainland and rent a golf cart (the primary mode of transportation on the island) or a bicycle.  The memorial grounds and visitor center are located on the northern edge of the town of Put-In-Bay, a popular tourist destination in the summer months filled with both restaurants and souvenir shops (replica "Don't Give Up the Ship" flags are ubiquitous).  It is highly recommended to check the memorial's schedule ahead of your visit in case special programs are planned.  If you time your visit right you may get the chance to see the actual U.S.S. Niagara which still sails the lake (albeit heavily rebuilt after two hundred years) on a call to Put-In-Bay.  The ship is based in Erie, Pennsylvania.

               The memorial and its visitor center are only open from late May through to late October, closing in the winter months.  The visitor center is open daily from 10:00am to 6:00pm in the summer, and open on the weekends in October.  A small fee is required to take the elevator to the monument’s observation deck.  Passport stamps can be found in the visitor center.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

Another view of the memorial's monument column.

Artifacts from the Centennial commemorations of the Battle of Lake Erie and the dedication of the memorial on display in the visitor center.

A volunteer in period sailing garb demonstrating the use of a flintlock musket on the memorial grounds.

A marker in the rotunda of the monument column signifying the graves of six officers killed during the battle.

One of the plaques displaying the names of the men in the U.S. squadron killed and wounded during the Battle of Lake Erie in the monument column's rotunda.  The majority of the American casualties came from U.S.S. Lawrence.  (Note the writing is done in a Latin style popular on monuments in the early 1900s.  As such the letter 'U' is rendered as a 'V'.)

One of several bronze plaques in the room with the column's elevator that display the names of the remaining American sailors that participated in the battle.

A view from the column's observation platform looking north.  Middle Bass Island is at left.  The dark line along the horizon is the Canadian Pelee Island.  On a clear day the north shore of Lake Erie is just visible.