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| What a difference a day makes: The day Cumberland was in the Confederacy |
These soldiers served in Cumberland during the Civil War and ended their army
service there in 1865.
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America or ask to be added to our
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1/28 -
James has been asked
to write an article detailing
the story of Lincoln
conspirator John Surratt Jr.
and his time in Emmitsburg,
Maryland.
James has been asked
to write an article detailing
the story of Lincoln
conspirator John Surratt Jr.
and his time in Emmitsburg,
Maryland.
During the Civil War, towns changed hands depending on which army
was nearest. Romney went back and forth between Union and Confederate
control more times than you can count on your fingers and toes. Boonsboro
didn’t even wait for a demand to surrender. It flew the flag of whatever army
was nearest.
But Cumberland always flew the Stars and Stripes throughout the entire
1,500-odd days (depending on when you consider the beginning and end of
the war) of the Civil War.
Except for one day.
On June 16, 1863, the Union Army in Cumberland totally pulled out of
the city to concentrate their forces at New Creek, which is now known as
Keyser. The Union forces were gathering to oppose General Robert E. Lee’s
Army, which was expected to push into Maryland.
While General Lee did cross into Maryland, the crossing was made at
Williamsport as the Confederates marched in their way to Gettysburg.
When the Union Army left Cumberland, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
took all of its rolling stock and light machinery and sent it north.
With no military defense, the city residents were hysterical, expecting
the Confederate Army to march on them at any time.
“On the 16th, it was reported that the enemy was rapidly approaching
the city in force, whereupon a number of citizens retired with considerable
precipitancy in the direction of Pennsylvania, and merchants began to cast
about for means whereby they might save their goods from confiscation by
unexpected visitors. The next morning strangers were seen out on Williams
Road,” James Thomas and Thomas Williams wrote in the History of Allegany
County.
Night fell and Cumberland remained untaken.
The next morning strangers and artillery pieces were seen on Williams
Road outside of town. Two cavalrymen who had escaped from the
destruction of Maj. General Robert Milroy’s command at Winchester a few
days earlier approached the strangers and were fired upon by two cannon.
The cavalrymen quickly retreated.
Frightened citizens took refuge and merchants closed up their stores.
Other groups of citizens gathered in the street to see what would happen.
Shortly thereafter, two Confederates entered town and walked down
Baltimore Street under the white flag of truce. Acting Mayor Valentine A.
Buckey and a group of citizens met them under a flag of truce.
The Confederate soldiers handed Buckey a note addressed to the military
commander of Cumberland from Colonel George W. Imboden of the 18th
Virginia Cavalry. The letter read: “You are surrounded by a superior force,
and as an act of humanity, I demand the surrender of the city. The bearer,
Captain R.B. Muses, is authorized to negotiate as to terms of surrender.”
Buckey wrote out his reply and gave it to Muses. His letter to Imboden
read: “Sir: Your note addressed to officer commanding at this point has just
been handed to me, and as there is no force here to resist you, and no officer
in command, I, as Mayor, for the time being, do as far as I can, surrender the
city as demanded, upon the following terms, viz: That private persons and
property, and the property of the State of Maryland, be respected.”
Imboden’s written reply was: “Sir: I will receive a surrender of the City
of Cumberland, and will respect all private property except such property as
the Quartermaster may desire for the Confederate States. No public property
except of the State of Maryland will be respected.”
About 350 of Imboden’s Cavalry took possession of Cumberland. Their
first priority was to secure fresh horses. The soldiers and convinced the
merchants to open their stores.
“The Confederates then purchased pretty freely such articles as hats,
boots, shoes, clothing, etc., paying for the same in Confederate money, a
species of currency which had then rather limited value,” wrote Thomas and
Williams.
While the soldiers respected most property, they did tear down the telegraph
lines and remove train track.
The Valley News Echo reported, “The conduct of the Confederates
throughout was gentlemanly. They were well-clothed, armed and mounted,
and exhibited in no respect evidence of starvation or raggedness.”
The Confederates knew a substantial Union force was in New Creek so
they remained in Cumberland for only three hours, leaving by 10:30 a.m.
When they left the city, a few residents who were sympathetic to the
Southern cause also went with them. Among these young men were Thomas
Black, Lewis Rice and James Thomas, according to Harold Scott in The Civil
War Era in Cumberland, Maryland.
Brig. General Benjamin Kelly and his staff had passed through
Cumberland shortly before the Confederate forces had arriving. When the
train they were on reached a torn up area of track and couldn’t continue, the
train headed back to Cumberland to switch the train onto an alternate route.
Kelly’s forces arrived back shortly after the Confederates had left. In fact,
Kelly’s soldiers captured a few of Imboden’s men who had remained behind
with friends in Cumberland.
The Union Army also found that the B&O Railroad and the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal had been damaged. It took more than a month to restore the
telegraph communications because the damage Imboden’s men had done.
“The Richmond Enquirer told of ‘millions of dollars worth of damage done at
Cumberland; and Baltimore and Pittsburgh papers dolefully announced a great
disaster in Cumberland,” wrote David Dean in Allegany County-A History.
The only casualty of the capture of Cumberland was Griffin Twigg, a farmer
who lived near Murley’s Branch.
“The particulars are not known, but the old man was killed; not,
however, until he had killed two of the enemy and wounded another,” William
Lowdermilk wrote in History of Cumberland.
The graveyard where the Confederate soldiers are supposedly buried
was located by the Genealogical Society in the 1980’s near the Meadow
Wood Sportsman Club.
was nearest. Romney went back and forth between Union and Confederate
control more times than you can count on your fingers and toes. Boonsboro
didn’t even wait for a demand to surrender. It flew the flag of whatever army
was nearest.
But Cumberland always flew the Stars and Stripes throughout the entire
1,500-odd days (depending on when you consider the beginning and end of
the war) of the Civil War.
Except for one day.
On June 16, 1863, the Union Army in Cumberland totally pulled out of
the city to concentrate their forces at New Creek, which is now known as
Keyser. The Union forces were gathering to oppose General Robert E. Lee’s
Army, which was expected to push into Maryland.
While General Lee did cross into Maryland, the crossing was made at
Williamsport as the Confederates marched in their way to Gettysburg.
When the Union Army left Cumberland, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
took all of its rolling stock and light machinery and sent it north.
With no military defense, the city residents were hysterical, expecting
the Confederate Army to march on them at any time.
“On the 16th, it was reported that the enemy was rapidly approaching
the city in force, whereupon a number of citizens retired with considerable
precipitancy in the direction of Pennsylvania, and merchants began to cast
about for means whereby they might save their goods from confiscation by
unexpected visitors. The next morning strangers were seen out on Williams
Road,” James Thomas and Thomas Williams wrote in the History of Allegany
County.
Night fell and Cumberland remained untaken.
The next morning strangers and artillery pieces were seen on Williams
Road outside of town. Two cavalrymen who had escaped from the
destruction of Maj. General Robert Milroy’s command at Winchester a few
days earlier approached the strangers and were fired upon by two cannon.
The cavalrymen quickly retreated.
Frightened citizens took refuge and merchants closed up their stores.
Other groups of citizens gathered in the street to see what would happen.
Shortly thereafter, two Confederates entered town and walked down
Baltimore Street under the white flag of truce. Acting Mayor Valentine A.
Buckey and a group of citizens met them under a flag of truce.
The Confederate soldiers handed Buckey a note addressed to the military
commander of Cumberland from Colonel George W. Imboden of the 18th
Virginia Cavalry. The letter read: “You are surrounded by a superior force,
and as an act of humanity, I demand the surrender of the city. The bearer,
Captain R.B. Muses, is authorized to negotiate as to terms of surrender.”
Buckey wrote out his reply and gave it to Muses. His letter to Imboden
read: “Sir: Your note addressed to officer commanding at this point has just
been handed to me, and as there is no force here to resist you, and no officer
in command, I, as Mayor, for the time being, do as far as I can, surrender the
city as demanded, upon the following terms, viz: That private persons and
property, and the property of the State of Maryland, be respected.”
Imboden’s written reply was: “Sir: I will receive a surrender of the City
of Cumberland, and will respect all private property except such property as
the Quartermaster may desire for the Confederate States. No public property
except of the State of Maryland will be respected.”
About 350 of Imboden’s Cavalry took possession of Cumberland. Their
first priority was to secure fresh horses. The soldiers and convinced the
merchants to open their stores.
“The Confederates then purchased pretty freely such articles as hats,
boots, shoes, clothing, etc., paying for the same in Confederate money, a
species of currency which had then rather limited value,” wrote Thomas and
Williams.
While the soldiers respected most property, they did tear down the telegraph
lines and remove train track.
The Valley News Echo reported, “The conduct of the Confederates
throughout was gentlemanly. They were well-clothed, armed and mounted,
and exhibited in no respect evidence of starvation or raggedness.”
The Confederates knew a substantial Union force was in New Creek so
they remained in Cumberland for only three hours, leaving by 10:30 a.m.
When they left the city, a few residents who were sympathetic to the
Southern cause also went with them. Among these young men were Thomas
Black, Lewis Rice and James Thomas, according to Harold Scott in The Civil
War Era in Cumberland, Maryland.
Brig. General Benjamin Kelly and his staff had passed through
Cumberland shortly before the Confederate forces had arriving. When the
train they were on reached a torn up area of track and couldn’t continue, the
train headed back to Cumberland to switch the train onto an alternate route.
Kelly’s forces arrived back shortly after the Confederates had left. In fact,
Kelly’s soldiers captured a few of Imboden’s men who had remained behind
with friends in Cumberland.
The Union Army also found that the B&O Railroad and the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal had been damaged. It took more than a month to restore the
telegraph communications because the damage Imboden’s men had done.
“The Richmond Enquirer told of ‘millions of dollars worth of damage done at
Cumberland; and Baltimore and Pittsburgh papers dolefully announced a great
disaster in Cumberland,” wrote David Dean in Allegany County-A History.
The only casualty of the capture of Cumberland was Griffin Twigg, a farmer
who lived near Murley’s Branch.
“The particulars are not known, but the old man was killed; not,
however, until he had killed two of the enemy and wounded another,” William
Lowdermilk wrote in History of Cumberland.
The graveyard where the Confederate soldiers are supposedly buried
was located by the Genealogical Society in the 1980’s near the Meadow
Wood Sportsman Club.
| by James Rada Jr. |
This page was last updated
January 2008.
All rights reserved.
Contact the webmaster.
January 2008.
All rights reserved.
Contact the webmaster.
