The
historian Will Durant calculated that there have only been twenty-nine
years in all of human history during which a war was not underway
somewhere. (Hedges, p.10) |
University of Maryland and the Civil War
"During the Civil War, General Ambrose E. Burnside and 6,000 soldiers of the Union's Ninth Army Corps, en route to joining General Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia, camped on the College Park grounds." From article in Baltimore Sun
In July of the year 1864, Jubal Early dispatched into Prince George's
County
"A sizeable Confederate force...Early dispatched four hundred cavalrymen...to
cut rail communications north of Baltimore and then between Baltimore
and Washington. The Confederates did their work here on July 11 blowing
up the rail line at Beltsville and cutting the telegraph wires. They then
camped for the night at the Maryland Agricultural College (now the University
of Maryland). The Rossborough Inn was turned over to General Johnson for
use as a headquarters. A legend persists that a ball was held at the college
that night, a ball attended by all the Confederate officers, the college
faculty, and the pro-Southern gentry of Prince George's County. It may
never be known whether there is any truth behind the legend of the 'Old
South Ball,' but the story was repeated time and time again in the decades
after the war. The next day Johnson and his men rejoined the main body
of Early's forces for the unsuccessful attack on Fort Stevens. Georgia
Avenue passes by the old fort now; the battle there was the only one to
take place within the District of Columbia." From Prince
George's County History
Important Dates for Maryland Agricultural College & Civil War
- July 1862: President Lincoln signs the Morrill Land Grant Act
providing federal support for state colleges to teach agriculture, mechanical
arts and military tactics. Legislature votes to accept Morrill grant in
February 1864.
- April 24, 1864: Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside and 6,000 men of the
Union's Ninth Army Corps, en route to joining Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in
Virginia, camp on the college grounds.
- July 11, 1864: As part of the Jubal Early's Confederate raid on
Washington, Gen. Bradley T. Johnson and 400 men spend the night on the
college grounds.
- 1867: George
Washington Custin Lee (1832-1913), the son of Robert E. Lee and a
former major general on Jefferson Davis's personal staff, is appointed president. He is replaced that same year by Charles L.C. Minor. From University of Maryland - University Relations
Links for Further Study
UM Archives
Civil War in Maryland: Stars, Stripes, and Glory
The Maryland Manuscripts
grouping consists of a wide variety of materials, such as letters,
diaries, printed ephemera, and business ledgers, which have been described
individually. Among these items are a number that relate to the Civil
War. These items include letters from soldiers to their families, enlistment
and discharge records, records of bounties paid to slave owners who
enlisted their slaves in the U. S. Colored Troops, and an "Appeal
for Peace Sent to Lieut. Gen. Scott, July 4, 1861" from the women
of Maryland (MDMS 4334).