Most Endangered Battlefields 2008
Monocacy, Md.
July 9, 1864
In the summer of 1864, with the Union army closing on Richmond and laying siege to nearby Petersburg, Confederate leaders devised a daring plan to threaten Washington while the majority of the capital’s defenders were deployed elsewhere. After crossing the Potomac at Shepherdstown, a small but well-led Confederate army moved on Washington from the north.
On the morning of July 9, a hastily assembled Union force under the command of Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace, famous as the author of Ben Hur after the war, encountered elements of Lt. Gen. Jubal Early’s force on its trek to Washington. Badly outnumbered, the Federal force had little chance of defeating the Confederates; instead their strategic goal was merely to hinder the invading enemy’s advance long enough for reinforcements to be rushed to Washington by rail. Delayed by a day, Early arrived outside the capital on July 11, to find it defended by veterans freshly arrived from the siege of Petersburg. After losing the Battle of Fort Stevens and failing to capture the city, Early retraced his steps back into Virginia.
Threat
Popular mythology has termed Monocacy the “battle that saved Washington,” but today the battlefield itself is in need of rescue. Interstate 270, which bisects the field, is choked with commuters and officials are investigating options to widen it through the heart of Monocacy National Battlefield. Additionally, the site is one of 16 Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland battlefields that lie within the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor. This could allow high voltage towers standing up to 15 stories through preserved landscapes.
Most urgent, however, is a proposal currently under consideration by Frederick County, Md., to construct a waste-to-energy facility just outside the boundary of Monocacy National Battlefield. The incinerator on the facility would have a 150-foot tall smokestack, making it visible from much of the battlefield, and its footprint would be within the battlefield’s boundary according to the National Register of Historic Places.
CWSAC classified Monocacy as a Priority I, Class B battlefield.
Resources for Monocacy
MOST ENDANGERED BATTLEFIELDS:
Monocacy, Maryland
Google Map of Most Endangered Battlefields
Download the CWPT Most Endangered 2008 Report
(PDF)
View Photos of Endangered Battlefields
Become a Member of the Civil War Preservation Trust
