Advance, Retreat, and Refuge in Middletown

Advance, Retreat, and Refuge in Middletown. In the Path of War. As the Civil War approached, the citizens of Middletown read about the coming conflict in the town newspaper, The Valley Register. Some attended patriotic rallies, while others found it safer to conceal their allegiances. Soldiers from many states remembered Middletown, not for the fighting here, but perhaps as a last reminder of their own home town. For some, the church steeple to your left was the last one they would see before marching to their deaths on South Mountain or Antietam Creek a few miles to the west. From 1862 to 1864, the war took a toll on Middletown, as soldiers and their wagons advanced toward, and retreated from, the deadliest battles the nation had ever seen. Middletown later opened its doors to hundreds of wounded and dying., Why here? , By the time of the Civil War, the National Road, later US 40, had long been the principal east-west turnpike in the region, eventually linking Baltimore with St. Louis. This renowned "Road That Opened the West" allowed armies to move masses of men, artillery, and supply wagons across the mountain passes and valleys., [Captions:] , Koogle House on Catoctin Creek: , In September 1864, just west of town, Confederates turned the bridge over Catoctin Creek to impede the Union drive toward South Mountain. The Koogle House, used as a Rebel headquarters by Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, was spared., Hospital Volunteer Isabella Fogg, a volunteer with the Maine Camp Hospital Association, visited the emergency hospitals in Middletown after the Battle of Antietam. She spoke highly of the care her New England soldiers received here., Zion Lutheran Church , This iconic structure just across the street was built in 1809 and witnessed the passage of thousands of Civil War soldiers. After the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. In 1862, the U.S. Army set up a major hospital inside. In 1865 Middletown held a memorial service here for President Abraham Lincoln., Baer House , Surgeon's Quarters , This house once stood on the corner beside the Lutheran Church. When hundreds of sick and wounded soldiers poured into town in September 1862, the U.S. Army's Chief Surgeon William Thompson and many of his medical staff moved in., Burials in the School Yard , Hundreds of sick and wounded soldiers who died here were buried beside the public school. This building shown here replaced the old school in 1881. After the war most of the bodies were moved, the Union dead to Antietam National Cemetery, and the Confederates to Rose Hill Cemetery in Hagerstown., Main Street , Middletown changed little during the 1900s. This 1890 photo of an Odd Fellows parade reflects the appearance of the town when the troops marched through. On the right is the Lutheran Lecture Hall, used as a hospital in 1862 and 1864., Nannie Crouse , Tradition holds that outside her home here on September 6, 1862, Nannie Crouse defied the Confederate cavalry. She wrapped herself in a Union flag and refused to surrender it until a Confederate soldier put a gun in her hand.Reformed Church , In September 1862, Union commander Gen. George B. McClellan climbed the bell tower to watch the Battle of South Mountain unfold. Both the church and the adjacent Reformed Academy served as hospitals., Vital Communications , Signal Corps officers, positioned in the bell tower of the Reformed Church, could send coded messages to other signal stations using "wig-wag" flags., 1862 , The Maryland Campaign , Although you could see the soldiers in the streets here throughout the Civil War, the most dramatic scenes unfolded in the fall of 1862. Confederate cavalry clashed with lead units of the Union Army of the Potomac headed toward Antietam. Townspeople took cover as bullets flew in all directions., 1863 , Gettysburg Campaign , In late June, Union troops flooded into Middletown in pursuit of Lee's Army threatening Pennsylvania. Along the way soldiers noted fresh graves and bullet holes in their buildings here from the 1862 street fighting., After the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg on July 3, Union commander Gen. George Meade sent several divisions through Middletown to engage Lee., 1864 , Early's Maryland Invasion , After Union forces devastated the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Confederate General Jubal Early brought the war to Maryland farms and towns. On July 7, he drove Union units out of Middletown and across the mountain toward Frederick. He hoped that an attack on Washington, D.C., might save the beleaguered South., Ransom! , On July 8, Confederates demanded a $5,000 ransom from Middletown: Pay or see the town go up in flames. Town officials asked for more time, and General Early agreed to $1,500 to be delivered by 7:00 AM the next morning, with the balance due that evening. Fortunately for Middletown, the Confederates had to leave on the 9th before collecting the remaining $3,500.