Cambridge in Dorchester County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Maryland's Eastern Shore
Faced with Decisions
Welcome to Dorchester County! When the Civil War intruded into quiet communities, residents here, as elsewhere on the Eastern Shore, faced difficult choices.
Before the war, enslaved African Americans here began escaping bondage via the Underground Railroad, helped along their way by sympathetic blacks and whites and such courageous "conductors" as Harriet Tubman, Dorchester County native. Frederick Douglass, who escaped in 1838, inspired many with his 1845 autobiography and later speeches. During the war, enslaved and free Eastern Shore black men enlisted in the U.S. Colored Troops authorized after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863.
Some of the Shore's white residents, including Anna Ella Carroll, held fast to the Union while others supported the Confederacy. Families here as elsewhere suffered the loss of their men as well as the hardships of war. Newspaper publishers suspected of disloyalty to the Union were arrested. Streams and towns on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay became smugglers' havens as watermen ran the Federal blockade to supply Confederate forces. Afterward, Eastern Shore residents returned to their fields and fishing vessels, and the passions of war subsided.
Follow the red bugle to more than 1,500 sites across six states. Stand in the
this page online
Erected by Maryland Civil War Trails.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Abolition & Underground RR • African Americans • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Maryland Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical month for this entry is January 1863.
Location. 38° 34.268′ N, 76° 3.851′ W. Marker is in Cambridge, Maryland, in Dorchester County. It is on Rosehill Place 0.1 miles east of Dorchester Avenue, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2 Rosehill Pl, Cambridge MD 21613, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on the Eastern Shore. It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic, on the Delmarva Peninsula, in the Tidewater, and in the Chesapeake Bay Region. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies and also the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Discover: Dorchester (here, next to this marker); Enjoy Our Park (here, next to this marker); Cambridge (a few steps from this marker); A Landscape and Lifestyle Defined by Water (within shouting distance of this marker); Barbara Mikulski (within shouting distance of this marker); The Dorchester Waterman (within shouting distance of this marker); Choptank River's Natural History
Another marker is no longer nearby. Maryland's Eastern Shore (has been replaced with this marker).
Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. This marker has replaced the linked marker.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 14, 2022. It was originally submitted on January 14, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 434 times since then and 14 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on January 14, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
