Worcester County Courthouse

Worcester County Courthouse. Staging Ground.

"I met one boy with a flint-lock rifle and a Confederate uniform. He acknowledged to have been in Confederate service, but that last night they all dispersed. I could see them running in every direction, hiding their arms." , , Capt. John H. Knight to Gen. Henry H. Lockwood, Nov. 16, 1861

, In November 1861, Union Gen. Henry H. Lockwood led a strong force of about 4,500 army officers, infantrymen, cavalrymen, and artillerists to Snow Hill. His command included the 1st Eastern Shore Maryland Home Guard from nearby Dorchester County. Some of his men camped here in Worcester County Courthouse yard. Lockwood's command then marched south on November 14 through Eastern Shore to Accomack and Northampton Counties in Virginia in a show of Union strength. Lockwood distributed a proclamation that his troops would support the local civilian population, restore lighthouses to working order, and disarm and disperse any Confederates that his force encountered, to prevent them from invading Maryland from Virginia., The expedition followed the Pocomoke River to Newtown (present-day Pocomoke City) and then marched overland into Virginia. Lockwood encountered a few Confederate pickets, small cannons, and rudimentary earthworks at Newtown, Temperanceville, and Drummondtown (present-day Accomac) in Virginia. Many of the Confederates fled before they could be captured, often throwing their weapons aside as they escaped. The expedition was considered successful and ended in Drummondtown on November 22. Lockwood's men constructed a telegraph line from Cape Charles near the southern end of the peninsula to Fort Monroe and he left a detail to guard it. Federal forces occupied the Delmarva peninsula for the duration of the war., [Caption:] , Worcester county Courthouse, ca. 1861 , Worcester County Commissioners. , The courthouse, jail, and adjacent buildings were erected after a devastating fire at the center of the county seat in 1834.