Baltimore Regional Trail

Baltimore Regional Trail. A House Divided. , During the Civil War, Howard County and the Baltimore region exemplified the divided loyaltiesof Maryland's residents. The people here had commerical ties to both North and South, and its secessionist sympathies erupted in violence on April 19, 1861, when pro-Confederate mobs attacked Massachusetts troops en route to Washington, D.C. Because of Baltimore's strategic importance, President Abraham Lincoln acted swiftly, stationing Federal troops in the city and jailing civilians suspected of disloyalty., Some area residents joined the Confederate army, while many others supported the Union. Before and during the war, local African Americans helped with and used the underground railroad to achieve their freedom, after the Emancipation Proclamation permitted African American enlistment U.S. Colored Troops regiments were recruited and trained in Baltimroe and vicinity., Naval vessels, such as USS Constellation, supported the Union war effort on the Chesapeake Bay and in the high seas, countering the flow of contraband goods to the Confederacy. In 1864, during Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early's attack on the Washington defenses, Maj. Harry Gilmor's cavalry threatened Baltimore, burned nearby bridges, and raided supplies., Throughout the war, the city served as a hospital and prisoner-of-war assembly center. Political prisoners were detained at Fort McHenry, home of the "Star-Spangled Banner." Despite the region's divided loyalties, Baltimore remained a Union stronghold until the end of the war., Follow in their footsteps and create some history of your own. , #civilwartrails #visitmaryland., [Captions:] , "Attack on the Massachusetts 6th at Baltimore, April 19th, 1861"