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[citation needed] However, the constitution secured ratification once the votes of Union army soldiers from Maryland were included. During the American Civil War (18611865), Maryland, a slave state, was one of the border states, straddling the South and North. [41][42] May was eventually released and returned to his seat in Congress in December 1861, and in March 1862 he introduced a bill to Congress requiring the federal government to either indict by grand jury or release all other "political prisoners" still held without habeas. By December of that year, more than 9,000 were imprisoned. Despite the controversial number Confederates claiming only a few hundred and the Union claiming upwards of 15,000 mortalities the dreadful conditions Federal prisoners faced is unquestionable. Because of this previous imprisonment, they were weaker and more susceptible to the harsh conditions and communicable diseases that flourished at Florence Stockade. WebSeal of Maryland during the war. Another was the 4th United States Colored Troops, whose Sergeant Major, Christian Fleetwood was awarded the Medal of Honor for rallying the regiment and saving its colors in the successful assault on New Market Heights.[54]. Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the U.S. Confederate States presidential election of 1861, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maryland_in_the_American_Civil_War&oldid=1142195385, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2013, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2012, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Scharf, J. Thomas (1967 (reissue of 1879 ed.)). [76] Other witnesses including Booth himself claimed that he only yelled "Sic semper! If they should attempt it, the responsibility for the bloodshed will not rest upon me. The Confederate General A. P. Hill described, the most terrible slaughter that this war has yet witnessed. Most of the men enlisted into regiments from Virginia or the Carolinas, but six companies of Marylanders formed at Harpers Ferry into the Maryland Battalion. as white Marylanders in the Confederate army. The American Battlefield Trust and our members have saved more than 56,000 acres in 25 states! On May 13, 1861 General Benjamin F. Butler entered Baltimore by rail with 1,000 Federal soldiers and, under cover of a thunderstorm, quietly took possession of Federal Hill. Confederate States Army bands would later play the song after they crossed into Maryland territory during the Maryland Campaign in 1862.[13]. Florence Stockade operated from September 1864 to February 1865 and 15,000 to 18,000 Union soldiers were processed through the camp. When the writ was delivered to General Andrew Porter Provost Marshal of the District of Columbia he had both the lawyer delivering the writ and the United States Circuit Judge, Marylander William Matthew Merrick, who issued the writ, arrested to prevent them from proceeding in the case United States ex rel. The very nomination of Abraham Lincoln, four years ago, spoke plainly war upon Southern rights and institutions And looking upon African Slavery from the same stand-point held by the noble framers of our constitution, I for one, have ever considered it one of the greatest blessings (both for themselves and us,) that God has ever bestowed upon a favored nation I have also studied hard to discover upon what grounds the right of a State to secede has been denied, when our very name, United States, and the Declaration of Independence, both provide for secession.[80]. Camp Washington (2) - A U.S. Army Camp in Maryland (1880s). One smallpox outbreak claimed the lives over 300 men during the winter of 1862 alone. [26], Butler went on to occupy Baltimore and declared martial law, ostensibly to prevent secession, although Maryland had voted solidly (5313) against secession two weeks earlier,[27] but more immediately to allow war to be made on the South without hindrance from the state of Maryland,[25] which had also voted to close its rail lines to Northern troops, so as to avoid involvement in a war against its southern neighbors. Those who voted for Maryland to remain in the Union did not explicitly seek for the emancipation of Maryland's many enslaved people, or indeed those of the Confederacy. WebThe first Union Army "parole camp" for exchanged Northern prisoners of war, was [60] Hagerstown too would also suffer a similar fate. Obviously many natives of Maryland were doubtless in 1861 citizens of other States, and could not therefore be reckoned among the soldiers furnished by Maryland to the Confederate armies. $199.99 + $17.99 shipping. WebSeal of Maryland during the war. While some historians contend that the deaths were chiefly the result of deliberate action/inaction on the part of Captain Wirz, others posit that they were the result of disease promoted by severe overcrowding. According to one of his aides: "We loved Maryland, we felt that she was in bondage against her will, and we burned with desire to have a part in liberating her". [86], The legacies of the debate over Lincoln's heavy-handed actions that were meant to keep Maryland within the union include measures such as arresting one third of the Maryland General Assembly, which was controversially ruled unconstitutional at the time by Maryland native Justice Roger Taney, and in the lyrics of the former Maryland state song, Maryland, My Maryland, which referred to Lincoln as a "despot," a "vandal," and, a "tyrant.". as the first southern city occupied by the Union Army. George P. McClelland served with the 155th Pennsylvania Infantry, Army of the Potomac, from August 1862 to his discharge in June 1865. In 1864, elements of the warring armies again met in Maryland, although this time the scope and size of the battle was much smaller. Because the state bordered the District of Columbia and the opposing factions within the state strongly desired to sway public opinion towards their respective causes, Maryland played an important role in the war. WebThe American Civil War in Maryland's State Parks South Mountain Battlefield. Of the Trimble count, McKim states The estimate above alluded to, of 20,000 Marylanders in the Confederate service, rests apparently upon no better basis than an oral statement of General Cooper to General Trimble, in which he said he believed that the muster rolls would show that about 20,000 men in the Confederate army had given the State of Maryland as the place of their nativity. [62] The order indicated that Lee had divided his army and dispersed portions geographically (to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and Hagerstown, Maryland), thus making each subject to isolation and defeat in detail - if McClellan could move quickly enough. In addition to Forts McHenry and Carroll, these included: Fort #1/2 (1864) at West Baltimore and Smallwood Streets. Headings - Maryland--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Maps - Maryland Campaign, 1862--Maps - United States--Maryland Notes My father was the neighborhood air raid warden. The First American President: Setting the Precedent, African Americans During the Revolutionary War, Save 42 Historic Acres at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Phase Three of Gaines Mill-Cold Harbor Saved Forever Campaign, An Unparalleled Preservation Opportunity at Gettysburg Battlefield, For Sale: Three Battlefield Tracts Spanning Three Wars, Preserve 128 Sacred Acres at Antietam and Shepherdstown. But few escaped to tell the tale.[65]. Lincoln ignored the ruling of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney in "Ex parte Merryman" decision in 1861 concerning freeing John Merryman, a prominent Southern sympathizer arrested by the military. WebMaryland in the American Civil War. This history of the 1st U.S.C.T., credited to the District of Columbia contains roster on pp. WebThe Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System currently includes information about two Civil Some witnesses said he shouted "The South is avenged! Disappointingly for the exiles, recruits did not flock to the Confederate banner. In Western Maryland, Lees efforts came to head with the bloodiest single-day battle of the Civil War at Antietam. I have been researching The 1860 Federal Census[7] showed there were nearly as many free blacks (83,942) as slaves (87,189) in Maryland, although the latter were much more dominant in southern counties. If they were lucky, several men could be crammed into thin canvas tents, but most were forced to construct their own drafty shelters. The War of the Rebellion, Series III, Volume 4, pp. The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln (18611865) suspended the constitutional right of habeas corpus from Washington to Philadelphia. An honor system was set up where each side would take care of housing its own soldiers who had been designated as being on parole, meaning they would not fight in combat unless they were formally exchanged. [14] In a letter to President Lincoln, Mayor Brown wrote: It is my solemn duty to inform you that it is not possible for more soldiers to pass through Baltimore unless they fight their way at every step. $199.99 + $17.99 shipping. [3][4] In seven counties, Lincoln received not a single vote.[1]. With a death rate approaching 25%, Elmira was one of the deadliest Union-operated POW camps of the entire war. Myths and Truths: Civil War Battlefield Medical Care of the Wounded Speaker: Clarence Hickey. that "the 23rd was made up of men mostly from Washington and Baltimore" though the regiment was credited to the state of Virginia. Maryland exile George H. Steuart, leading the 2nd Maryland Infantry regiment, is said to have jumped down from his horse, kissed his native soil and stood on his head in jubilation. Imprisoned in both Andersonville and Florence, Private John McElroy noted in his book Andersonville: a Story of Rebel Military Prisons that I think also that all who experienced confinement in the two places are united in pronouncing Florence to be, on the whole, much the worse place and more fatal to life. In October 1864, 20 to 30 prisoners died per day. Closed in 1865. Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Antietam Camp #3. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (nps.gov) parallels the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., to Antietam. [37] The court objected that this disruption of its process was unconstitutional, but noted that it was powerless to enforce its prerogatives. 1864. Sign up for our quarterly email series highlighting the environmental benefits of battlefield preservation. [66], Lee's setback at the Battle of Antietam can also be seen as a turning point in that it may have dissuaded the governments of France and Great Britain from recognizing the Confederacy, doubting the South's ability to maintain and win the war.[67]. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. The shortage of food in the Confederate States, and the refusal of Union authorities to reinstate the prisoner exchange, are also cited as contributing factors. While it emancipated the state's slaves, it did not mean equality for them, in part because the franchise continued to be restricted to white males. Upon inspecting the camp, the U.S Sanitary Commission reported that the the amount of standing water, of unpoliced grounds, of foul sinks, of general disorder, of soil reeking with miasmic accretions, of rotten bones and emptying of camp kettles..was enough to drive a sanitarian mad." or "The South shall be free!" Rockvilles divisions over slavery and the war can serve as an illustration of the divisions in Maryland and the United States as a whole. Visit places and meet people who faced decisions and experienced wartime during those tumultuous times 150 years ago. Thomas Livermore, Numbers and Losses in the Civil War, Boston, 1900. Divided Nation, Divided Town: One Womans Experience Speaker: Emily Correll. Join this descendant of Civil War veterans, who shares songs and stories from the War Between the States, wearing both blue and gray, and accompanying himself on guitar. Overcrowding brutalized camp conditions in many ways. See chart and explanation, p. 550. WebConfederate prisoners of war who secured their release from prison by enlisting in the Union Army, were recruited: Alton, Illinois (rolls 1320); Camp Douglas, Illinois (rolls 5364); Camp Morton, Illinois (rolls 99103); Point Lookout, Maryland (rolls 111129); and Rock Island, Illinois (rolls 131135.) Civil War era Rare Officer's Traveling Inkwell with Plumbs newest book,The Better Angels, will be published by Potomac Books, an imprint of University of Nebraska Press, in March of 2020. One feature of the new constitution was a highly restrictive oath of allegiance which was designed to reduce the influence of Southern sympathizers, and to prevent such individuals from holding public office of any kind. Based on a letter that Dora, an ardent abolitionist, wrote to her mother describing her trials as rebel general J.E.B. As a result, the Rebels spent their winters shivering in biting cold and their summers in sweltering, pathogen-laden heat. Communicable diseases such as smallpox and rubella swept through Alton Prison like wild fire, killing hundreds. His neighbors are so bitter against him that he dare not go home, and he committed himself so decidedly on the 19th April and is known to be so decided a Southerner, that it more than likely he would be thrown into a Fort. [82] A home for retired Confederate soldiers in Pikesville, Maryland opened in 1888 and did not close until 1932. WebCivil War Camps in and Near Howard County, Maryland. WebDuring the Civil War Era, Point Lookout was first a hospital for wounded Union soldiers and then a Civil War prison camp for captured Confederate soldiers. This reenactment portrays the nurse professions early challenges, its rewards and sadness, and a glimpse of other nurses whose names are known to us through their journals. Many Marylanders were simply pragmatic, recognizing that the state's long border with the Union state of Pennsylvania would be almost impossible to defend in the event of war. The American Battlefield Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. However, the issues raised by Andersonville were shared by many camps on both sides. [citation needed], The first bloodshed of the Civil War occurred in Maryland. Civil War Campgrounds Marker Inscription. It quickly became infamous for its staggering death rate and unfathoomable living conditions due to theCommissary General of Prisoners,Col. William Hoffman. Indeed, on the whole there appear to have been twice as many black Marylanders serving in the U.S.C.T. [citation needed] This last provision diminished the power of the small counties where the majority of the state's large former slave population lived. "Start-up nation? In recent years, America has commemorated valor by erecting monuments to entire wars, such as the World War II and the Vietnam Veterans Memorials. Between 1861 and 1865, some 29 Union regiments from 13 states stationed at Muddy Branch guarded the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Potomac River crossings in the general area between Seneca and Pennyfield Locks. [40], In another controversial arrest that fall, and in further defiance of Chief Justice Taney's ruling, a sitting U.S. [64], The armies met near the town of Sharpsburg by the Antietam Creek. In March 1862, the Maryland Assembly passed a series of resolutions, stating that: This war is prosecuted by the Nation with but one object, that, namely, of a restoration of the Union just as it was when the rebellion broke out. The Odyssey of a Civil War Soldier Speaker: Robert Plumb. In other words, the Assembly members could only agree to state that the war was being fought over the issue of secession. Confederate General John McCausland bragged to Ulysses Grant that McCausland had come closer to taking the city than any other Confederate general. For the next two days, Stuarts cavalry engaged in several actions that would, in varying degrees, hinder and delay their movement north to join the Confederate forces in Pennsylvania. For a time it looked as if Maryland was one provocation away from joining the rebels, but Lincoln moved swiftly to defuse the situation, promising that the troops were needed purely to defend Washington, not to attack the South. Maryland, as a slave-holding border state, was deeply divided over the antebellum arguments over states' rights and the future of slavery in the Union. See discussion and tabulation on pp. [29] Civil authority in Baltimore was swiftly withdrawn from all those who had not been steadfastly in favor of the Federal Government's emergency measures.[30]. To deflect criticism, Stuart wrote a report glorifying his crossing at Rowsers Ford as a heroic, superhuman effort. Plumb will cover highlights of the womens contributions, their legacies, and their defining qualities such as courage, self-assurance, and persistence that led to their successes. Early defeated Union forces under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace.The battle was part of Early's raid through the They remembered themselves in monuments through their generals. civil War original matches. In July 1864 the Battle of Monocacy was fought near Frederick, Maryland as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864. By late summer Maryland was firmly in the hands of Union soldiers. 3. [12] Chaos ensued as a giant brawl began between fleeing soldiers, the violent mob, and the Baltimore police who tried to suppress the violence. [45] This is the only time in United States military history that two regiments of the same numerical designation and from the same state have engaged each other in battle. On September 17, 1861, the first day of the Maryland legislature's new session, fully one third of the members of the Maryland General Assembly were arrested, due to federal concerns that the Assembly "would aid the anticipated rebel invasion and would attempt to take the state out of the Union. They built numerous campgrounds on this inhospitable mountain that lacked water, level ground, or adequate sanitation conditions. The use of triage, general anesthesia, and pain management will be discussed. Washington Camp (5) - A British Colonial [52], Overall, the Official Records of the War Department credits Maryland with 33,995 white enlistments in volunteer regiments of the United States Army and 8,718 African American enlistments in the United States Colored Troops. WebBetween 1861 and 1865, American Civil War prison camps were operated by the Union WebCivil War Black Wilderness Trapper Stereoview Hunting Musket Powder Horn Rare + $10.75 shipping. The presentation shows the work by blacks and white alike to aid and save enslaved people. [14], Hearing no immediate reply from Washington, on the evening of April 19 Governor Hicks and Mayor Brown ordered the destruction of railroad bridges leading into the city from the North, preventing further incursions by Union soldiers. Murphy v. Porter. Was he right, or was he just telling another tall soldiers tale? Prisoners relied upon their own ingenuity for constructing drafty and largely inadequate shelters consisting of sticks, blankets, and logs. Camp Washington (2) - A U.S. Army Camp in Maryland (1880s). WebColonial Wars Pequot War French & Iroquois Wars King Philip's War Pueblo Rebellion King William's War Queen Anne's War Tuscarora War Dummer's War King George's War French & Indian War Pontiac's Rebellion Lord Dunmore's War American Wars Revolutionary War Tripolitan War Tecumseh's War War of 1812 Creek Indian War The First Seminole War Of the 50,000 Southern soldiers held in the army prison camp, who were housed in tents at the Point between 1863 and 1865, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, (Maryland Park Service) nearly 4,000 died, although this death rate of 8 percent was less than half the death rate among soldiers who were still fighting in the field with their own armies. [28] By May 21 there was no need to send further troops. 56,000 men died in prison camps over the course of the war, accounting for roughly 10% of the war's total death toll and exceeding American combat losses in World War I, Korea, and Vietnam. In that time, the number of men packing onto the tiny island grew to more than 30,000 men. Modern estimates place the total deaths close to 1,000 men, however, period assessments varied greatly. [57] After hours of desperate fighting the Southerners emerged victorious, despite an inferiority both of numbers and equipment. Monocacy was a tactical victory for the Confederate States Army but a strategic defeat, as the one-day delay inflicted on the attacking Confederates cost rebel General Jubal Early his chance to capture the Union capital of Washington, D.C. Across the state, some 50,000 citizens signed up for the military, with most joining the United States Army. [citation needed]. [citation needed], Thousands of Union troops were stationed in Charles County, and the Federal Government established a large, unsheltered prison camp at Point Lookout at Maryland's southern tip in St. Mary's County between the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay, where thousands of Confederates were kept, often in harsh conditions. There was much less appetite for secession than elsewhere in the Southern States (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Alabama Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee) or in the border states (Kentucky and Missouri),[2] but Maryland was equally unsympathetic towards the potentially abolitionist position of Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln. [16] President Lincoln also complied with the request to reroute troops to Annapolis, as the political situation in Baltimore remained highly volatile. WebEmerging Civil War Series. Camp Washington (4) - A Union U.S. Civil War Camp in Kentucky (1861). The single bloodiest day of combat in American military history occurred during the first major Confederate invasion of the North in the Maryland Campaign, just north above the Potomac River near Sharpsburg in Washington County, at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. Arrests of Confederate sympathizers and those critical of Lincoln and the war soon followed, and Steuart's brother, the militia general George H. Steuart, fled to Charlottesville, Virginia, after which much of his family's property was confiscated by the Federal Government. 69-70. Captain Henry Wirz, commandant at Andersonville, was executed as a war criminal for not providing adequate supplies and shelter for the prisoners. Salisbury University, 1991). Visitors marvel at the courage of Stuart and his men to cross the mile-wide river, filled with rocks, rapids, and whirlpools. Camp Washington (4) - A Union U.S. Civil War Camp in Kentucky (1861). [45] Its initial term of duty was for twelve months.[48]. Donate Now, Civil War in Montgomery County and the Region. There were simply too many prisoners and not enough food, clothing, medicine, or tents to go around. This is a PowerPoint presentation. [74] Article 24 of the constitution at last outlawed the practice of slavery. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. WebThe POW Camps in Maryland during World War II included: Edgewood Arsenal (Chemical Warfare Center), Gunpowder, Baltimore County, MD (base camp) Holabird Signal Depot, Baltimore, Baltimore County, MD (base camp) Hunt (Fort), Sheridan Point, Calvert County, MD (base camp) Meade (Fort George G.), near Odenton, Anne Arundel County, MD A brochure published by the home in the 1890s described it as: a haven of rest to which they may retire and find refuge, and, at the same time, lose none of their self-respect, nor suffer in the estimation of those whose experience in life is more fortunate.[83]. It was 1942. The document, which replaced the Maryland Constitution of 1851, was largely advocated by Unionists who had secured control of the state, and was framed by a Convention which met at Annapolis in April 1864. ", Cannon, Jessica Ann. George P. McClelland served with the 155th Pennsylvania Infantry, Army of the Potomac, from August 1862 to his discharge in June 1865. [20] On April 29, the Legislature voted decisively 5313 against secession,[21][22] though they also voted not to reopen rail links with the North, and they requested that Lincoln remove Union troops from Maryland. Author Robert Plumb reads from McClellands letters and narrative excerpts from his book, Between 1861 and 1865, some 29 Union regiments from 13 states stationed at Muddy Branch guarded the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Potomac River crossings in the general area between Seneca and Pennyfield Locks. The Maryland legislature refused to ratify both the 14th Amendment, which conferred citizenship rights on former slaves, and the 15th Amendment, which gave the vote to African Americans. By the time the last prisoners were sent home in September of 1865, close to 3,000 men had perished. [33], The Merryman decision created a sensation, but its immediate impact was rather limited, as the president simply ignored the ruling. SHOP Harris (2011) pp. The barracks were so filthy and infested that the commission claimed, nothing but fire can cleanse them.". This represented 25% of the Federal force and 31% of the Confederate. There formerly was a Confederate monument behind the courthouse in Rockville, Maryland, dedicated to "the thin grey line". The hospital staff is known to have assisted with the escape of several Maryland slaves while United States Colored Troops served as guards at the prison camp. To serve as early warning stations on bluffs overlooking the Potomac, Union troops built a series of blockhouses. Robert H. Kellog was 20 years old when he walked through the gates of Andersonville prison. However, modern interpretation of the evidence suggests did in fact face real supply shortages. "Lincoln's divided backyard: Maryland in the Civil War era" (PhD dissertation, Rice University, 2010), Crittenden, Amy Gray. They resemble, in many respects, patients laboring under cretinism. The Constitution of 1867 overturned the registry test oath embedded in the 1864 constitution. Union camp leadership was largely to blame for the death toll. In September 1863, Rebel prisoners totaled 4,000 men. Although tactically inconclusive, the Battle of Antietam is considered a strategic Union victory and an important turning point of the war, because it forced the end of Lee's invasion of the North, and it allowed President Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, taking effect on January 1, 1863. The Majority of our funds go directly to Preservation and Education. He has been concealed for more than six months. The Civil War Camps at Muddy Branch and the Outpost Camp and Blockhouse at Blockhouse PointSpeaker: Don Housley. Despite some popular support for the cause of the Confederate States of America, Maryland did not secede during the Civil War. (2021), Schoeberlein, Robert W. "'A Record of Heroism': Baltimores Unionist Women in the Civil War", This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 01:19. 62-65. Major William Goldsborough, whose memoir The Maryland Line in the Confederate Army chronicled the story of the rebel Marylanders, wrote of the battle: nearly all recognized old friends and acquaintances, whom they greeted cordially, and divided with them the rations which had just changed hands. The site was occupied in the middle to late nineteenth century near the present day Maryland Department of Natural Resources Management Area at Benedict. ", Schearer, Michael. The constitution was submitted to the people for ratification on October 13, 1864 and it was narrowly approved by a vote of 30,174 to 29,799 (50.31% to 49.69%) in a vote likely overshadowed by the heavy presence of Union troops in the state and the repression of Confederate sympathizers. Frederick County and Washington County, MD | Sep 14, 1862. Webeach consisting of one or more states, a Department-at-Large, a National Membership-at After Atlanta fell to Union forces in September 1864, Confederates forces scrabbled to scatter the 30,000 Union soldiers imprisoned at Andersonville Prison in Macon County, Georgia. Web1 Antietam National Battlefield 2 Monocacy National Battlefield 3 National Museum of On the night of June 27, 1863, Confederate General J.E.B. WebCivil War Campsites in Maryland C&O Canal Campgrounds. WebCamp Washington (1) - A Mexican War Camp in New Jersey (1839, 1846-1848). [59], On 6 September 1862 advancing Confederate soldiers entered Frederick, Maryland, the home of Colonel Bradley T. Johnson, who issued a proclamation calling upon his fellow Marylanders to join his colors. Join Our Email List History The battlefield medical care offered to Americas military today has its roots firmly planted in the innovative medical care of the American Civil War. "Teaching American History in Maryland Documents for the Classroom: Maryland, A Middle Temperament: 16341980, Inside Lincoln's White House: The Complete Civil War Diary of John Hay, "History of the Federal Judiciary: Circuit Court of the District of Columbia: Legislative History", "Suspension of Civil Liberties in Maryland", "Abraham Lincoln and Treason in the Civil War: The Trials of John Merryman", "Why do people believe myths about the Confederacy? Archaeological work is continuing on the only blockhouse now located on county park land at Blockhouse Point. Prisoners at Andersonville also made matters worse for themselves by relieving themselves where they gathered their drinking water, resulting in widespread outbreaks of disease, and by forming into gangs for the purpose of beating or murdering weaker men for food, supplies, and booty. The issue of slavery may have been settled by the new constitution, and the legality of secession by the war, but this did not end the debate. While Union forces were able to gain control of the mountain, they could not stop Lee from regrouping and setting the [45] It was agreed that Arnold Elzey, a seasoned career officer from Maryland, would command the 1st Maryland Regiment.