MD Civil War

The American Civil War, its causes, and aftermath have shaped our country's cultural landscape in countless ways. The significance of the Civil War in mid-Maryland is indisputable; this region is where major battles took place, important decisions were made, and notable personalities made their presence known.

Maryland's Heart of the Civil War tells stories from some of the most fought-over U.S. territory during the war. Confederate and Union forces clashed again and again for control of strategic points throughout three counties in north-central Maryland: Washington, Frederick, and Carroll counties. For three straight years (1862-1864), the war marched south-to-north from the Confederacy to the Union, and back again.

The Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area is located immediately below Pennsylvania and the famed Mason-Dixon Line, generally viewed as the boundary between North and South. Enslaved and Free Blacks could be found living side by side throughout these Maryland counties. White residents here possessed mixed allegiances to the Union and Confederacy, giving credence to the expression “brother against brother.” To the south of Frederick and Washington counties, the Potomac River was the only thing separating the free state of Maryland from Virginia, mighty capital of the Confederacy. These were unique “border counties within a border state.”

Maryland's Heart of the Civil War recounts the war's far-reaching impact on the lives of ordinary but battle-weary Marylanders caught up in now-famous local battles, the conflicted struggles of believers in the Confederate cause living on Union soil, and the turbulent, unpredictable politics of war that ultimately helped to preserve the Union.

The free, multi-media, online companion to the Emmy® Award-winning film, Maryland’s Heart of the Civil War is an app-based flipbook and includes a comprehensive chronicling of events in Maryland (with emphasis on Frederick, Washington and Carroll counties) throughout the duration of the American Civil War. Key topics include the 1859 John Brown Raid, Maryland Secession Legislature and the Pratt Street Riot of 1861, the importance of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and Chesapeake & Ohio Canal commerce lines, the 1862 Maryland Campaign with the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, Civil War Medicine, the 1863 Gettysburg advance and retreat, the Catholic Daughters of Charity, Jubal Early’s 1864 attempt to capture Washington, DC and the Battle of Monocacy, post-war state and national cemetery and battlefield movement.

The 12-chapter, 346-page work affords users the ability to access compelling audio-visual interview segments with the noted regional historians, authors and experts filmed for the television documentary. The interactive book also features links to additional spoken-word quotations and diary passages written by soldiers, officers and civilians. A brief travelogue takes viewers on a tour of the counties within Maryland’s Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, highlighting places of interest and things to see, do, and discover as current day visitors to the region.

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