Securing Washington Roads during the war

[davelotter]

I was wondering how roads from Maryland to DC may have been fortified or rerouted to better secure the capital during the war. I have a particular interest in US Route 1 - but I am not sure much else about its existence yet. From what I can tell, there was the Riverdale plantation. There was also the Rossborough Inn (which is located on Route 1) and I read that a confederate general made this inn his HQ at some point in 1864. (And there was some hearsay of a party there, too. . . )

Here is the relevant quote from my research:

Once, however, a sizeable Confederate force entered Prince George's. It happened in July 1864, during Jubal Early's last Confederate invasion of Maryland. Early dispatched four hundred cavalrymen under the command of a Marylander, Gen. Bradley Tyler Johnson, to cut rail communications north of Baltimore and then between Baltimore and Washington. The Confederates did their work here on July 11 blowing up the rail line at Beltsville and cutting the telegraph wires. They then camped for the night at the Maryland Agricultural College (now the University of Maryland). The Rossborough Inn was turned over to General Johnson for use as a headquarters. A legend persists that a ball was held at the college that night, a ball attended by all the Confederate officers, the college faculty, and the pro-Southern gentry of Prince George's County. It may never be known whether there is any truth behind the legend of the "Old South Ball," . . .

[Yellowhammer]

Re: Securing Washington Roads during the war

David,

According the University of Maryland website the Rossborough Inn was built in 1804 as a private residence.

By the 1820's, it was a stop on the stage line from Georgetown to Baltimore.
"In 1835, however, the railroad came, the turnpike fell into disrepair, and the tavern closed. For a while it was a farmhouse, and then a barn. The wealthy Charles Benedict Calvert of Riversdale obtained the land and in 1856 gave it to the new Maryland Agricultural College. The house became headquarters for agricultural experimentation."

The Inn was restored 1938-1940 and is currently frequently used as a spot for wedding receptions.

Given that during the war it was a essentially a laboratory, I'm not sure it would have been a fitting site for a ball. Johnson may have slept there, but I never heard this story while a student at Maryland nor was I able to locate anything about it in the ORs.

Further, given the few structures on the campus at that time, I'm not sure where this ball would have been held. The University of Maryland was chartered on March 6, 1856 as Maryland Agricultural College. The college opened officially on October 6, 1859 with 34 students and the first degrees were awarded on July 11, 1862. It was not an extensive campus in 1864.

The only encampment of troops during the ACW on the campus I've been able to document occured in 1864. The Federal Ninth Corps was reorganized in Annapolis, MD and approximately 6,000 troops camped on the college grounds en route to joining Grant and the AoP for the 1864 Overland Campaign. Reportedly, other troops camped on the on campus grounds during the war but details are sketchy.

I suspect the stories of balls and local ladies dancing with dashing Confederate cavalrymen is mostly a by-product of the current romantic applications of this historic structure. The tactical situation in Maryland during Early's 1864 raid makes this story even more suspect.

[dusty27]

Re: Securing Washington Roads during the war

David, can you provide the source of your quotation? Thanks.

[Dignann]

Re: Securing Washington Roads during the war

David,

If you could supply the source for your information, it might be helpful.

I have in front of me typescripts of Bradley Johnson's wartime letters to his wife (postwar transcripts in Johnson's hand are located in the Bradley T. Johnson Papers at Duke University). In his letter of July 15, 1864, he simply informed his wife:


"On the 11th we struck the B&O RR at Woodstock, and on the 12th the Washington & Baltimore road at Beltsville."


His July 27, 1864 letter is extremely detailed about the raid, but makes no reference to the Maryland Agricultural College, the Inn, or a ball. While the letter contains useful details, it's difficult to figure out where he was on any given day. Bradley suggests that on the evening of the 10th, he camped near Garrison Forest Church, and pushed on the next morning for Owings Mills, where occured the celebrated feast on captured ice cream.

The following excerpt is found on page 124 of George W. Booth's A Maryland Boy in Lee's Army: Personal Reminiscences of a Maryland Soldier in the War Between the States 1861-1865 (reprint - Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press, 2000):


"We had stopped at this point [Beltsville] to feed, and had just mounted and reformed the column and started to march on the Marlboro road, when Johnson received a message from General Early directing him to abandon the enterprise and rejoin him at once at Silver Springs, the Blair place, on the Rockville Road out of Washington, and stating he would hold on for us until 9 o'clock that night. The direction of our column was at once turned, and we moved down the Washington turnpike as far as the Agricultural College, meeting on our way a body of federal cavalry, which had been sent out from Washington to investigate us. We at once attacked these people and drove them out of our way and pursued them to the very edge of Washington. From the College we struck across country..."


Again, no reference to a ball or the Inn, but apparent activity near the college. Johnson and his men appear to have been on a swift movement and the likelihood of holding a ball at this time seems a bit over the top.

Eric

[davelotter]

Re: Securing Washington Roads during the war

OK, here is a link to the source of my quote:

http://www.pghistory.org/PG/PG300/civilwar.html

David, can you provide the source of your quotation? Thanks.

[davelotter]

Confederete UMD "Southern Ball" in 1864

OK,

This followup is actually to my previous posting about a rumored Southern Ball held at the Rossbourough at Maryland Agricultural College in in 1864.

It sounds like a rumor or exageration, but there are now 2 sources to the rumor. One is posted in a previous thread and the other source requires a fee so I passed on reading the complete article. But I think it appears in the Washington Times.

I found the rumor interesting. Any other comments here? Just a fun diversion.

[Yellowhammer]

Re: Securing Washington Roads during the war

David,

Here is the quotation that you are using as a source:

"A legend persists that a ball was held at the college that night, a ball attended by all the Confederate officers, the college faculty, and the pro-Southern gentry of Prince George's County. It may never be known whether there is any truth behind the legend of the "Old South Ball," but the story was repeated time and time again in the decades after the war."

Not to be flip, but any reference that refers to an event as a "legend" doesn't really qualify as solid documention. Also, your other "sources" frankly sound pretty dubious as well.

[davelotter]

Re: Securing Washington Roads during the war

It sounds like a legend / exageration to me. Thanks for the help, though. My county here has some pretty interesting history.

David,

Here is the quotation that you are using as a source:

"A legend persists that a ball was held at the college that night, a ball attended by all the Confederate officers, the college faculty, and the pro-Southern gentry of Prince George's County. It may never be known whether there is any truth behind the legend of the "Old South Ball," but the story was repeated time and time again in the decades after the war."

Not to be flip, but any reference that refers to an event as a "legend" doesn't really qualify as solid documention. Also, your other "sources" frankly sound pretty dubious as well.

[dusty27]

Re: Securing Washington Roads during the war

David, you could check Fort Ward in Alexandria. They may have information on your question.

[DonSmithnotTMD]

Re: Securing Washington Roads during the war

It's not PG County, but these guys might be able to help.

http://www.montgomeryhistory.org/