Maryland, Baltimore County, Phoenix
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(preface)
In June 1864, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen .Jubal A. Early’s corps from the Richmond battlefields to the Shenandoah Valley to counter Union Gen. David Hunter’s army. After driving Hunter into West Virginia, Early invaded Maryland to attack Washington D.C., draw Union troops from Richmond, and release Confederate prisoners held at Point Lookout. On July 9, Early ordered Gen. Bradley T. Johnson’s cavalry brigade eastward to free the prisoners. The next day, Johnson sent Maj. Harry Gilmer’s regiment to raid the Baltimore area. Union Gen. Lew Wallace delayed Early at the Battle of Monocacy on Jul 9. Federal reinforcements soon strengthened the capital’s defenses. Early attacked there near Fort Stevens on July 11-12 and then withdrew to the Shenandoah Valley with the Federals in pursuit. He stopped them at Cool Spring on July 17-18. Despite failing to take Washington or free prisoners, Early succeeded in diverting Federal resources.
(main text)
On July 10, 1864, Confederate Maj. Harry W. Gilmor (1838-1883) surprised his parents with a brief visit to Gen Ellen, his boyhood home which stood in the Dulaney Valley just southwest of here. Gilmor stopped by his old home while he was raiding Baltimore and Harford counties as part of Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early’s Maryland invasion to threaten Washington.
Early had detached Gen. Bradley T. Johnson’s brigade, which included Gilmor’s command—the 2nd Maryland Cavalry Battalion—and Johnson had sent Gilmore to the Baltimore area to cut communications and transportation lines.
The house, which resembled a castle, was a tribute to Gilmor’s Scottish ancestors, who had immigrated to Maryland in 1769. Gilmor’s father, Robert Gilmor III, visited Scotland as a young man and stayed at Abbotsford, the estate of famed novelist Sir Walter Scott. When Gilmore returned to Maryland, he engaged architect Andrew Jackson Davis to design a dwelling (ca. 1832) modeled on Abbotsford. He named his property Glen Ellen after his wife, Ellen Ward Gilmor, with whom he had nine sons and two daughters.
The main house, The Castle, contained a circular ballroom with large bay windows, as well as numerous bedrooms and an extensive library. Ornate moldings and elaborate woodwork graced the house throughout. It remained in the family until 1883, when the construction of Loch Raven Reservoir ultimately rendered it uninhabitable. Parts were removed, and the remainder fell into ruin. If still intact, the estate would extend today from the lower dam on the Gunpowder River to the eastern edge of the Pine Ridge golf course.
(captions)
(lower left) Glen Ellen, architect’s rendering Courtesy Baltimore County Public Library
(upper center) Maj. Harry Gilmor Library of Congress
(upper right) Glen Ellen - Courtesy Baltimore County Public Library
(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
(preface)
In June 1864, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen .Jubal A. Early’s corps from the Richmond battlefields to the Shenandoah Valley to counter Union Gen. David Hunter’s army. After driving Hunter into West Virginia, Early invaded Maryland to attack Washington D.C., draw Union troops from Richmond, and release Confederate prisoners held at Point Lookout. On July 9, Early ordered Gen. Bradley T. Johnson’s cavalry brigade eastward to free the prisoners. The next day, Johnson sent Maj. Harry Gilmer’s regiment to raid the Baltimore area. Union Gen. Lew Wallace delayed Early at the Battle of Monocacy on Jul 9. Federal reinforcements soon strengthened the capital’s defenses. Early attacked there near Fort Stevens on July 11-12 and then withdrew to the Shenandoah Valley with the Federals in pursuit. He stopped them at Cool Spring on July 17-18. Despite failing to take Washington or free prisoners, Early succeeded in diverting Federal resources.
(main text)
On July 10, 1864, Confederate Maj. Harry W. Gilmor (1838-1883) surprised his parents with a brief visit to Gen Ellen, his boyhood home which stood in the Dulaney Valley just southwest of here. Gilmor stopped by his old home while he was raiding Baltimore and Harford counties as part of Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early’s Maryland invasion to threaten Washington.
Early had detached Gen. Bradley T. Johnson’s brigade, which included Gilmor’s command—the 2nd Maryland Cavalry Battalion—and Johnson had sent Gilmore to the Baltimore area to cut communications and transportation lines.
The house, which resembled a castle, was a tribute to Gilmor’s Scottish ancestors, who had immigrated to Maryland in 1769. Gilmor’s father, Robert Gilmor III, visited Scotland as a young man and stayed at Abbotsford, the estate of famed novelist Sir Walter Scott. When Gilmore returned to Maryland, he engaged architect Andrew Jackson Davis to design a dwelling (ca. 1832) modeled on Abbotsford. He named his property Glen Ellen after his wife, Ellen Ward Gilmor, with whom he had nine sons and two daughters.
The main house, The Castle, contained a circular ballroom with large bay windows, as well as numerous bedrooms and an extensive library. Ornate moldings and elaborate woodwork graced the house throughout. It remained in the family until 1883, when the construction of Loch Raven Reservoir ultimately rendered it uninhabitable. Parts were removed, and the remainder fell into ruin. If still intact, the estate would extend today from the lower dam on the Gunpowder River to the eastern edge of the Pine Ridge golf course.
(captions)
(lower left) Glen Ellen, architect’s rendering Courtesy Baltimore County Public Library
(upper center) Maj. Harry Gilmor Library of Congress
(upper right) Glen Ellen - Courtesy Baltimore County Public Library
(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Born in a house which stood here. A leading citizen, he was elected a Union delegate to the proposed secession convention of 1861, but enlisted for the Confederacy at Tennessee's withdrawal; recruited and commanded brigades under Forrest and Wheeler; on teh flight from Richmond was guardian of Confederate archives. Member of Congress, 1874-84; prominent in railroad and coal mining activities in this area. He is buried in Sparta.
In late June of 1863, Union Major General William S. Rosecrans launched a massive offensive from his base in Murfreesboro in an attempt to drive Confederate General Braxton Bragg’s 43,000-man Army of Tennessee from its entrenchments at Shelbyville and Wartrace, and possibly out of the state. The Union commander planned to capture Chattanooga and, in his words, “rescue loyal East Tennessee from the hands of the rebels.” The campaign was bold and swift, with relatively few engagements. By July 4th, the Union’s Army of the Cumberland, 70,000 strong, had forced a Confederate retreat to Chattanooga, leaving nearly all of Tennessee in Union hands.
Tullahoma was the headquarters and logistics center of the Confederate Army of Tennessee for the first six months of 1863 after the Battle of Murfreesboro. At least three hospitals here treated soldiers wounded during Gen. Braxton Bragg’s 1862 and 1863 engagements or who suffered from disease, illness or injury.
On this ground are buried 407 unknown Confederates. Many of these died in one of the hospitals established here when Tullahoma was headquarter for the Army of Tennessee during the first six months of 1863. Following the Battle of Murfreesboro and preceding the withdrawal of the army to Chattanooga.
(preface)
No sooner did the North begin its invasion than slaves fled to Union lines seeking freedom. This presented problems for military commanders and President Lincoln. The political aims of the war did not initially include emancipation. Before Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect in January of 1863, slaves belonging to Union supporters were actually returned to their masters.
In late June of 1863, Union Major General William S. Rosecrans launched a massive offensive from his base in Murfreesboro in an attempt to drive Confederate General Braxton Bragg’s 43,000-man Army of Tennessee from its entrenchments at Shelbyville and Wartrace, and possibly out of the state. The Union commander planned to capture Chattanooga and, in his words, “rescue loyal East Tennessee from the hands of the rebels.” The campaign was bold and swift, with relatively few engagements. By July 4th, the Union’s Army of the Cumberland, 70,000 strong, had forced a Confederate retreat to Chattanooga, leaving nearly all of Tennessee in Union hands.
In 1710, nearly 3,000 Palatines came to the colony of New York. Originally from an area in southwestern Germany known as the Lower Palatinate, they were displaced when the French attacked and destroyed their lands. They first fled to Holland, then found temporary refuge in England. From there, most were sent to camps on New York's Hudson River to produce tar for the Royal Navy. Within a few years the tar camps closed, and the Palatines were again displaced.
German immigrant farmers were the first settlers of this area, which was originally called Goodwin. Henry D. Gruene established a large cotton farming operation here in the 1870's. He built a mercantile, cotton gin and dance hall, and conveyed land for a school. The town became known as Gruene in 1903. A boll weevil infestation destroyed the cotton crop in 1925 and signaled the decline of the town. Restoration efforts begun in the 1970's revitalized the area. The town was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Pioneer Railroad Planner John A. Poor’s dream of an International Railway connecting Montreal, Canada with the Ice-free harbor of Portland, Maine became a reality on July 18, 1853, when the first through trains met at this great halfway point on the Grand Trunk Railway.
During the years following the Civil War, Gabriel Moses McKissack (1840-1923) laid the foundation in Giles County for a family building tradition that included the first black architectural firm in the United States, Nashville's McKissack and McKissack. Numerous building throughout Tennessee were designed by the McKissack firm. A carpenter and a son of a master craftsman and freedman Moses I. Gabriel fathered six sons with whom many Giles County buildings are associated.
Established 1809: named in honor of Senator William B. Giles of Virginia. One of the strongest advocates for the admission of Tennessee to the Union; he served in U.S. Senate from 1804 to 1815 and was Governor of Virginia, 1827-30.
Featured Text on Marker:
40 mile route taken by Gen. Herkimer Aug. 3-6, 1777 for the relief of Fort Stanwix. The Battle of Oriskany Aug. 6, between Herkimer's men and St. Leger with his Indians was the turning point of the Revolution.
Here stood a log house built in 1807, home of Ziba Hamilton, physician of Holland Land Co., Surgeon in War of 1812, pioneer settler.
In 1925, Reverend J. Edward Nash (1868-1957) and his wife Frances Jackson Nash (1895-1987) purchased this Queen Anne home, built ca. 1900, in what was
a culturally diverse neighborhood. In 1926 Rev. and
Mrs. Nash welcomed the birth of Jesse E. Nash, Jr.
Rev. Nash was the pastor of the Michigan Street
Baptist Church from 1892 to 1953. The Nashes were
prominent leaders in the African-American community and hosted many notable African-American guests
in their home. Rev. and Mrs. Nash are credited
with championing the twentieth century Civil Rights
Movement both nationally and locally from this
location. The Nash House is recognized by the
National Register of Historic Places.
