Soccer Dad

Making early late

On Monday we went to the Monocacy National Battlefield.

Toward the end of the Civil War the Confederate forces decided to try to capture Washington DC. Confederate troops led by Gen. Jubal Early traveled from Virginia and through western Maryland approaching the Monocacy junction - just south of Frederick - where they engaged irregular troops commanded by Union Gen. Lew Wallace. Though the Union troops were defeated, Wallace was successful in holding off Early's troops for a day, allowing Gen. Grant to move troops to defend the Nation's capital.

Here are some pictures taken from the visitors' center. We spent about half of our time at the visitors' center as my nephews and son were very involved in answering the questions in the Junior Ranger workbook. Volunteer Wiest and Ranger Dankmeyer were patient and extremely helpful with explaining points of the battle as well helping our future rangers find information that wasn't part of the display. Upstairs at the visitors center were artifacts from the time of the Civil War, short biographies of some of those involved in the battle, and a table top map that showed the progress of battle.

Best Farm

Sugarloaf Mountain

The Maryland and UDC monuments.

After the visitor's center we went to the Worthington Farm.

I love cannons, even if they're replicas.

I think there's a porch missing.

The house plus the cannon!

We also went hiking along one of the trails by the Worthington Farm. There was some interesting flora.

Finally, we went to the Gambrill Tract. The trail there is really a walk way and easy to travel over. It had the nice view of the river. Some flowers and a cannon.

The Union general at Monocacy was Lew Wallace. After the war he was a famous novelist. Do you know what his most famous novel was?

Previously: Gettysburg Military Monday 10.

UPDATE: Here's an excellent guide to the Monocacy National Battlefield.