I haven’t given much attention to Maryland lately, and having read the following (below) passage the other day from Marylander C. Armour Newcomer’s book (p. 10), Cole’s Cavalry; or Three Years in the Saddle in the Shenandoah Valley (1895), I thought back to my earlier post about the misconception that Maryland was Southern, and therefore, naturally, Confederate. Newcomer, writing about the early days of the war, noted:
Since the riot, affairs in Baltimore had assumed an entirely different aspect, owing to the occupancy of the city by the Government forces, under the command of Major General Benjamin F. Butler, and those of us who were compelled to leave so hastily on account of our Union sentiments, now had an opportunity of returning to our homes without fear of molestation.
So, you see… it’s all a matter of perspective, depending on whether the person was a Maryland Unionist, or a Maryland secessionist. To the secessionist, Lincoln’s actions were oppressive; but to the Unionist, his actions equated to a welcome kick in the pants to the upstart secessionists.
Simple educational lesson for the day for Maryland’s Civil War history.
Gary Smith
July 17, 2011
Robert, From Baltimore and eastward, Maryland was typically secessionist, but the further west you went from Baltimore, the stronger pro union sentiment was. Naturally there were exceptions, however, Carroll, Frederick, Washington, Allegheny, and what is now Garrett counties were predominantly Union. Had the Maryland state assembly been allowed to vote on secession, Maryland would have undoubtedly gone with the rest of the South and Washington would have been surrounded by hostile Confederate territory. As a matter of fact, Maryland contributed many more soldiers to the Union than the Confederacy. Gary Smith
Robert Moore
July 17, 2011
From Baltimore, and south, there was the strongest element for secession. An argument might be made concerning the eastern shore regarding more Unionism than secession, and Baltimore wasn’t all secession, as can be seen from the number of Union troops mustered from that area.
Obviously, beginning around Frederick, Unionism started to become strongest in the state, and that’s why the governor moved the state legislators there when threatened with the possibility that secession might rule the day. That’s not to say, however, that Confederates didn’t come from the western part of the state, because they did… Breathed being but one example.
Had the assembly been allowed to vote, I don’t see it as a done deal, but it could have become rather nasty. Hard to say, really because it just wasn’t going to happen, and for obvious reasons. In the end, the number of soldiers for the Union vice the Confederacy was at least 4-1… though some place it closer to 3-1 because of having placed too high a number of Marylanders in the Confederacy.
Don’t mean to try to sum it up so briefly, but that’s it in a nutshell.
I’m familiar with the “great divide” in sentiment within the state. My Moore cousins, from Prince Georges and St. Mary’s were, without a doubt, Confederate. One died at Culp’s Hill; another ran an underground railroad of sorts at his hotel in Leonardtown for men who wanted to go South and join the Confederacy. On the other hand, my direct Moore ancestors, in Washington County, were Constitutional Unionists, and supported the Union when the war came. One lies in a grave in Andersonville.