Hide Article Text (OCR)
SHAFT UNVEILED! NEAR FREDERICKPiRMylfMia's TriMi to MmFm|M At Mmmmi.L»ILIEUTENANT 80VERN0R PRESENTonument It 35-Foot Shaft, of BliMWtoftrly Granite, Creeled on 10*NorthSide of tht Urban* Pika.friiriThi* monument erected by the State of Pennsylvania to the volunteer troojm of that state who took part Is the battle of the Monocacy, waa un-veiled on the battlefleld yeittr.day. The ceremony was attended by Llett-tenant Governor Murphy, of Peneejd-vania, and hla staff, and a large gathering of survivors of the Sixty-seventyEighty-seventh and One hundred and thirty-eight. Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, the regiments which wero IS this engagement.Lieutenant Governor Murphy andhis staff and the majority of the veter.ans came in a special train from York, which was run through to FrederickJunction on the Baltimore and OhioRailroad, near which point the monument has been erected. At Frederick, where the train stopped to take aboard a number of invited guests the Lieutenant Governor and his party were given an ovation by a big crowd that had gathered at the station, the publlo schools of the city having been dismissed that the pupils might greetthe Pennsylvania officials and the oldsoldiers.('apt. W. H. Lanins, of York, chairman of the commission which erected the monument, presided at the exercises, and Capt. Robert T. Cornwell, of York, secretary of the commission, made the principal address. Lieuteu* ant Governor Murphy accepted the monument on behalf of the State of Pennslyvania, and Major E. Y. Golds-borough, of Frederick, made an address, in which he gave a brief history of the battle.The monument Is a 35-foot shaft of blue Westerly granite on a 10-foot single stone base. It stands opposite the Araby Church on the north of the Urbana turnpike and la the second monument erected on the bgt-tlefleld, one to the New Jersey troURi ..having been unveiled last year. The |) finishing touches were put on the shaft late Monday afternoon.Captain Cornwell waa present at the battle, which took place on the bank* of the Monocacy River, 44 years ago. At that time Captain Cornwell waa serving on the staff of General Jamas R. Ricketts, who commanded tho Third Division of the Sixth Aittj Corps. It was this division, all of wham were veteran soldlera, that held tho Confederates at bay for six hours oil that eventful day of July 9, 1864.The late General Lew Wallace, whocommanded the Union forces,had inmde all arrangements to attend the reunionof the Monocacy veterans held on tho battlefleld, July 9, 1904. He had proceeded on his way toward Frederick as far as Cincinnati, Ohio. The weather was exceedingly hot, and he could proceed no further. At his hotel that night he telegraphed the following to the secretary of the association: Please express my aorrow for not being able to be present and say to aU the comrades Who are present and were in the Battle of Monocacy that I shall always regret the passing of this opportunity to take them by the hand, for they were of the saviors of Washington.'’In a private letter aterwsrds howrote:Permit me to say you cannot have too many of the survivors present on the occasion to suit me. They ttavo more than my regard aa brave men. 1 am grateful to them for the great workthey did that day.”The Battle of Monocacy was one of the most exciting events of the Civil War. While Grant was laying siege to Petersburg and Richmond with an army of 140,000 men. General Lee do-tached from his aruiy of 100,000 mea, defending Richmond, u division of 26,. lt;00 Confederates, under Gen. Jubal A. Early, who the year beore had entered York with the same troops. Grant hastily sent Rickett‘s division of the Sixth Army Corps up the Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore. They arrived In time to meet Early and his Southern veterans along the Monocacy River about three miles southwest of Frederick. Had it not been for this stubborn engagement, Early with his ea-, tire division would have entered Washington city and captured the National Treasury on July 10. The stand made by General Wallace with the veterans of Rickett's division and about 3,000 militia held Early back until two army corps could come to the defense of Washington.General Grant, in his memoirs, gives credit to Wallace and his veterans for having saved the National Treae* itry at Washington from the hands of the enemy.iIriir
Newspaper Details
Hagerstown Morning Herald
Hagerstown, Maryland, US
Wed, Nov 25, 1908
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Gettysburg C.
PA, USA 21 May 2021
Other Publications Near Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagers Town Mail
Hagerstown Morning News
Hagerstown Odd Fellow
Hagers Town Torch Light and Public Advertiser
Hagerstown Torch Light
