Historic Events of Monocacy watershed.
An aspect of
the Monocacy watershed that I would like to highlight as its place in American history From the Headwaters of the watershed at
Gettysburg to the C&O canal aqueduct at the mouth of the river as it
empties into the Potomac there are have been
several historical events.
The human
history of the Monocacy starts with the Native American populations of the pre-Columbia
era. The Monocacy river was part of a significant
north–south trading route for the native Americans, believed to be either of
the Seneca Nation, or the Tuscarora nation.
In the tradition of many native American trade routes, the trade
corridor running just east of the Appalachian mountains, and following the
Monocacy and Susquehanna rivers became a major trade route for European
settlers, and is currently demarcated by state route 15.
The city of Frederick was founded along this trail where it
intersected a trade route that ran from Baltimore through Turner’s and Fox’s
Gap and Crompton’s gap south of South mountain to pass through the Appalachian
Mountains where Interstate 70 now runs.
The watershed has had several significant historical events
primarily centered around the Civil war the most famous , the Battle of
Gettysburg but also:
·
Catoctin Furnace
·
Battle of Monocacy
·
The Underground rail road
·
The C&O Canal Aqueduct
Gettysburg
The Geology of the Monocacy watershed played at role in how
the Battle of Gettysburg, as both Army’s looked to take advantage of the
terrain.
Before reaching the battlefield,
the confederate Army used the features of the valley and ridge Provence to move
their forces northward of the union troops, largely undetected and then moved
them through the Cashtown gap to Gettysburg
The battlefield its self is generally a flat open basin, underlain
by sedimentary bedrock primarily sandstone and shale. The high ground of the
battlefield, (Round top, Cemetery ridge, seminary ridge and The Devils Den)
were formed by intrusive diabase dikes that sit above the surrounding farmland.
The union army was able to position its forces on Cemetery
Ridge and Round top to give them the advantage of the high ground . s=Some
protection was afforded the union forces
some projection, but because of the thin soils in these areas the union army
was not able to dig in, and prevented them from securing a more defensible position
and open to rifle fire. The base of the ridges, were covered with an
un-vegetated sill that gave them an open
field to see the oncoming confederate forces. Both the lack of cover, at the
top of the ridges and at the base of the ridges, resulted in high casualties
for both sides.
Reference
Brown, A, ( 1962), Geology
and the Gettysburg Campaign , Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department
of Conservation and Natural Resources,
Accessed from : http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_014596.pdf
Catoctin Furnace:
The Catoctin Furnace
is located just south of the Mason Dixon
line near the village of Thurmont,
Maryland. It is the third generation
iron smelter, this one designed to use coke, while the previous two were wood
or charcoal fired.
Established in the 1770’s after hematite ore was discovered
in the Catoctin mountains, Thomas Johnston JR. built the first furnace,
utilizing the rich sources of local raw materials, of the ore, limestone from
the valley floor, and charcoal produced form the local forests. According to the NPS website the furnace used
these raw materials to produce pig iron, which would go on to be used in
Revolutionary War Cannons, and cannon balls, armament
for the civil are vessel the Monitor, and the Franklin Stove. (NPS,
2016)
The furnace passed through several hands, but provided a
source of employment for the region
until it closed for good in 1903.
Interestingly in 1936 Charles Porter, an Assistant historian
for the National Park service though some doubt into the historic significance
of the furnace. He notes that he furnace passed through several hands, but
provided a source of employment for the
region until it closed for good in 1903, but it was unlikely that the furnace
contributed iron for the Revolutionary Cannons or the Monitor Iron armament
based on the data available at the time. (Porter, 1936)
Reference
Porter, C, (1936) Preliminary Historical Report on the
Catoctin Iron Furnace, National Park Service, accessed form:
NPS, (2016) Catoctin Iron Furnace, National Park Service web
site, Accessed from : https://www.nps.gov/cato/learn/historyculture/furnace.htm
Battle of Monocacy
In July of 1964 the Confederate Army scored its northern
most victory a the Battle of Monocacy just south east of the city of
Frederick. The confederate army was marching towards Washington DC, and a
smaller Union contingent was tasked with slowing the advance at the Monocacy
river. Although the Union lost the
ballet they were able to delay the Confederate advance by a day and allowed the
Union army to position itself and defend Washington DC from attack. (NPS,
2016b)
NPS, (2016b) Monocacy National Battlefield Maryland, National
Park Service Website, Accessed from: https://www.nps.gov/mono/learn/historyculture/index.htm
The Underground Rail
Road
While Maryland was a slave holding state, the underground
railroad that helped slaves escape to the north was active in the Monocacy
watershed. I wanted to highlight one
reported stop, Cooling Springs Farm. The
farm was founded by a Swiss family , the Michaels and has been passed down
through the family through many generations, and is still owned by the family.
In the mid 1800’s it is reported that the home was known to be a safe house
connected with the underground railroad, the family established St. Paul’s
Episcopal church as an integrated parish and was a cornerstone for a
significant area of safe passage for slaves moving north. (Cooling Springs,
2016)
Reference
Cooling Springs,(2016), The History of Cooling Springs Farm
and the Michael Family in the Underground Railroad, Accessed from: http://www.coolingsprings.org/#History
The Monocacy Aqueduct
In 1829 construction
of the Monocacy Aqueduct at the mouth of
the Monocacy river was begun as part of
the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal system.
The Aqueduct was constructed of large granite blocks and spanned 516
feet across the river. Operated until
1924 typically barges would carry:
lumber, coal, flour, wheat, pork, , fish, salt , plaster or oysters to across
Maryland. It is significant in its size and was a common target for confederate
troops during the civil war. The first attempt was prevented by the politicking
of the local lockmaster and a lack of ordnance in the division, that the
commanding general opted to demo a lock and dewater the canal instead. A second
attempt to destroy the aqueduct had similar results, after attempts to drill
holes in the piers to hold charges failed, Confederate troops were recalled. (Unrau,
1976)
Reference
Unrau, H, (1976), Historic Structure Report, The Monocacy
Aqueduct, Historical Data, Chesapeake, and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, MD-DC-W.VA, National Park
Service, Accessed from: https://www.nps.gov/choh/learn/historyculture/upload/Aqueduct-Monocacy-HSR-Unrau.pdf
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