"frederick maryland" Top 5 Page for this destination Frederick by doug48

frederick town was laid out by daniel dulany in 1745. the frederick area was settled by a group of german immigrants led by johann schley in 1790. in 1793 the settlement became the county seat of frederick county maryland. in the 19 th century frederick grew into an important market town and one of the leading mining areas of the united states. frederick was an important crossroads during the civil war and was ocuppied by both the confederacy and the union. the civil war battles of antietam, fox's and turner's gaps, monocacy, and south mountain were fought near frederick. at mount olivet cemetery in frederick is the grave of francis scott key, the author of america's national anthem. for those interested in civil war history frederick is a good home base for a visit to the numerous battlefields in the area.

monocacy river

the most significant event in the history of frederick was the battle of monocacy on july 9 th 1864. at frederick following skirmishing with union troops on july 7 th and 8 th the confederates under the command of general jubal a. early forced the union forces from town. early demanded and received $ 200,000 in ransom not to destroy the town. the forces of union general lew wallace marched from baltimore to monocacy junction three miles south of frederick. wallace's forces consisted of general erastus tyler's first separate brigade and a cavalry force commanded by lt. colonel david clendenin. wallace was later reinforced by general james ricketts' VI corps. by saturday july 9 th the combined forces of wallace and ricketts numbered 5,800 men who were positioned at the bridges and fords over the monocacy river.
on july 9 th confederate general stephen ramsuer's division encountered wallace's troops on the georgetown pike near best farm. confederate general robert rhodes' division clashed with union forces on national road east of frederick. believing that a frontal attack would be too costly, general early sent john mc causland's cavalry down buckeytown road to find a ford on the monocacy. mc causland now thought he had out flanked the union positions and due to the rolling terrian, did not notice ricketts' forces who had taken a position at a fence line separating the worthington and thomas farms. consequently, the union was able to fire a volley that panicked the confederates. mc causland was able to rally his brigade and launch another attack but was unable to break the union line. when it became apparent that the cavalry alone could not break the union line, early sent general gordon's division across the ford to assist in the attack. gordon launched a three-pronged attack against ricketts' center and both flanks. at the same time ramseur was attacking wallace's center and he was unable to reinforce ricketts. the union line collapsed and wallace was forced to retreat back towards baltimore. the way now lay open for the confederates to move on to washington. by midday july 11 th early had reached fort stevens in northern washington. early could see the capitol dome with his field glasses. but with his troops spread out far behind him and seeing impressive fort stevens, early decided not to attack. even though the battle of monocacy was a decisive confederate victory it is also known "as the battle that saved washington".