ECW Weekender: Monocacy National Battlefield

Located just outside the sprawling development around Frederick, Maryland is the green space of Monocacy National Battlefield. Though the park was the site of what could be considered a small engagement in the scale of the war in the east, nobody should underestimate the effect of the battle. Fought by Major General Lew Wallace’s slapped together Eighth Corps reinforced by Brigadier General James Ricketts’s division of the battle hardened Sixth Corps against Lieutenant General Jubal Early’s Army of the Valley on July 9, 1864, this clash slowed Early’s approach towards Washington, D.C. Though humble when compared to Antietam or Gettysburg, this park’s driving tour, walking trails, and visitor center are well worth your attention.

Currently, the visitor center is open from 9AM to 5PM Thursday through Monday, but you can check the hours here. The second floor has exhibits ranging from complete uniforms to personal items and archaeological finds, including a few microhistory exhibits focused on accounts and items from a particular regiment. There’s even an electric map describing the movements during the battle! The visitor center and exhibits elsewhere on the battlefield also go beyond 1864 to interpret commemoration of the battle, the indigenous peoples who once lived along the Monocacy River, and the people who settled in the region (including the issue of slavery in the area). The visitor center is also a great place to refill water bottles before a hike and pick up some books or postcards.

Once you’ve seen the visitor center, there are a few options for seeing the battlefield. There are six walking trails of varying lengths and difficulties. My personal favorites are the Gambrill Mill Trail, a short trail that includes a wooden boardwalk, and the the Thomas Farm Loop Trail which takes you through some of the major fighting and includes a brand new set of exhibits in the Tenant House that opened last fall. Like most battlefields, there is a driving tour. The five stops take visitors out to the major sites on the field, including three surviving farms that are preserved by the NPS and past a small number of monuments placed by veterans. If you can’t make it out in person, there are videos for a virtual tour as well as an immersive 3D tour of the Worthington House.

Of course, once you’ve seen Monocacy you can continue your day in Frederick, Maryland. The downtown area has a great creekside park as well as ample history in the form of wayside markers and the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.