Best Farm, Monocacy National Battlefield, with Ranger Matt Borders filmed on the 158th Anniversary.

Monocacy, July 9, 1864, the Battle that Saved Washington. This was filmed with Ranger Matt Boarders on July 9, 2022 at the Best Farm. Other videos will follow soon. Any proceeds from this youtube through November 30, 2024 will go to the Monocacy Battlefield Trust and the Franklin Battlefield Trust.

In the summer of 1864, the American Civil War was still a long way from conclusion. Union and Confederate armies were still spread out across the country, with battles and campaigns still racking up casualties by the thousands. With Union forces under Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant deep in Virginia at Petersburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee devised a bold plan. Lee ordered General Jubal Early to take the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia and link up with General John C. Breckenridge to clear the Shenandoah Valley. After securing the Valley, Early was to invade Maryland, putting pressure on the Federal capital, Washington, DC. By the first week of July, Confederates had entered Maryland and caught Union forces largely off guard. As the Federals scrambled to gather a defensive force, Major General Lew Wallace and roughly 3,200 inexperienced troops of the Middle Department, headed west from Baltimore, MD and took up a position just south of Frederick, MD at Monocacy Junction along the Monocacy River. Grant ordered the third division of the Sixth Corps north, hoping they would reach Maryland in time to slow Early’s advance. By the morning of July 9th, nearly 6,600 Union troops had gathered near Monocacy Junction, with Wallace in command. Early’s 15,000 Confederates were to the north in Frederick. The stage for battle was set. (from Monocacy National Battlefield)

Map is from the Library of Congress.