File:Civil War Marker - Located just west of the train station.jpg

Summary

Civil War Marker - Located just west of the train station in Railroad Square Park, it reads as follows:

"Union troops pursuing the Confederate army to Virginia after the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 crossed the Potomac River here. Called Berlin at the time of the Civil War, this town truly experienced the challenges of life on the border. Both the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad here were military targets.

The town would be relocated, grow and gain its new name as the railroad achieved greater commercial influence after the war. Still, it was an important military communications link during the conflict. Frequent Confederate track-wrecking incursions required Union troops and railroad crews to repair ruined bridges rapidly.

Wartime interruptions to canal traffic brought financial hardship to many local citizens. The wooden covered bridge here, completed a few years before the war, was destroyed at the onset of hostilities in 1861 along with bridges at Point of Rocks and Harpers Ferry. In October 1862, a pontoon bridge was constructed near the ruins of the destroyed bridge to allow Gen. George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac to pursue Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia after the Battle of Antietam. Those pontoons were removed to Fredericksburg, Virginia, in November 1862, to allow Union troops to cross the Rappahannock River. A pair of pontoon bridges was installed here in July 1863, this time with Gen. George G. Meade leading the Army of the Potomac across its namesake river in pursuit of Lee."

The marker features three photographs. The left-most displays Pinkerton detectives in a Union camp, captioned “The Union army relied on sources such as these Pinkerton detectives, photographed at Berlin in 1862, as well as railroad agents and crews to gather intelligence along the border during the Civil War.”

A smaller photo shows the 1862 pontoon bridge, “Viewed from Virginia, this pontoon bridge was constructed in 1862 as one of several crossing points as the Army of the Potomac pursued the Army of Northern Virginia after the Battle of Antietam. The piers from Berlin’s covered bridge burned in 1861 are seen nearby.”

The last picture shows the 1863 pontoon bridge, “Looking across to Virginia, dual pontoon bridges were erected at Berlin in July 1863, A Union wagon train is forming up to pursue Lee into Virginia.

Photos by Craig Swain and courtesy of HMdb.org THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE (June 3, 2007)