I was driving through Frederick Maryland and decided to stop by some of the American Civil War sites in the area. The main one of these was the Battlefield Museum for the Battle of Monocasy, to the west of town.
The battlefield is part of the National Park Service, who maintains the site of the Battle of Monocacy fought on July 9, 1864. The battlefield straddles the Monocacy River southeast of the city of Frederick, Maryland. The battle was one of the last the Confederates would carry out in Union territory and was part of the last attempt to take Washington D.C.
The battlefield itself is well maintained and has a very nice driving tour. You can go to all the various important buildings that are important to the fight. All are also well maintained outside. With the exception of the barnes, you cannot actually go inside the buildings, but that was not really important to the fight. You will find a number of markers and story boards spread out over the sight. Following the map provided by the rangers at the visitor center, you just drive from point to point.
The actual deployment areas for both sides are well maintained and you can walk them quite easily. Unfortunately, there are two modern highways that cut through the middle of both lines, so you cannot fully get an appreciation of the long distance site lines. This was a little bit of a disappointment, but having access to most of the field and being able to drive it (they also have walking and bike riding trails, for those with more time) mostly makes up for it.
The actual museum was closed for renovation, so I missed that part (this is the second time this has happened to me the last few months!). They have little gift shop with some nice books. The rangers are quite friendly and one is even a gamer!
The driving tour and walk about took us about two hours and could have easily been done in one. As such, if you are passing through the area, it is worth a visit and will not take too much time. If you do have a lot of time and a bicycle, well, then you can spend the day!
- Manteuffel
Always nice to see the less well known actions. Thanks for sharing.