Local History account

1848	April 16 The Pearl, a ship, was caught near Georgetown with 77 escaped slaves including five children of Paul and Milly Edmondson of Norbeck. The parents were free, but their children were not.
1849	Josiah Henson published his memoirs describing the Rockville slave market and thirty years of slave life on the Riley Farm near Rockville.
1851	The stories of The Pearl and Josiah Henson inspired Harriett Beecher Stowe to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
1857	The Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott case widened the split among the United States. The Court’s opinion, written by Justice Taney stated, “the negro had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.” Montgomery Blair of Silver Spring served as attorney for Dred Scott.
1859	October 16 Abolitionist John Brown raided Harpers Ferry for weapons to arm a slave rebellion. He was later hung. Col. Robert E. Lee commands the army force, including JEB Stuart, that aborts the raid and captures Brown.
1860	November Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln elected President. He received only 2% of Montgomery County votes (50 of 2429).
1861	March 4 Lincoln inaugurated. Seven states already seceded.
	April 12 Confederates forces bombard Union Fort Sumter, S.C.
	April 15 President Lincoln first called for 75,000 state militia to suppress insurrection.
	April 19 Lincoln declared blockade of southern ports. Confederates consider this an act of war. Citizens riot against Massachusetts troops passing through Baltimore; civilians and soldiers killed and wounded; Randall composes “Maryland, My Maryland” as a lament for his home state while in New Orelans.
	April 27 Lincoln suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus along a line between Philadelphia and Washington. The Supreme Court subsequently ruled this act unconstitutional in the case of Ex Parte Millican regarding a detainee held at Fort McHenry, in Baltimore, without charge, warrant or trial. The Lincoln administration and army disregard the Supreme Court ruling.
	June 10 Rockville occupied by Union forces known as the Rockville Expedition. They search homes and disarm local Militia units (including William Veirs Bouic’s Rockville Rifles). Union troops establish a campground on the Rockville Fairgrounds (now RMHS). The campground is occupied throughout the war, becoming known as Camp Lincoln.
	July 20 Levin Hoskinson became Rockville’s first soldier to die, at the Battle of Bull Run. He fought for the Confederacy.
1862	April 16 Lincoln abolished slavery in Washington D.C. The Beall sisters received $9400 as compensation for 17 slaves they moved to their Washington D.C. properties. As Unionists they were eligible for this payment because they had signed a loyalty oath.
	September 17 Battle of Antietam claimed 26,000 total casualties. Many wounded Unionists treated at the Rockville Court House.
	September 22 President Lincoln issued preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, to become effective January 1, 1863.
	October 4 Sentinel editor Mathew Fields arrested for “disloyalty.”, held until November 25, at Old Capitol Prison, in Washington DC.
1863	January 1 Lincoln signed Emancipation Proclamation stating, “In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free.” This also reaffirmed the policy that blacks could enroll in the armed services.
	June 21-23 Confederate and Union armies traverse Maryland in the Gettysburg Campaign. Confederates crossed the Potomac at ...; Unionists crossed at Edward’s Ferry.
	June 28 JEB Stuart’s 5,000 strong Confederate cavalry troopers marched through Rockville and captured 125 Union supply wagons on the Rockville Pike. They arrested several Prominent Unionists Richard Johns Bowie, John Higgins, and Lawrence Dawson who were hiding in the vestry of Christ Episcopal Church. Local girls greeted the troops in the street. This stop in Rockville contributed to JEB Stuart’s delayed arrival at the battle of Gettysburg. Bowie, Higgins and Dawson paroled later that night in Brookeville.
	July 1-3 Battle of Gettysburg. Fighting began early on July 1. The battle is fully engaged on July 2. JEB Stuart and his large cavalry force do not arrive until evening on the second day. They are effectively no use in screening and reconnaissance in the campaign. The battle culminates in Pickett's Charge on the third day. Union losses number about 23,000; Confederate losses about 25,000.
	November 19 Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, honoring those lost in battle and restating the Union cause.
1864	February Prominent Confederates Joseph Taney, George Peter, John Gassaway, John DuFief and Robert Carter were jailed in Old Capitol Prison because of an unsigned letter accusing them of sheltering and aiding rebel friends and family. Chief Justice Taney helped secure his cousin Joseph an early release.
	April 6 61% of Maryland voters call for a Constitutional Convention.
	June 1 Local hero Lt. Col. Ridgely Brown killed while commanding the 1^st Maryland (Confederate) Cavalry.
	July 10 The vanguard of Gen. Jubal Early's Confederate army skirmished in and around Rockville and captured the town. The troops bivouaced on the fairgrounds. Officers stay at the Montgomery House hotel. They pay for their lodgings in the morning, using Confederate money.
	July 11 The main body of Early’s army passed through Rockville on the way to attach Washington DC. At night, Montgomery Blair’s house burned down in Silver Spring. Also, Union reinforcements arrive in large numbers to bolster the meager garrisons of the city defenses.
	July 12 Early's army attacks the defenses of Washington DC, primarily at Fort Stevens, in Silver Spring. The attack fails against the well reinforced fortifications. Early begins a retreat of his force that night.
	July 13 The Battle of Rockville occurs between advance Union cavalry, pursuing Gen. Early's retreating army, and Confederate rearguard cavalry, protecting the withdrawl. Confederate forces retake the town but depart the next morning.
	October 12,13 52% of Maryland voters vote against proposed constitution. However, 99 percent of soldiers vote for constitution.
	November 1 Maryland’s new Constitution freed slaves in the state.
	November President Lincoln won re-election against Democratic candidate, and former General, George McClellan. The Democratic platform included negotiating peace with the Confederacy to end the war and likely split the country into separate nations.
1865	April 9 General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia at Appomatox. Two large Confederate armies remain in the field but later surrender without another major battle.
	April 11 Lincoln assassinated at Ford’s Theater.
to 1867	Reconstruction Government. Constitutional Amendments 13, 14 and 15 passed, abolishing slavery, establishing blacks as citizens and allowing black males to vote.

Rockville Civil War Timeline

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