Auto
Tour
STOP
Begin
your tour of Monocacy National Battlefield by exiting the Gambrill Mill
Visitor Center drive to the right and traveling north on Rt. 355 one
mile. Turn left onto New Technology Way and make a U-turn. Return to
Rt. 355 and turn right (south). Immediately to the right will he the
Confederate Monument and the Maryland Centennial Monument. Park at the
pull over. This will be the first stop.
On this road, the “Georgetown Pike" (Rt. 355), Confederate General Jubal Early and his troops advanced south towards Washington, DC in the early morning hours of July 9, 1864. Here, he began to meet with resistance from a squadron of the 8th Illinois cavalry. Lt. Col. David R. Clendenin, commanding the Union cavalry at Monocacy, later wrote in his official report, "The squadron on the Georgetown Pike met the enemy's skirmishers within a mile of the junction and held them in check until compelled to retire before vastly superior numbers."
As the squadron of cavalry withdrew, the Confederates set up four guns of their artillery at this location and opened fire on the Monocacy junction, one-half mile distant. Monocacy junction was a thriving rail- road center complete with B&O railroad station, telegraph office, warehouses and homes. It was along the rail line at the junction that Union General Lew Wallace posted his infantry skirmishers.
Before leaving this stop, take note of the farm house in the distance. This farm is known as the Best Farm. Additional Confederate artillery posted on this property near the river added their strength in hammering away at the junction. Return fire from Union guns at the junction ignited a blaze in the barn, destroying hay, grain, tools and farming equipment. John Best's first year as an independent farmer proved to be a disastrous one.
Throughout the Civil War, both Union and Confederate armies moving through Frederick City often camped at the Best Farm. During the 1862 Maryland Campaign, General Lee's Special Order No.191 (which outlined the army's movements), was found by Union troops in a grove of trees on the farm at a recently abandoned Confederate camp. The 1862 Maryland Campaign resulted in the battle of Antietam a few days later.
