Information Panel: Daring Escapes

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The boat ramp in front of you was the site of two daring escapes in the Battle of Harpers Ferry. Under the cover of darkness, 1,400 Union cavalrymen fled on horseback down the ramp, crossing a pontoon bridge into Maryland on September 14, 1862.The next day Confederates captured the remaining12,500 Union soldiers. Among them were free black laborers, working for Union Colonel WilliamTrimble's regiment.Here at this ramp Confederate soldiers began dragging the free black laborers away, falsely claiming theUnion was "stealing their slaves." Colonel Trimble shouted "My men are unarmed-I am not. Unhand them!" Then he ordered "Regiment march" swiftly moving both the laborers and the soldiers past theConfederate guards, down this ramp, and across the bridge to safety in the North.
Map Caption: All but surrounded by Confederates in the hills around you, the Union cavalry fled across the pontoon bridge. They rode north to Pennsylvania, capturing a Confederate ammunition wagon train along the way.
Photo Caption: The Potomac River pontoon bridge, shown here partially dismantled, was attached to iron rings in the river wall below you.