Programs

REBEL HEELS AND NORTHERN SCUM: MARYLAND’S ROLE IN THE CIVIL WAR

In response to the Confederates firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to put down a rebellion. The President could not have predicted the impact on the state of Maryland. The first bloodshed of the Civil War occurred in Baltimore as troops responding to Lincoln’s call were fired upon. With this auspicious beginning, many other critical events of the war took place in Maryland including the Battle of Antietam in 1862--which made possible Lincoln's famous Emancipation Proclamation--and ending with the pursuit of his assassins through Maryland after his murder. This program highlights how our state played a pivotal role in our nation’s most tragic conflict.

Thomas G. Clemens is Professor of History at Hagerstown Community College. He received his B.A. and M.A. in history from Salisbury State University and his Ph.D. from George Mason University. He is a Founding Member and President of Save Historic Antietam Foundation.