Christ Reformed Church

Christ Reformed Church (HM4YZ)

Location: Middletown, MD 21769 Frederick County
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Country: United States of America
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N 39° 26.533', W 77° 32.724'

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Inscription

Just Before the Battle

— Antietam Campaign 1862 —

Eight thousand Confederates under Gen. Lafayette McLaws marched by this church on September 10-11, 1862, heading south to Harper's Ferry. Since no Federals were in the area, McLaws expected no encounters with the enemy. Unknown to him, however, Union Gen. George B. McClellan had obtained a copy of Gen. Robert E. Lee's Special Order 191 containing the Confederate plans; soon the rear of McLaw's column was in danger.

Most of McClellan's Army of the Potomac marched west on the National Road (present-day Alt. U.S. Rte 40) on September 14, en route to the gaps of South Mountain. The steeple of the Reformed church served as a Union observation station during the battle that followed.

"Waking stiff and sore to a beautiful Sunday morning [September 14], the first thought was breakfast. Some cattle were driven up and killed in the neighboring field, and we tried broiling dollops of steaming fresh beef upon our ramrods. Some of the men visited the houses in the town [Middletown] in search of eatables, but with little success. The irrepressible Walsh returned with a tea kettle and cabbage?and set to work boiling the vegetable. While this was passing, artillery fire commenced, and white puffs of smoke began to rise between us and the range of blue hills, called South Mountain?Two o'clock in the afternoon came, and with it the order to ?fall in.' Walsh had not time to cook his cabbage, so he slung it, kettle and all, to his belt, in hopes of a chance to finish it." From the regimental history of the 35th Massachusetts Infantry.
Details
HM NumberHM4YZ
Series This marker is part of the Maryland Civil War Trails series
Tags
Placed ByMaryland Civil War Trails
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Friday, September 19th, 2014 at 10:41pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 280953 N 4368943
Decimal Degrees39.44221667, -77.54540000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 39° 26.533', W 77° 32.724'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds39° 26' 31.98" N, 77° 32' 43.44" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)301, 240
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 42-118 MD-17, Middletown MD 21769, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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