CROSSROADS OF WAR: Washington County, Maryland in the Civil War
by By Keller, S. Roger
Category: History , United States , State & Local , General

Crossroads of War brings into sharp focus a cross-section of little known happenings of both civilians and the military. Angela Kirkham Davis writes in 1862 as the events of Antietam swirled about her home; "Lutie" Kealhofer, of Hagerstown, glories in meeting Lee, Longstreet, and Pickett near her home in 1863, only days before Gettysburg; Young Leighton Parks visits General Lee and is given a ride on his horse, Traveller, and Mrs. Howard Kennedy, of Hagerstown, nurses young Oliver Wendell Holmes back to health after Antietam. Also included are the tragic stories of the 125th Pennsylvania's Color Sergeant, and the little known fate of the tiny Dunker Church at Antietam, and its stolen Bible. From the unpublished diary of Private James Dorrance, Co. A, 7th Maryland Infantry, we learn of camp life, and are saddened by the tragic loss of his best friend in battle. Here, also, is Dr. J. M. Gaines' unpublished list of wounded Confederate soldiers confined to the Hagerstown Seminary Hospital in 1863. These are eyewitness accounts of moments in Washington County history, a piece of the fabric that is altogether American History.