Gilmor ' s Raid Gilmor ' s Raid , also known as The Magnolia Station Train Raid , was a foraging and disruptive cavalry raid that was part of an overall campaign against Union railroads , led by Maj . Harry W . Gilmor with 135 men from the First and Second Maryland Cavalry regiments . It was authorized by Confederate Lt . Gen . Jubal Early during his Valley Campaigns of 1864 , which threatened Washington , D . C . , during the American Civil War . Events on July 9 – 10 . As Early advanced north and east toward Baltimore , Maryland , a Union force led by Maj . Gen . Lew Wallace met Early ' s forces and was defeated in the Battle of Monocacy on July 9 , 1864 . The cavalry brigade of the Second Corps , led by Brig . Gen . Bradley T . Johnson advanced further eastward into Maryland , led by cavalry forces under the command of Maj . Harry W . Gilmor . Upon reaching Westminster , Maryland , on July 10 , Gilmor attacked Union cavalry forces , driving them out . Johnson ' s main cavalry force continued pressing Wallace ' s retreating Union troops , pursuing them into Cockeysville - Hunt Valley , Maryland , north of Baltimore , and then turned south destroying tracks and trestle bridges along the North Central Railroad . Upon reaching Timonium , Maryland , Johnson divided the Second Corps cavalry brigade . He sent the commander of 2nd Maryland Cavalry , Maj . Gilmor , with a 135 detachment made up of both the 1st and 2nd Maryland Cavalry southeastward . The second part of Johnson ' s cavalry simultaneously turned south and headed toward the prison camp at Point Lookout , Maryland at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay . Events on July 11 . Maj . Gilmor ' s cavalry detachment moved undetected through Baltimore County , Maryland , and into Harford County , Maryland . They first stopped at the General Store in Jerusalem Mill now popularly known as McCourtney ' s , capturing supplies and horses , and then arrived on the morning of July 11 at the Gunpowder River bridge , a railroad bridge near Magnolia Station , close to Joppa , Maryland , which belonged to the Philadelphia , Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad . Defending the railroad bridge at both ends were seventy troops from the 159th Ohio Infantry . Gilmor ' s troops captured two trains , one north - and one southbound , evacuated the passengers , capture supplies on the train , and set fire to one of the trains before backing it over and partially destroying the railroad trestle bridge . The telegraph communications lines were also cut along the bridge . Among the passengers captured on the northbound train was Union Maj . Gen . William B . Franklin , who was taken as a prisoner of war back to Virginia . After completing the actions at Magnolia Station , Gilmor ' s men headed back west , across Baltimore County , and stopped at Ady ' s Hotel , near Towson , Maryland to rest and refresh his men . Shortly afterward a large cavalry patrol from Baltimore arrived , which outnumbered Gilmor ' s men more than two to one . Gilmor attacked and defeated the Union cavalry patrol , and pursued them as far as Govanstown . Gilmor later claimed that if his men had not been so tired , he would have gone into Baltimore and captured the city . Gilmor ' s detachment then proceeded back through Green Spring Valley , to recover his prisoner , Gen . Franklin , who had escaped . After resting for a few hours , Gilmor ' s detachment rejoined Gen . Early ' s main forces as they crossed the Potomac River back into Virginia . Aftermath . Only one man was lost in Gilmor ' s detachment during the raid , Sgt . Field , who was shot at point blank range by Ishmael Day in a dispute near Day ' s residence in the thirteenth district of Baltimore . Sgt . Field was leading Gilmor ' s advance guard and refused to pass under a Union flag on the Day residence . Ishmael Day suddenly shot Sgt . Field and fled , and Gilmor ' s main party proceeded to burn the Day residence in retaliation .