Tourism Council of Frederick County

Four Days and Three Nights

Frederick County played a pivotal role in the Civil War and this journey will lead your group through some of the most important and fascinating sites. Begin your exploration at the new Frederick Visitor Center located in Downtown, historic Frederick.

Day One

National Museum of Civil War Medicine and Monocacy National Battlefield

Strolling through the heart of the old town on your guided Civil War tour provides a rich introduction to the historical significance of the area. As you retrace the steps of the German and English immigrants who settled here you'll discover a town dotted with notable citizens such as Civil War heroine, Barbara Fritchie and Francis Scott Key, author of "The Star-Spangled Banner." With each step you will have a better understanding of those who have gone before you and an appreciation of Frederick's role in the Civil War.

Begin your tour at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine where you can hear about the story of care and treatment of the wounded during the Civil War. 7,000 square feet of life-like exhibits tell the story of courage and devotion amidst the death and destruction of war. 

Next, depart the downtown area and head out to Monocacy National Battlefield. En route, stop at Mount Olivet Cemetery, the final resting place of Barbara Fritchie, Francis Scott Key and numerous Civil War soldiers who spent their final days in one of Frederick’s many hospital locations throughout the city. 

This afternoon, stop at the Monocacy National Battlefield, where the "battle that saved Washington" was fought. Monocacy is where Union General Lew Wallace’s greatly outnumbered troops, many of whom were untried in battle, were defeated on July 9, 1864 by Confederate forces led by General Jubal Early. The battle, though won by the Confederates, delayed Early’s advance on Washington, D.C. With the arrival of Federal reinforcements the next day, the Confederates’ hope of taking Washington was thwarted. Their withdrawal into Virginia spared the national capital and marked the Confederacy’s last attempt to carry the war into the North.

Monocacy National Battlefield was also the site where Lee’s Lost Order was discovered in a field by a Union soldier in 1862. Wrapped around a bundle of cigars, Special Order #191 outlined Lee’s campaign strategy to divide his army sending General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson to attack Harpers Ferry, and send General James Longstreet toward Hagerstown. The original Special Order #191 will be on loan from the Library of Congress and on display at the Monocacy National Battlefield Visitor Center from August 1 – October 31, 2012.

Return to Frederick this evening and enjoy dinner at Brewer’s Alley Restaurant, located in the heart of Frederick's historic district.  Enjoy a delicious meal and if you choose, a tasting of the many varieties of beer made on premise.

Day Two

Historical Society of Frederick County and Antietam National Battlefield

At the Historical Society of Frederick County, docents will lead your group on a tour of this 1820's Federal-style mansion that maintains a unique collection of furnishings, art and memorabilia from Frederick's past. Your group will enjoy the lush surroundings of their formal sitting garden.

Enjoy time on your own for lunch and shopping in Frederick's historic district.

In the afternoon, head west to the site of Antietam National Battlefield, the bloodiest single-day in American history where 23,110 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of savage combat on September 17, 1862. The battle led to Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and marked the first time photographs of the dead were taken before burial.  An 8.5 mile self-guided driving tour winds through the park, detailing the three phases of the battle and ending at Antietam National Cemetery, the resting place of 4,776 Union dead from the battles of Antietam, South Mountain, and Monocacy and more than 200 non-Civil War graves. The park is also connected by a series of hiking trails for those who wish to travel off the beaten path.

Before departing the battlefield, stop at the Newcomer House, one of only two historic homes on the battlefield open to the public and also the new Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area Exhibit and Visitor Center. The Newcomer House was built in the late 1780s as part of a thriving mill complex that straddled the Boonsboro Pike (Route 34) near the Middle Bridge crossing Antietam Creek.  The center features interpretive exhibits that share the overarching themes of the heritage area -- In the Heat of Battle, On the Homefront, and Beyond the Battlefield – and highlight sites in Washington, Frederick, and Carroll counties where these themes can be explored. 

Also visit the Pry House Field Hospital Museum, which served as headquarters for Union Commander General George B. McClellan and Major Jonathan Letterman, Medical Director for the Army of the Potomac. The museum exhibits, sponsored by the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, detail the history of local families and Jonathan Letterman’s reorganization of the medical department as well as the invention of triage at Antietam. 

Day Three

South Mountain State Battlefield and Harpers Ferry

The next must-do is Maryland’s only state battlefield South Mountain State Battlefield. The battle of South Mountain was fought September 14, 1862, prior to Antietam, and was the first conflict on northern soil. A museum at Washington Monument State Park details the conflict there. A small hike, which also connects to the Appalachian Trail, leads to the Washington Monument, the first monument dedicated to the memory of George Washington. 

Nearby is Gathland State Park, the mountain home of Civil War journalist George Alfred Townsend. The famous stone War Correspondent’s Memorial Arch serves as a tribute to army journalists and photographers from the Civil War.

In the afternoon, explore the charming town of Harpers Ferry, located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers.  Here you will hear about John Brown’s historic raid on the armory in 1859 and its role in the Civil War.

Enjoy dinner at Old South Mountain Inn. For over 250 years this inn has stood the test of time and been a part of the region’s history.

Day Four

Northern Frederick County and Gettysburg National Military Park

Along your route to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania you can visit some of Frederick County’s northern Civil War sites. In Thurmont is the site of the Catoctin Iron Furnace. Production at the two furnaces was never interrupted during the Civil War, despite troops moving in the area very close by. Iron produced here was used in the manufacturing of ironclad ships like USS Monitor.

Further up the road is the site of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, which shares three important stories of the Civil War. One of which is the story of the Daughters of Charity, who served during the Civil War very valiantly as nurses and caregivers to the many wounded soldiers on both sides of the war. The other two stories are that of General John F. Reynolds’s tragic love story and St. Joseph’s Valley Camp, an encampment of 80,000 Union Soldiers nearby.

Continue on to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and Gettysburg National Military Park. The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the Civil War, the Union victory in the summer of 1863 that ended General Robert E. Lee's second and most ambitious invasion of the North. Often referred to as the "High Water Mark of the Rebellion," it was the war's bloodiest battle with 51,000 casualties. It also provided President Abraham Lincoln with the setting for his most famous address.

Please contact the following for tour, prices and operating hours:  

• National Museum of Civil War Medicine, (301) 695-1865, www.civilwarmed.org, admission fee
• Monocacy National Battlefield, (301) 662-3515, www.nps.gov/mono, no admission fee
• Historical Society of Frederick County, (301) 663-1188, www.hsfcinfo.org, fee for guided tour
• Gettysburg National Park,  (717) 334-6274, fee for museum and visitor center
• War Correspondents Arch, no admission fee
• Harpers Ferry, (304) 535-2904, group admission fee
• Antietam National Battlefield, (301) 432-5124, www.nps.gov/ancm, no admission fee
• Pry House Field Hospital Museum, (301) 416-2395, suggested donation

For further information, please contact:

Becky Bickerton, Sales Manager, (800) 999-3613 or 301-600-4050 or e-mail at bbickerton@fredco-md.net