Echoes of War Drums: The Civil War in Mountain Maryland

Though the mountains of Western Maryland were not the site of any major battles during the Civil War, the area did have its share of activity and minor skirmishes. One of the most-daring raids of the war occurred in Cumberland in 1865 when McNeill's Rangers kidnapped two Union generals from their hotels beds and carried them off to Richmond, Va. Also, because of its location on the B&O Railroad, the county was also the site of many temporary hospitals to care for wounded soldiers.

Echoes of War Drums is a collection of three dozen stories and more than 50 pictures of the Civil War in Mountain Maryland. From spies to generals, from battles to healing, James Rada, Jr. looks at the Civil War in the region from all angles with attention-getting stories:

War Comes to Allegany County
Cumberland’s Importance to the War Effort
Cumberland Gets Help From the Battlefield Angels
The Military Occupies Cumberland
Civil War Tensions Led to Cumberland Riot
Garrett County’s Civil War Forts
The Hero of Philippi Comes to Cumberland
The Confederate Army Attack at New Creek
Allegany Countians Protecting Allegany County
The Mount Savage Iron Works Warrior
Who Wins When Both Sides Retreat?
Boating the Border of Warring Nations
Consolidating Civil War Hospitals at Clarysville
The Monitor, The Merrimack and Cumberland
A Reporter’s View of Cumberland During the War
The Battle of Antietam
A Confederate Post Office in Cumberland
Clarysville Hospital Doctor Faces Court Martial
The Day Cumberland was in the Confederacy
The Banishment of a Confederate Family
C&O Canal President Imprisoned for Treason
John Garrett Used the Railroad to Help the Union
Cumberland’s Biggest Civil War Battle
Oldtown’s Civil War Skirmish
Military Justice in Cumberland
Teenage Rebellion, Civil War Style
A Pair of Generals Gives Confederates an Ace in the Hole
In the Wake of Assassination
Both Armies Wanted Romney, Neither One Could Hold It
Reburying the Dead
Honoring Those Who Served in the Civil War
How Antietam was Remembered 50 Years Later
Who is “Genl. Scofield”?
Maryland’s Last Confederate Son