Seeing Monocacy

[kevikens]

After reading about the battle of Monocacy I think I would like to visit the site. Have any readers been there who could offer a few suggestions about such a visit. By the way I will not be going this weekend for the reenactment of the battle. Thanks

 

[Buckeye Bill]

Here is my YouTube video of the visitor center and tour stops.

It will take less than 3 hours to visit this battlefield.

Use extreme caution pulling into and out of Tour Stop 2!

Bill

 

[7thWisconsin]

Monogamy is a lovely little field that can be seen in 2-3 hrs. There's a picnic area by the visitors center if you want to eat lunch, although there's a large plaza nearby with the usual eateries. The visitors center is fairly new and has an electronic map, and a neat exhibit of what the battle looked like to a little boy who was an eye witness. If you're up to it, get out and walk at each stop. The tour tells the story quite well. If you can, get a copy of "Monocacy: Last Chance for Victory" by Brett Spaulding in the visitors center gift shop. Brett is a ranger there and has a tremendous passion for the battle. The book is well written, has lots of maps and you might get him to autograph it. Pause for a moment at the spot where Order 191 was found wrapped around the cigars and reflect on what might have happened if Mac had gotten his tail in motion. I've been to Monocacy about a dozen times or so, and it's one of my favorite small battlefield parks.

 

[nextcity]

While in the area, if you have not been there yet, I highly recommend the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick.

 

[dlavin]

Was just there last week. If I got on my other computer I could post pictures. I did the tour in about 2 hours. Felt a bit rushed, but it can be done. When you go, be very careful, or skip stop #2. The turnoff from the road is terrible and I bottomed out my car making the turn. If you download the Civil War Traveler podcast it actually warns of this. I didn't really believe it, shame on me. I did not walk any of the trails, but I would go back for the Worthington House trail.

Everyone above has great suggestions as well. The Museum of Medicine is great, Also South Mountain isn't far away.

 

[tonijustine]

There is a podcast tour at civilwartraveler.com free for download. http://www.civilwartraveler.com/audio/podcasts.html

If you are a rail fan, you can walk out to Monocacy Junction (trail from the VC parking lot) and see the country's first wye which is still active.

 

[Mdiesel]

While in the area, if you have not been there yet, I highly recommend the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick.

A good plus to the museum of civil war medicine is their summer lecture series. I just might be stopping by Thursday after work to catch this one!

"Summer Lecture Series – Medical Stories From the Pension Records of the Civil War @ National Museum of Civil War Medicine
Jul 9 @ 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
NMCWM Executive Director, George Wunderlich will reach into the rich resources of Federal Government's Civil War Pension Records to tell the story of life for Civil War veterans and their families. He will recounts incidents both humorous and poignant that reveal the medical legacy of soldiers who had bourn the burden of war. The talk will explain how the United States, and later former Confederate state governments, reimbursed its wounded warriors and how the process evolved over subsequent decades. The National Museum of Civil War Medicine will host a lecture by a historical expert on a subject of the Civil..."

http://www.civilwarmed.org/calendar/

 

[JeffBrooks]

I visited Monocacy for the first time last October and really enjoyed it. I thought the museum was exceptionally well done and the animated map was very good. The trails are very nice. The drawbacks: I agree about the dangers of the turnoff at stop 2 and I was very annoyed at the massive highway bisecting the whole thing.