Extra! Extra! "Mount and Spur for Gettysburg" - Taneytown MD
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 39° 39.367 W 077° 10.333
18S E 313645 N 4391845
Whitelaw Reid, a Civil War correspondent, began reporting for The Cincinnati Gazette in 1862. On June 30, 1863, Reid took the train from Washington, D.C, and traveled to General George Gordon Meade’s headquarters just outside of Taneytown.
Waymark Code: WM17TWJ
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 04/04/2023
Views: 1
Text on the Historical Marker
Extra! Extra! "Mount and Spur for Gettysburg"
Whitelaw Reid, a Civil War correspondent, began reporting for The Cincinnati Gazette in 1862. On June 30, 1863, Reid took the train from Washington, D.C, and traveled to General George Gordon Meade’s headquarters just outside of Taneytown on the following day. While in the General’s company, Reid interviewed him about his battle plans. Reid also observed the soldiers as they prepared for battle, and his report conveyed the urgency they felt. Reid was able to send his July 1 dispatch by courier from a Taneytown tavern to the Frederick telegraph office. From a nearby road later that day, Reid watched the soldiers march from Taneytown to Gettysburg, noting the “masses of blue coats toiling forward.” Besides watching the fighting from Cemetery Hill on July 2 and 3, Reid also traveled the battlefield to speak to four Union commanders to learn about the fighting on July 1. The place of the battle caused him to write feverously scratched notes describing the sounds and sights of the battle. On July 8, his story about the Battle of Gettysburg appeared on the front page of The Cincinnati Gazette under the byline “Agate.”
(Inscription of the photo in the upper left side of the marker)
After the Civil War Whitelaw Reid had his portrait taken by Mathew Brady. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.
(Inscription of the photo in the center of the marker) The telegraph pictured here is similar to the one used to send Whitelaw Reid’s stories to the Cincinnati Gazette in 1863. Courtesy of the Monocacy National Battlefield, National Park Service.
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