A City Divided - Hagerstown, MD - Civil War Discovery Trail Sites on Waymarking.com

A City Divided-he Hagerstown Mail offices were located on the second floor of this building during the Civil War. Due to the newspaper's pro-Southern columns, the Mail's editor and co-owner, Daniel Dechert, was arrested in 1862 and sent to Old Capitol Prison in Washington DC, and held until he took the "Oath of Allegiance". Following the defeat of Federal Maryland troops by Maryland Confederates in the Battle of Front Royal, Virginia, Dechert's newspaper was sacked and burned by a Unionist mob.

John Wagoner's barber shop was located in this corner of Public Square during the Civil War. Wagoner, a free black, operated a popular establishment, catering mostly to white customers. In November 1861, the ship was looted by a mob of Union soldiers. Grocery stores and other businesses, owned by men whose sons joined the Confederacy, also were targets from time to time.

The Ransom of Hagerstown
On July 6, 1864, General John McCausland's Confederate cavalry demanded a ransom of $20,000 under penalty of destruction by fire. It was within this building that General McCausland first met City Councilman Matthew Barber to make his ransom demands.

Type of site: Battlefield Address: intersection of North Potomac Street (State Highway 65) and West Washington Street (U.S. 40) Located on the Public Square in the center of Hagerstown. Hagerstown, MD USA 21740 Admission Charged: No Charge Website: [Web Link] Phone Number: Not listed Driving Directions: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   10/08/2021 Don.Morfe visited it