Crossing the Mason and Dixon
Pennsylvania, at Last!
Four thousands of Confederates in Gen. Robert E. Lee's invasion of the North in 1863, the rate of march exceeded thirty miles a day. Since this part of Maryland is so narrow, splashing across the Potomac River in the morning and crossing the Mason and Dixon Line by afternoon became a daily routine.
William Christian shares his thoughts as an "invader" with his wife: "We are paying back these people for some of the damage they have done to us, though we are not doing them half as bad as they done us. ... I felt when I first came here that I would like to revenge myself upon these people for the desolation they have brought upon our own beautiful home. ... Yet when I got among these people I could not find it in my heart to molest them."
As a diversion from the march, men would sometimes break ranks and head for a local farm, where they would engaged in milking contests, seeking to discover who was best at aiming milk into a canteen.
"We were now in the enemy's country, and getting our supplies entirely from the country people. These supplies were taken from mills, storehouses, and the farmers, under a regular system ordered by General Lee, and with a due regard to wants of the inhabitants themselves, certificates being given in all cases. There was no marauding or indiscriminate plundering, but all such acts were expressly forbidden and prohibited effectually."
-Gen. Jubal A. Early
Marker is at the intersection of Fairview Road (County Route 494) and Greencastle Pike (Maryland Road 63), on the right when traveling east on Fairview Road.
Courtesy hmdb.org
