Engagement at Westminster War at the Almshouse - Westminster MD
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 39° 33.615 W 076° 59.571
18S E 328798 N 4380847
On June 29, 1863 Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry arrived here on the outskirts of Westminster. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee’s division led the column, which numbered 6,000 including cavalrymen and two horse artillery batteries.
Waymark Code: WM17V06
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 04/05/2023
Views: 2
TEXT ON THE HISTORICAL MARKER
Engagement at Westminster War at the Almshouse— Gettysburg Campaign —
On June 29, 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s infantry was in Pennsylvania, and Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry arrived here on the outskirts of Westminster. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee’s division led the column, which numbered 6,000 including cavalrymen and two horse artillery batteries. Prisoners captured at the blacksmith shop on Main Street told Lee that a small Union cavalry force occupied the town. Anticipating little resistance, he deployed skirmishers and sent the 3rd Virginia Cavalry and an artillery piece across the almshouse fields here. Before the troopers could get into position on Main Street near the railroad, however, Capt. Charles Corbit’s Co. C and part of Co. D, 1st Delaware Cavalry, charged the Confederates near here on Washington Road. After sharp skirmishing, Stuart occupied Westminster.
A few days afterward, during the Battle of Gettysburg, a massive Union supply-wagon park filled the almshouse fields behind Green Street. Civilian Philip Fisher later wrote, “For a week, every hill and dale was covered with wagons in number perhaps five thousand. From seven to eight times as many mules and horses filled every pasture and meadow as far as the eye can reach from the Court House steeple.”
The almshouse, founded in 1852, served as the county home for the poor, disabled, and unwanted until the 1960s. The Carroll County Farm Museum was established here in 1965.
Name of Battle:
Engagement at Westminster
Name of War: U.S. Civil War
Entrance Fee: 0.00 (listed in local currency)
Date(s) of Battle (Beginning): 06/29/1863
Parking: Not Listed
Date of Battle (End): Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Post a photo of you in front of a sign or marker posted at the site of the battle (or some other way to indicate you have personally visited the site.
In addition it is encouraged to take a few photos of the surrounding area and interesting features at the site.