.jpg)
Gilmor's Raid, also known asThe Magnolia Station Train Raid, was a foraging and disruptive cavalry raid that was part of an overall campaign againstUnion railroads, led by Maj.Harry W. Gilmor with 135 men from theFirst andSecond Maryland Cavalry regiments. It was authorized byConfederateLt. Gen.Jubal Early during hisValley Campaigns of 1864, which threatenedWashington, D.C., during theAmerican Civil War.
As Early advanced north and east towardBaltimore, Maryland, a Union force led byMaj. Gen.Lew Wallace met Early's forces and was defeated in theBattle of Monocacy on July 9, 1864. The cavalry brigade of the Second Corps, led byBrig. Gen.Bradley T. Johnson advanced further eastward into Maryland, led by cavalry forces under the command of Maj. Harry W. Gilmor. Upon reachingWestminster, Maryland, on July 10, Gilmor attacked Union cavalry forces, driving them out. Johnson's main cavalry force continued pressing Wallace's retreating Union troops, pursuing them intoCockeysville-Hunt Valley, Maryland, north of Baltimore, and then turned south destroying tracks and trestle bridges along theNorthern Central Railway.[1] Upon reachingTimonium, Maryland, Johnson divided the Second Corps cavalry brigade. He sent the commander of 2nd Maryland Cavalry, Maj. Gilmor, with a 135 detachment made up of both the 1st and 2nd Maryland Cavalry southeastward. The second part of Johnson's cavalry simultaneously turned south and headed toward the prison camp atPoint Lookout, Maryland at the confluence of thePotomac River and theChesapeake Bay.
_Ridge%2c_July_11_-_from_a_sketch_by_our_special_artist._LCCN95511301.jpg)
Maj. Gilmor's cavalry detachment moved undetected throughBaltimore County, Maryland, and intoHarford County, Maryland. They first stopped at the General Store inJerusalem Mill now popularly known as McCourtney's, capturing supplies and horses, and then arrived on the morning of July 11 at theGunpowder River bridge, a railroad bridge near Magnolia Station, close toJoppa, Maryland, which belonged to thePhiladelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. Defending the railroad bridge at both ends were seventy troops from the159th Ohio Infantry. Gilmor's troops captured two trains, one north- and one southbound, evacuated the passengers, captured supplies on the train, and set fire to one of the trains before backing it over and partially destroying the railroad trestle bridge. The telegraph communications lines were also cut along the bridge. Among the passengers captured on the northbound train was Union Maj. Gen.William B. Franklin, who was taken as a prisoner of war back to Virginia. After completing the actions at Magnolia Station, Gilmor's men headed back west, across Baltimore County, and stopped at Ady's Hotel, nearTowson, Maryland to rest and refresh his men. Shortly afterward a large cavalry patrol from Baltimore arrived, which outnumbered Gilmor's men more than two to one. Gilmor attacked and defeated the Union cavalry patrol, and pursued them as far as Govanstown. Gilmor later claimed that if his men had not been so tired, he would have gone into Baltimore and captured the city. Gilmor's detachment then proceeded back through Green Spring Valley, to recover his prisoner, Gen. Franklin, who had escaped. After resting for a few hours, Gilmor's detachment rejoined Gen. Early's main forces as they crossed the Potomac River back into Virginia. On the 11th, the Confederates also burned the home of Maryland GovernorAugustus Bradford. There is a state historic marker near the site.[2]
Only one man was lost in Gilmor's detachment during the raid, Sgt. Field, who was shot at point blank range byIshmael Day in a dispute near Day's residence in the thirteenth district of Baltimore. Sgt. Field was leading Gilmor's advance guard and refused to pass under a Union flag on the Day residence. Ishmael Day suddenly shot Sgt. Field and fled, and Gilmor's main party proceeded to burn the Day residence in retaliation.
39°34′36″N77°0′0″W / 39.57667°N 77.00000°W /39.57667; -77.00000