Maryland. History Lives Here.
Maryland. History Lives Here.
As the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War continues, join us for Statewide events and exhibitions that explore Maryland’s important role in the Civil War. Learn more about the people who lived through these tumultuous times and discover Maryland’s authentic stories through one of our four Civil War Trail driving and walking tours. These carefully mapped driving tours link together a collection of both well-known and less-known sites from Baltimore City, throughout the Chesapeake Region, in Southern Maryland and into Western Maryland. And when you are ready to return to the present, shopping, dining and modern-day adventures await you.
Baltimore: A House Divided
Explore the Civil War story in Baltimore and the surrounding Chesapeake Bay region. Baltimore witnessed the first bloodshed of the Civil War—the Pratt Street Riot—now told in a 1.5-mile walking tour along the Inner Harbor. This Civil War Trails tour also covers a variety of activities on the northern shores of the Chesapeake Bay.
Gettysburg: Invasion and Retreat
Follow the routes taken by Union and Confederate armies during the June–July 1863 Gettysburg Campaign. Four scenic driving tours trace the paths of the soldiers who marched toward the Civil War’s most epic battle and civilians whose lives were impacted by the conflict for the second time in nine months.
1862 Antietam Campaign
This 90-mile historic and scenic driving tour follows the route taken during Robert E. Lee’s advance through Maryland in September 1862, traveling through Frederick, Middletown and South Mountain. It ends at Antietam National Battlefield—site of the deadliest one-day battle in American history.
John Wilkes Booth: Escape of an Assassin (Show logo)
Follow the escape route that John Wilkes Booth took after assassinating President Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. On this 90-mile route there are dozens of other Civil War sites located in the Southern region of the Chesapeake Bay, many of which are highlighted in this “War on the Chesapeake” map and guide.
Plan the perfect getaway. For information on the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, to order your Civil War Trails Guides or to download our free mobile app, go to VisitMaryland.org.
- Confederate President Jefferson Davis calls for March 27 to be a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer.
- Following the Underground Railroad Route By Bicycle
- March is Women's History Month! Read the fascinating accounts of women spies hiding coded messages in women's hair, conductors of the Underground Railroad, soldiers disguised as men, surgeons, and advisors to the President!
- Teachers tackle race, economic disparity and history
- The President's Hymn: 'Give Thanks All Ye People'
- Thanksgiving Day during the Civil War
- Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation in a divided time: ‘one heart and one voice by the whole American People’
- What Abraham Lincoln found reading the Book of Job amid civil war
- Civil War stories on display at Lincoln Highway museum in Unity
- Who was Henry Benning, for whom Fort Benning in Columbus was named?
- Fort Gordon Army Base: Who was John Brown Gordon?
- From the Civil War to the football field, we have been celebrating the wrong values
- History and Healing: Removing Controversial Artifacts from the Civic Landscape
- How to Reframe the Civil War in the Classroom
- Man scores Abraham Lincoln autograph in box of trading cards
- Native Americans' role in the Civil War
- Abraham Lincoln Healed a Divided Nation. We Should Heed His Words Today.
- An escaped slave was the 'Florence Nightingale’ of Indiana's Civil War regiment
- A Southern Democrat survived impeachment trap and came to be in charge of Reconstruction
- New Statue Unveiled In Response To Richmond's Confederate Monuments