Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label History 18630701 Gettysburg JY 1-3 1863. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History 18630701 Gettysburg JY 1-3 1863. Show all posts

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Friday, June 28, 2013

You can still to this day see bullets stuck side of house from Corbit's Charge

Dan Pyle leads discussion of events June 29 1863 Corbit's Charge in Westminster

Firing salutes the fallen from Corbit's Charge in Westminster 150 yr anniversary

Tom LeGore his wife & Tom Abbott participate 150 yr anniversary Corbit's Charge

Tom LeGore prepares for Corbit's Charge 150 anniversary Je 29 1863 at Court St

Friday, July 03, 2009

Today in history was the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg

Today in history was the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg

July 3, 1863

One of the best reads on the epic battle may be found here: The Gettysburg Campaign, on the ExplorePAhistory.com web site

The Battle of Gettysburg, fought over of the first three days of July in 1863, was one of the climactic events in American history.

Confederate General Robert E. Lee's bold offensive into northern territory resulted in the epic clash of two great armies with perhaps 175,000 soldiers, tens of thousands of horses and mules, more than 600 cannons, and hundreds of supply wagons and ambulances, all of which had traveled from Virginia to south-central Pennsylvania. Here, the two armies suffered a combined total of more than 51,000 men killed, wounded, and missing. Lee's army then walked back to Virginia where it continued to fight for almost two more years.


Read much more here:

Overview: The Gettysburg Campaign

The Confederates Invade Pennsylvania

The Army of the Potomac Pursues Lee into Pennsylvania

Confederate High Tide: Operations on the West Shore of the Susquehanna

Convergence on Gettysburg

Overview: The Gettysburg Campaign-Story Details

Historical Markers In the Story

Original Documents

Publication Guide

Web Guide

Story Credits

Gettysburg National Military Park

Adams County Historical Society

Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center

The Battle Theatre

State Museum of Pennsylvania

Gettysburg Cyclorama Center

Gettysburg College

National Civil War Museum

Cumberland County Historical Society

Eisenhower National Historic Site

EISENHOWER WORLD WAR II WEEKEND

Ghosts of Gettysburg Candlelight Walking Tours

20090703 sdosm Today in history was the last day of Gettysburg
*****

Sunday, September 07, 2008

“Bush tours Gettysburg battleground site” by Christine Simmons

Bush tours Gettysburg battleground site” by Christine Simmons

Politics By CHRISTINE SIMMONS, The Associated Press 2008-09-06

GETTYSBURG, Pa. –

President Bush brushed up on his Civil War history Friday, touring the battleground of Gettysburg, the site of one of the deadliest battles of the Civil War.

Normally for a $55 fee, visitors to the
Gettysburg National Military Park can tour the area along with a licensed guide. But Friday, Bush had with him Gabor Boritt, an Abraham Lincoln scholar and director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, who could explain chronological events of the war to match each site of the battleground.

The president began his mid-afternoon tour at the Virginia Memorial, one of 1,300 monuments on the park's grounds.

He also was treated to a sneak peek of the park's Museum and Visitor Center, which has its grand opening Sept. 26.

[…]

Robert Kinsley, chair of the Gettysburg Foundation, was in the museum for the president's visit…

The town in the
Pennsylvania countryside is near the site of a 3-day battle where Union troops successfully defeated Confederate troops' advances. More than 51,000 Confederate and Union soldiers were killed, wounded or captured.

[…]


Read the entire article here: Bush tours Gettysburg battleground site

20080906 Bush tours Gettysburg battleground site by Christine Simmons

Friday, July 11, 2008

Westminster Eagle editorial: Corbit's Charge has a growing role in Westminster's civic, commercial calendar


Westminster Eagle editorial: Corbit's Charge has a growing role in Westminster's civic, commercial calendar

Posted on
www.kevindayhoff.net and www.westgov.net on July 11. 2008

I had an opportunity to talk with Civil War historian Tom LeGore (pictured here to the left) this evening (Thursday evening) and he said that the Corbit’s Charge commemorative events in Westminster the last weekend in June were quite successful.

Hat’s off to everyone involved… /Kevin Dayhoff, July 11, 2008

http://www.explorecarroll.com/

History Carroll Co. 18630629 Corbit's Charge June 29 1863

History Westminster 18630629 Corbit's Charge June 29 1863

Corbit rides again for city's weekend events

6/25/08 Editorial

Westminster's place in history gets revisited this week as the city and local history enthusiasts commemorate Corbit's Charge with events in and around the downtown area.

Events are scheduled from Friday to Sunday, June 27-29, on Main Street and also along North Center Street, where an encampment will take place (see schedule, page 2).

For those new to the scene, Corbit's Charge notes the skirmish that occurred in June 1863 when J.E.B. Stuart and the Confederate cavalry division of the Army of Northern Virginia came into Westminster on their way to Gettysburg.

They were met by Capt. Charles Corbit and his vastly outnumbered men of the Delaware cavalry. A brief fight ensued at the corner of Main Street and the Washington Road. The Union forces were defeated, but the Confederates lost two men. The legend of Corbit's Charge was born.

Whether or not the event had any great military significance is a matter of some debate, but the commemoration of Westminster's moment in the Civil War is one that swells pride in historians and calls residents to learn more about the past -- and those are most certainly good things.

It's also a good thing that, during the early part of the summer, Westminster has occasion to host the events that draw local residents and visitors to Main Street for a weekend of education, festivity, music and family gatherings.

City officials and the Pipe Creek Civil War Roundtable, who collaborate to plan and host the Corbit's Charge commemoration, always offer a great variety of events, from music on the 1860s to a tent church service on Sunday morning.

It's also no small matter that every year the festivities seem to draw more people to Main Street, and that helps local merchants.


By many accounts, Corbit's Charge, lasted but a few minutes on the streets of Westminster, but it has become a celebration of local lore, community spirit and, in a way, Main Street commerce.

We wonder what Capt. Corbit would think of it all.


####

20080625 Westminster Eagle editorial: Corbit's Charge has a growing role in Westminster's civic, commercial calendar


Celebrating Corbit and Carroll
Published July 2, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
As military actions go, Corbit's Charge was a minor footnote in the epochal three-day Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 and the larger backdrop of the...

10 Days
Published June 29, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
Sunday, 6/29 Corbit's Last Stand The final day of the annual commemoration of Corbit's Charge, also known as "The Battle of Westminster," will...

Sunday, 6/29

http://www.explorecarroll.com/community/58/10-days/

Corbit's Last Stand The final day of the annual commemoration of Corbit's Charge, also known as "The Battle of Westminster," will be held Sunday with activities in downtown Westminster. A Living History Encampment will be held on the grounds of the Multi-Service Center on North Center Street, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a tent-style Civil War church service at 10 a.m. The encampment will feature demonstrations, exhibits, camp scenes and drills. All events are open to the public.


20080625 Westminster Eagle editorial: Corbit's Charge has a growing role in Westminster's civic, commercial calendar

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Westminster Eagle: Schedule of Corbit’s Charge commemorative events in Westminster

Westminster Eagle: Schedule of Corbit’s Charge commemorative events in Westminster

http://www.explorecarroll.com/

History Carroll Co. 18630629 Corbit's Charge June 29 1863

History Westminster 18630629 Corbit's Charge June 29 1863

Corbit rides again for city's weekend events

Published June 25, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Union and Confederate troop re-enactors, along with civilians and artisans, will converge on Westminster, from Friday, June 27 through Sunday, June 29, to commemorate the...

Re-enactors of the 4th Confederate Virginia Calvary from Cullpepper Virginia provide a seven gun salute in honor of those who were killed during the Civil War in the cemetery behind the Ascension Episcopal Church, during the Corbit's Charge commemoration in downtown Westminster. The living history event commemorates the June 29th 1863 Battle of Westminster also known as Corbit's Charge in which the Union Army slowed the Confederate calvary, out numbered 5000 to 90, in joining Robert E. Lee at the battle of Gettysburg.

Corbit rides again for city's weekend events

http://www.explorecarroll.com/news/40/corbit-rides-again-citys-weekend-events/

Re-enactors commemorate Civil War battle's 145th anniversary

Posted 6/25/08

Union and Confederate troop re-enactors, along with civilians and artisans, will converge on Westminster, from Friday, June 27 through Sunday, June 29, to commemorate the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Westminster, better known as Corbit's Charge.

This year's commemoration, again sponsored by the City of Westminster and hosted by the Pipe Creek Civil War Round Table, will feature events in Downtown Westminster, along with activities at the traditional encampment location of 224 N. Center St., the Corbit's Charge memorial and the Ascension Church cemetery.

The Friday evening program will feature a performance of Civil War period music by O' Be JoyFull on the Locust Lane stage in downtown Westminster at 6:30 p.m.

In addition, there will be a discussion by historian Tom LeGore and tour of several blocks of the downtown area.

On Saturday and Sunday, a living history encampment will be held on the grounds of the Multi-Service Center on North Center Street, Westminster featuring demonstrations and exhibits, camp scenes and drills.

On Saturday, a parade to Corbit's Charge Monument and Cemetery will take place at 1 p.m. for a brief ceremony. Then, at 7 p.m., the Susquehanna Travelers will give a free concert.

Sunday will feature a Tent-Style Civil War Church Service at 10 a.m. followed by guided battle site walking tours and reenactments. All events are open to the public.

For more information, contact Ron Kuehne, PCCWRT outreach coordinator at
ronaldk@carr.org.

Civil War revisited

The following is a detailed schedule of events planned by day:

Friday, June 27

6 and 8 p.m. -- "Downtown Westminster, 1863" a walking tour with Tom LeGore. Meet at the "Welcome to Downtown" sign at Main and Liberty streets.

6:30 to 8 p.m. -- music by O' Be JoyFull at the Locust Lane Stage.

Saturday, June 28

10 a.m. to 9 p.m. -- Civil War Encampment, 224 N. Center St., Westminster. Displays open at 10 a.m.

10 a.m.-- Artillery demonstration.

10:30 to 11:30 a.m. -- Children's activities and games.

11 a.m. -- Infantry drill and firing demonstration.

12:30 p.m. -- Parade and ceremony at Corbit's Charge Monument in War Memorial Park and Lt. Murray's Grave, at Ascension Church Cemetery.

1 p.m. -- Artillery demonstration.

2-3 p.m. -- Children's activities and games.

2:15 p.m. -- Cavalry demonstration.

3:15 p.m. -- Artillery demonstration.

4 p.m. -- Infantry demonstration.

7 to 9 p.m. -- concert by Susquehanna Travellers in the big tent at the encampment grounds.

8 to 11 p.m. -- Civil War Ball at the Old Longwell Armory. Tickets and formal dress required.

Sunday, June 29

10 a.m. to 9 p.m. -- Civil War Encampment, 224 N. Center St., Westminster. Displays open at 10 a.m.

10 a.m. -- Civil War Tent-Style Church Service.

11 a.m. -- Medical demonstration.

Noon -- Battle skirmish between Union and Confederate units.

Noon-3 p.m. -- Walking Tours of the Corbit's Charge battle site.

1 p.m. -- Artillery demonstration.

1-2 p.m. -- Children's activities and games.

2 p.m. -- Infantry drill and firing demonstration.

3 p.m. -- Infantry demonstration.

4 p.m. -- Encampment closes.


Corbit's Charge has a growing role in Westminster's civic, commercial calendar

Published June 25, 2008 by Westminster Eagle

Editorial Westminster's place in history gets revisited this week as the city and local history enthusiasts commemorate Corbit's Charge with events in and around the downtown...


20080627 Schedule of Corbit’s Charge commemorative events in Westminster

Sunday, June 22, 2008

20080622 Corbit’s Charge events scheduled in Westminster for June 27 through 29 2008

20080622 Corbit’s Charge events scheduled in Westminster for June 27 through 29 2008

Commemoration of the 145th Anniversary of Corbit’s Charge is Slated for June 27th – 29th

Excerpted from “THE DOWNTOWN WESTMINSTER MAIN STREET NEWS – May/June 2008,” written by the Westminster Administrator of Economic Development Stan Ruchlewicz.

His office is located at 56 West Main Street, Westminster, Maryland.

He can be contacted at 410-848-5294 or send him an email.

If it wasn’t for the Battle of Westminster, more commonly known as Corbit’s Charge, 145 years ago, we all might be speaking with a Southern accent or so the story goes.

The skirmish here delayed General J.E.B. Stuart and his 5,000 Confederate cavalrymen from reaching Gettysburg until July 2, 1863, the 2nd day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Join the Corbit’s Charge Commemoration Committee, City of Westminster, Historical Society of Carroll County and Pipe Creek Civil War Round Table in commemorating the 145th anniversary of the cavalry skirmish that took place on the streets of Westminster on June 29, 1863 by attending a weekend of events from June 27th through June 29th.

On the evening of Friday, June 27th, there will be a period music concert by O’ Be Joyfull on the Locust Lane Stage, beginning at 6:30 p.m.; troops will be patrolling Main Street that evening and a walking tour led by noted local Civil War historian G. Thomas LeGore will kick off the event.

Beginning on the morning of Saturday, June 28th, a Civil War encampment, featuring civilian and military re-enactors, artisans, sutlers, blacksmiths, tinsmiths, chair caners, cavalry horses, cannon firing demonstrations, camp life demonstrations, and artifact and museum displays, will be in place all weekend on the grounds of the Carroll County Multi-Service Center at 225 North Center Street, across the street from the County Office Building.

The annual parade from the encampment to the Corbit’s Charge Monument and Lt. Murray’s gravesite in the cemetery of the Ascension Episcopal Church, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony, will take place at 1:00 p.m.

The encampment closes to the public after a free period music concert by “The Susquehanna Travelers” that begins at 7:00 p.m.

However, the activities do not end for the day, as a Civil War Ball will take place at The Old Longwell Armory (Westminster Recreation & Parks), 11 Longwell Avenue, from 8:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. Admission to the ball is $10.00 per person and space is limited.

Briant & Karin Bohleke will serve as dance masters while music will be performed by Peg Shutes and Bruce Young.

The inaugural Corbit’s Charge Civil War Ball is being sponsored by Ms. Kim Prehn and Unique Jewelry.

Sunday's activities will begin with a Civil War tent church service at 10:00 a.m. Guided walking tours of the battle site will be offered Sunday afternoon.

The encampment will be open from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, with various demonstrations throughout the day.

With the exception of the Civil War Ball, all events are FREE and open to the public.

For more information or directions to the events, visit the Pipe Creek Civil War Round Table website at
http://www.pccwrt.addr.com/Corbits_Charge.htm.


History Westminster 18630629 Corbit's Charge June 29 1863

History Westminster

History Carroll Co. 18630629 Corbit's Charge June 29 1863

Westminster Economic Dev Admin Stan Ruchlewicz

Monday, September 10, 2007

20070910 Civil War exhibit receives praise by Tom LeGore


Taneytown Civil War exhibit receives praise by Tom LeGore

September 10th, 2007

My colleague Tom LeGore has a letter to the editor in the Carroll County Times this worth reprinting. Taneytown has done a great job with their history museum and it is nice to see their efforts get attention.

Editor:

Taneytown's Civil War Legacy exhibit, displayed in the second-floor gallery of the Taneytown Museum is a must-see for any Carroll countian with an interest in local Civil War memorabilia, genealogy or a great display of weapons, flags and other items from private homes and collections never before available for public viewing. The museum and volunteers have done an excellent job of providing detailed labels interpreting each item.

Young men from the Taneytown area who enlisted in the Union Army in 1862 are featured in the displays. One in particular is Sgt. John Ezra Buffington, 6th Maryland Volunteer Infantry, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for being the first Union enlisted man to mount the parapet of the Confederate entrenchment at Petersburg, Va., on April 2, 1865.

His heroic actions will be the subject of a granite and bronze monument designed by the renowned sculptor Gary Casteel. The monument is scheduled to be dedicated April 2, 2008, according to a press release by the 6th Maryland Regiment of Infantry Descendants Association.

The full Civil War exhibit at Taneytown is schedule to close Oct. 27, however, portions of the exhibit will be displayed elsewhere in the museum after that.

I have been a student of Carroll County's Civil War history for more than four decades, and I rate this special exhibit outstanding!

Tom LeGore

Finksburg

Saturday, June 09, 2007

20070608 Corbit’s Charge Commemorative Weekend June 23rd and 24th, 2007

Battle of Westminster, Maryland

“Corbit’s Charge”

Commemorative Weekend June 23rd-24th, 2007

(posted June 8th, 2007)

Come Join Us and Learn

BEFORE THERE WAS GETTYSBURG, there was CORBIT’S CHARGE AND THE BATTLE OF WESTMINSTER!!!

Join us to commemorate the 144th Anniversary of the cavalry battle in the streets of Westminster that helped to alter the outcome of the decisive battle of the Civil War at Gettysburg.

The encampment will be open to the public on Saturday, June 23rd, from 10 a.m. until Dark; and Sunday, June 24th, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. EDUCATIONAL AND FUN-FILLED ACTIVITIES WILL TAKE PLACE BOTH DAYS. A Civil War Tent-Style Church Service is scheduled for Sunday at 10 a.m. The public is invited.

The City of Westminster is proud to sponsor this premier annual event to commemorate this important engagement in the Gettysburg Campaign. The Pipe Creek Civil War Round Table is the host for the weekend’s activities.

Civil War Living History Encampment

Period Music Concerts -

2nd SC String Band - 6/23 @ 6:30 p.m.

Gilmore’s Light Ensemble - 6/24 @ Noon

Cannon Firing Exhibitions

Speakers & Book Signings

Artisans & Sutlers

Children’s Activities

Camp Life Demonstrations

Civil War Tent-Style Church Service

(Sunday - 10 a.m.)

Guided Battle Site Walking Tours (Sun.)

AND MUCH MORE!!!

In Historic Westminster, MD at 224 N. Center Street, just off MD 140, across from the County Office Building

To learn more about the daily schedule of activities, or for directions to the site, please call Mr. Stan Ruchlewicz with the City of Westminster at (410) 848-5294; email Mr. Ron Kuehne at ronaldk AT carr.org; or visit the Pipe Creek Civil War Round Table Website at www.pccwrt.addr.com.

This event is funded in part by a grant from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority and the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area

Schedule For Corbit’s Charge Event – 2007

Updated April 5, 2007

This will be a 2 day event located on the grounds of the encampment site on Center Street.

Friday, June 22, 2007

3:00 p.m.

Encampment opens for re-enactor camp setup.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

9:00 a.m.

Unit Commanders meeting.

10:00 a.m.

Encampment opens to the public with unit drill and camp life demonstrations and displays. Sutlers and food will be available

12:30 p.m.

Re-enactors assemble for parade to Court House for wreath laying at battle monument and Lt. Murray’s grave.

2:00 p.m.

Re-enactors return to encampment to continue unit drill and camp life demonstrations and displays.

5:00 p.m.

Re-enactors dinner is served.

6:30 p.m.

Concert of civil war period music. Music provided by the 2nd South Carolina String Band. Snack Food service is available to the public.

9:00 p.m.

Encampment closes to the public.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Encampment is open to the public with camp life demonstrations, unit drill and displays. Sutlers and food will be available.

10:00 a.m.

A Civil War Tent Style Church Service. Chaplin Allan Farley officiating.

Public is welcome.

12 noon

Tours of the battle site begin. Period music is provided by Gilmore’s Light Ensemble from noon to 4:00 p.m.

4:00 p.m.

Encampment closes.

Re-enactor Units

3rd Maryland Infantry, USA

150th New York Volunteer Infantry, USA

1st Maryland Artillery, CSA

4th Virginia Cavalry, CSA

21st Pennsylvania Cavalry, USA

Historical Impressions, USA (Engineers)

Field Hospital, Robert Urban

Officer Interpreters:

General Robert E. Lee General U.S. Grant

General James Longstreet General J.E.B. Stuart

Sutlers – Displays

(Free except for sutler and food purchases)

Pipe Creek Civil War Round Table

Historical Society of Carroll County

Western Maryland RR Historical Society

President Street Station Museum

####

Friday, March 09, 2007

20070309 My 2nd Grade Class picture

My 2nd Grade Class picture

March 9th, 2007

A few months back my wife and I had dinner with my 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Griffin. I borrowed our 2nd grade class picture from her and I need to return it so I just got around to scanning it in this evening.

This picture was taken in March 1961 at East End Elementary School, in Westminster, Carroll County Maryland. At the time, East End was located at the corner of Green Street and Center Street in Westminster in the old Westminster High School which had been built in 1898. East End School closed quite a number of years ago.

The picture above depicts the school as it looked in 1908.

The old 1898 high school, in which East End was located, had moved in 1936 to the building on Longwell Avenue in Westminster. That building ceased to be high school in 1971. I was in the last graduating class.

When I attended East End, I lived about two blocks away at the corner of Washington Road and Green Street and walked to school every day – the source of many great memories to this day.

Schools located in the community are a wonderful thing and it makes me sad that so often they are now located on huge tracks of land in the middle of a cornfield outside of town.

In 1961 my family lived in an apartment in back of Samios Food Market.

The picture above is from the 1930s when it was then Ensor’s. Samios Food Market and the apartment where we lived was made into a Joni Mitchell song many years ago; “they tore down paradise and made it into a parking lot…

Across the street was the old Newark Shoe Factory which opened in late May 1925. When I lived on Green Street, it was the Westminster Shoe Factory and many folks in the neighborhood walked there to work.

Community markets, schools, and community employment were some of the main reasons for the quality of life that was Westminster when I was growing up in town.

Nowadays, schools located right in town are a thing of the past and community markets and employment are near impossible with this thing we call progress, err, Euclidean Zoning which most often will not allow the overlay of residences, markets and stores and work places. The again, perhaps it is not progress at all.

The corner of Green Street and Washington Road was essentially the site of Corbit’s Charge, a Civil War engagement on June 29th, 1863 in the days just before the Battle of Gettysburg – which is one of the reasons for my continual fascination with that aspect of Westminster history – and history in general.

Someday – I’ll have an extra minute to sit down and keyboard all the names in the March 1961 photograph…

Meanwhile, enjoy the photos of a Westminster long ago, when we really had a wonderful quality of life and sense of community.

Oh – we still have a great quality of life in Westminster; it’s just different these days.

####

Dayhoff personal, History Westminster 1920s, Westminster File Ensor's Grocery, Westminster File Samios Grocery, Westminster File Green St E, Westminster Planning Zoning, Carroll Co Schools History, Carroll Co Schools Westminster H S, Carroll Co Schools East End ES, History Westminster, History Westminster old photos, Westminster File Newark Shoe Factory, Westminster File Westminster Shoe Factory, Urban planning Euclidean Zoning, Music Mitchell Joni, Dayhoff photo gallery

Sunday, June 29, 2003

20030629 Westminster Mayor's Proclamation for Corbit's Charge Day, June 29, 2003


MAYOR’S PROCLAMATION

Corbit’s Charge Day, June 29, 2003

WHEREAS, from 1861 to 1865, our nation fought in a Civil War to rid our nation of the scourge of slavery. Westminster, although a divided community, came together to see our community through the horrors of war, and played a role in the successful outcome of the war, thereby affecting the course of history for our great nation; and

WHEREAS, Captain Charles Corbit led Companies C and D, First Delaware Cavalry, in a skirmish against General J.E.B. Stuart’s Cavalry Division on June 29, 1863 in Westminster, Maryland; which was a factor in General Stuart’s failure to reach the Gettysburg Battlefield before July 2, 1863; and

WHEREAS, The Mayor and Common Council of Westminster applaud the humanitarian efforts of Westminster’s citizens, who selflessly came together to the aid of the casualties of both Armies engaged in the conflict; and

WHEREAS, the end result of the American Civil War was that these United States became THE United States as the American Civil War helped to define our identify as a nation. The penalty for our sins, as a nation for allowing the scourge of slavery, was The American Civil War – but The Good Lord had a plan as providence saw through these terrible events in our great nation and our great community to accomplish great things; and

WHEREAS, The Mayor and Common Council of Westminster wish to commemorate the 140th Anniversary of Corbit’s Charge and pay homage to the bravery of the soldiers, from the North and the South and to our community’s citizens, who came together in the face of hardship and adversity.

NOW, THEREFORE, let it be known that I, Mayor Kevin E. Dayhoff, do hereby declare Sunday, June 29, 2003 in Westminster, Maryland as:

“CORBIT’S CHARGE DAY”

In honor of the soldiers who fought here so valiantly

and the sense of a community that came together as a result

of the horrible events of that day fateful 140 years ago.

Signed at City Hall this Twenty Ninth day of June

in the Year of our Lord, Two Thousand Three

KEVIN E. DAYHOFF, Westminster Mayor

20030629 Berlin Mayor Dr. John William Pitts and Corbit’s Charge


20030629 Berlin Mayor Dr. John William Pitts and Corbit’s Charge

Dr. John William Pitts[1]

By Kevin Dayhoff © June 29th, 2003


The first Mayor of Berlin, Dr. John William Pitts, had a small role in Corbit’s Charge in Westminster Maryland on June 29th, 1863.

In 1863, young Private John William Pitts, from Worcester County, was serving in Company K 1st Va. Cavalry (almost all the men in Company K were from southern Maryland). Private Pitts had been attending the University of Virginia as a medical Student and enlisted in the Confederate Army.

The morning after the conflict, June 30th, 1863, Co. A of the 3rd Pa. Calvary came sweeping into town thinking that there was a continued substantial Confederate force still in town, when in reality there were only stragglers left behind. The morning began with the Union Forces firing a few artillery rounds across the town to lay the ground work for a clean-up operation. Private Pitts was one of 25 Confederates captured around 7:30 AM and imprisoned at Fort Delaware, just outside of Wilmington, Delaware and subsequently released. (He somehow later returned to duty.)

After the war, Dr. Pitts became prominent in Maryland in the medical field and later distinguished himself by becoming the first Mayor of Berlin, when Berlin formed in 1896. He also remained in the service, becoming a captain in the Maryland National Guard, and was vice president of the C. B. Taylor Banking Company. He served eight years on the Democratic Central Committee and reportedly voted the Democratic ticket all his life.[2]


[1] G. Thomas LeGore, phone interview, 29 April 2003


[2] “Men of Mark in Maryland”, Volume IV, B. F. Johnson, Inc. 1912, page 91.


20030629 Berlin Mayor Dr. John William Pitts and Corbit’s Charge