Perryville
One Week After the War Began
On April 18-19, 1861, a week after the bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina, Confederate sympathizers attacked U.S. Army forces en route to Washington in Baltimore, 35 miles southwest of here. On the second day shots were fired and soldiers died. Telegraph service was cut off; railroad bridges south of the Susquehanna River were burned, and Washington was in danger of isolation in Confederate territory. In response, Cecil County Unionists guarded the rail lines, hoisting U. S. flags along the way, and Fort Dare was quickly established in Perryville. The town and port became vitally important to the survival of the U. S. Government overnight.
Perryville, a town with few residents, three shops, two inns and a post office, overnight became a Federal staging area. The army turned the train depot into soldiers barracks, the ticket office into a headquarters, and the storage houses into supply centers, establishing a hub of military activity in Perryville. The steamboat Maryland was commandeered as a transport vessel.
An April 26, New York Times article declared, “Places are like people. Some are great by natural advantage. Some achieve greatness by the aid of capitalists. And others have greatness thrust upon them. The present site of Camp Dare (Perryville) belongs to the latter category... This makes Perryville... a center of notoriety.” The article’s author also reported that the village was known for “the finest shad that the known world produces... and with them the soldiers have made an early and familiar acquaintance.”
Marker is at the intersection of Broad Street and River Road, on the right when traveling east on Broad Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
