Gilmor's Raid, also known as The Magnolia Station Train Raid, was a foraging and disruptive cavalry raid that was part of an overall campaign against Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

 railroads, led by Maj. Harry W. Gilmor

Harry Gilmor

Harry W. Gilmor served as Baltimore City Police Commissioner in the 1870s, but he was most noted as a Confederate cavalry officer during the American Civil War...

 with 135 men from the First and Second Maryland Cavalry

2nd Maryland Cavalry, CSA

The 2nd Maryland Cavalry, a.k.a Gilmor's Partisan Rangers, was a Confederate unit in the American Civil War.-History:The unit was founded and commanded by Colonel Harry Gilmor. Gilmor was a member of the Towson Guards , when the Civil War started. Due to his political views, he was taken prisoner...

 regiments. It was authorized by Confederate

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 Lt. Gen. Jubal Early

Jubal Anderson Early

Jubal Anderson Early was a lawyer and Confederate general in the American Civil War. He served under Stonewall Jackson and then Robert E. Lee for almost the entire war, rising from regimental command to lieutenant general and the command of an infantry corps in the Army of Northern Virginia...

 during his Valley Campaigns of 1864

Valley Campaigns of 1864

The Valley Campaigns of 1864 were American Civil War operations and battles that took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia from May to October 1864. Military historians divide this period into three separate campaigns, but it is useful to consider the three together and how they...

, which threatened Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Events on July 9–10

As Early advanced north and east toward Baltimore, Maryland, a Union force led by Maj. Gen.

Major general (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...

 Lew Wallace

Lew Wallace

Lewis "Lew" Wallace was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, territorial governor and statesman, politician and author...

 met Early's forces and was defeated in the Battle of Monocacy

Battle of Monocacy

The Battle of Monocacy was fought on July 9, 1864, just outside Frederick, Maryland, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864, in the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early defeated Union forces under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace...

 on July 9, 1864. The cavalry brigade of the Second Corps, led by Brig. Gen. Bradley T. Johnson advanced further eastward into Maryland, led by cavalry forces under the command of Maj. Harry W. Gilmor. Upon reaching Westminster, Maryland

Westminster, Maryland

Westminster is a city in northern Maryland, United States. It is the seat of Carroll County. The city's population was 18,590 at the 2010 census. Westminster is an outlying community within the Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA, which is part of a greater Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV...

, 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 into Cockeysville-Hunt Valley, Maryland, north of Baltimore, and then turned south destroying tracks and trestle bridges along the North Central Railroad. Upon reaching Timonium, 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 at Point Lookout, Maryland at the confluence of the Potomac River

Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...

 and the Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

.

Events on July 11

Maj. Gilmor's cavalry detachment moved undetected through Baltimore County, Maryland

Baltimore County, Maryland

Baltimore County is a county located in the northern part of the US state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 805,029. It is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Towson. The name of the county was derived from the barony of the Proprietor of the Maryland...

, and into Harford County, Maryland

Harford County, Maryland

Harford County is a county in the U.S. state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 244,826. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area.-History:...

. They first stopped at the General Store in Jerusalem Mill

Jerusalem Mill Village

Jerusalem Mill Village is a living history museum that spans the 18th through early 20th centuries. One of the oldest and most intact mill villages in the U.S. state of Maryland, Jerusalem is located in Harford County, along the Little Gunpowder Falls River. It also serves as the headquarters of...

 now popularly known as McCourtney's, capturing supplies and horses, and then arrived on the morning of July 11 at the Gunpowder River

Gunpowder River

The Gunpowder River is a tidal inlet on the western side of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, United States. It is formed by the joining of two freshwater rivers, Gunpowder Falls and Little Gunpowder Falls.-Gunpowder Falls:The Big Gunpowder, long, begins in the extreme southern part of Pennsylvania's...

 bridge, a railroad bridge near Magnolia Station, close to Joppa, Maryland

Joppa, Maryland

Joppa, Maryland in Harford County, Maryland is now a planning region for the county, but there was originally a town at the center called Joppa. Joppa was founded as a British colonial settlement in the early 18th century, and takes its name from the biblical town of Joppa .The town of Joppa on...

, which belonged to the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad

The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad was the Pennsylvania Railroad's main line from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania southwest to Baltimore, Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries...

. Defending the railroad bridge at both ends were seventy troops from the 159th Ohio Infantry

159th Ohio Infantry

The 159th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 159th Ohio Infantry was organized at Zanesville, Ohio and mustered in as an Ohio National Guard unit for 100 days service on May 9, 1864 under the command of Colonel Lyman J...

. Gilmor's troops captured two trains, one north- and one southbound, evacuated the passengers, capture 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

William B. Franklin

William Buel Franklin was a career United States Army officer and a Union Army general in the American Civil War. He rose to the rank of a corps commander in the Army of the Potomac, fighting in several notable early battles in the Eastern Theater.-Early life:William B. Franklin was born in York,...

, 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, near Towson, Maryland

Towson, Maryland

Towson is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 at the 2010 census...

 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.

Aftermath

Only one man was lost in Gilmor's detachment during the raid, Sgt. Field, who was shot at point blank range by Ishmael Day

Ishmael Day

Born on March 20, 1792 in Baltimore County and Christened 16 JUN 1793 at Saint James Protestant Episcopal Parish, Baltimore, Maryland. Ishmael Day was the son of Edward and Mary Day in the 11th District of Baltimore County in Maryland. His birthplace was off of the current Mount Vista Road...

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. Ismael Day suddenly shot Sgt. Field and fled, and Gilmor's main party proceeded to burn the Day residence in retaliation.