Ellicott's Mills "provost" in 1863

During the Civil War there was competition among the war correspondents to get the story and get it to their publisher. One reporter played a trick on another and got his report sent out first.

Gen. Lew Wallace and his retreating troops in 1864 drawn by 11 year old Edwin Abbey

Edwin Abbey (1852-1911), who would gain fame painting large murals while living in England, visited his father’s sister and her husband Dr. Isaac J. Martin in Ellicott City during summers. In July 1864 the Union army lost the Battle of Monocacy, near Frederick. Troops under Lew Wallace marched down Main St. followed by the three officers, walking leading their horses.

Lew Wallace (1827-1905) held several posts after he resigned from the Army, including Governor of New Mexico Territory and then US Minister to Turkey (Ottoman Empire).  But his fame is from the book he wrote - Ben-Hur, published in 1880, and the epic film in 1959.

Gen. E. B. Tyler - captured at Jug Bridge then escaped to Ellicott's Mills... or not

During the Civil War, Brigadier General Erastus Bernard Tyler (1822-1891) was sent to defend Baltimore in June 1863, and was involved in the Battle of Monocacy on July 9, 1864.  He commaned the troops protecting Jug Bridge on the east side of Frederick. It was an intense fight, but the Union troops held.  There were false newspaper reports that he had been taken prisoner, escaped and went to Ellicott's Mills.  He married a local lady, remained in Baltimore and died at his home "Rosedale" near Calverton.

Jug Bridge - Jonathan Ellicott proposed a "bold plan of this bridge with 4 arches [each with a] 65 [foot] span" and built 1808-9 when Col. John Eager Howard was president of the Frederick Turnpike.  The bridge lasted 140 years, and the Jug monument was moved to I-70's East Patrick exit.

Joe Nick - from slave to Civil War soldier

During the Civil War, Joe Nick drove a pair of horses with a covered wagon from his master Reuben Rogers' ("a lawyer and farmer") farm to join the Union Army.  In Ellicott City he hopped aboard a freight train going west.  Nick returned in uniform in June 1865, and Rogers had him put in the EC jail as a fugitive slave. The US Marshall freed Nick and arrested Rogers.  The story was retold by "the younger generation" as "Old Nick: Rogers lemon."

But. There are some questions about the story.

The Baltimore or Winans Steam Gun - Civil War

At the start of the Civil War, a bullet proof "steam gun" was patented by Charles Dickinson and worked on in Ross Winans foundry in Baltimore.  Dickinson was on his way to sell it to the Confederacy, when it was captured in Ellicott City by Col. Jones and the 6th Mass. It was kept at Relay to guard the Thomas Viaduct. The muzzle of the gun/cannon protruded from the slit of the cone (see below) and it was dragged by a team of horses.  A large replica can be seen at Elkridge.

Decatur Dorsey - slave to Medal of Honor recipient

Decatur Dorsey (1836-1891) was an enslaved African American in Howard County when he signed up in 1864. He would become a Sergeant in the 39th US Colored Troops and earned the Medal of Honor.