Opening ceremonies at Union Mills Homestead on Saturday,
June 29, 2013. Photo by Kevin Dayhoff
The Corbit's Charge Commemorative Committee and the Union Mills Homestead Foundation, Inc. jointly planned "Corbit's Charge - Union Mills 1863," - “a collaborative celebration and commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the events in Westminster and Union Mills on June 29th and June 30th, 1863,” according to a joint press release from June 27, 2012.
http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2013/07/opening-ceremonies-at-union-mills.html
The planned events held last weekend commemorated “key
events in Carroll County's Civil War history, particularly in the lead-up to
and during what eventually became the Battle of Gettysburg…
“"Corbit's Charge- Union Mills 1863" … (involved)
three days of special events in Westminster and Union Mills from Friday, June
28 to Sunday, June 30, 2013. These events will include commemorations, Civil
War re-enactors and encampments, musical celebrations, and living history
displays.”
On Friday evening, June 28, 2013, the commemoration featured
walking tours of the Corbit's Charge Battle Site, along with related ceremonies
in Westminster.
On Saturday and Sunday, June 29 and 30, 2013, the venue for
the commemoration weekend was located on the scenic and spacious grounds of the
Union Mills Homestead, offering an authentic setting much the way it was in
1863….
At Union Mills, visitors had the opportunity “to get a front
row view of the military forces of 150 years ago, as well as the effect of the
conflict on Maryland's civilian population, which was divided in its loyalties,
sometimes pitching brother against brother. The family who lived in Union Mills
in 1863 was divided in just this manner, with the brother who lived at the
Union Mills Homestead being a Northern sympathizer, and his brother across the
street favoring the Southern cause…”
"Corbit's Charge - Union Mills 1863" on Saturday,
June 29th, and Sunday, June 30th, 2013, brought “to life
the historically significant and fascinating history of 150 years ago as
experienced in Carroll County, Maryland….”
The key historical happenings in the summer of 1863 included
“General Meade's establishment of the Pipe Creek Line defensive plan through
Carroll County, the movement of large numbers of armed forces from both North
and South through the County in the wake of General Lee's invasion of Maryland
and Pennsylvania, a spirited cavalry skirmish in Westminster, and the
occupation of and encampment in Union Mills by both Confederate and Union
armies on consecutive days - with a close call as the Confederates moved out of
Union Mills just hours before the arrival of the Union Army…
According to information provided by the Union Mills
Homestead, “In Westminster, on June 29, 1863, elements of the Union's First
Delaware Cavalry engaged the lead elements of Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate
cavalry. Though thoroughly lacking in experience and vastly outnumbered,
Companies C and D of the Delaware Regiment, approximately 100 men in all,
charged on horseback head on into the front of the rebel column of
approximately 5000 horsemen. The cavalry fight at the junction of Main Street
and Washington Road became known as "Corbit's Charge" after Capt.
Charles Corbit, Commander of the First Delaware Cavalry.
Later that evening, Stuart's Cavalry moved from Westminster
up the road to Union Mills, an important crossroads which became the center of
a large amount of military activity over the next few days. Stuart's Cavalry
arrived in Union Mills late on June 29th, where large numbers of Stuart's men
were fed flapjacks at the Union Mills Homestead, and where large numbers of
those soldiers spent the night Early the next day, June 30, 1863, General
J.E.B. Stuart and his officers were entertained and fed breakfast by the
southern-sympathizing Shrivers across the road from the Shriver Homestead.
Later that morning, Stuart's Cavalry left Union Mills, and just a few hours
later Union forces from the Union Army's Fifth Corps arrived at Union Mills.
Brig. Gen. James Barnes, First Division Commander, made the Shriver Homestead
his headquarters that evening.
About the Corbit’ s Charge Commemorative Committee -The
Committee was organized by Pipe Creek Civil War Roundtable in 2003 to
coordinate the commemoration of Corbit’s Charge in Westminster. The Committee
is part of the Community Foundation of Carroll County, Inc. and has
successfully organized annual celebrations of Corbit’s Charge in Westminster in
June of each year since 2003.
About the Union Mills Homestead Foundation, Inc. The
Homestead Foundation was established on October 11, 1964, by Frederic Shriver
Klein, Philip Shriver Klein, and Richard Henry Klein, the fifth generation of
the Shriver family to live in the Shriver Homestead. The Klein brothers
established the Foundation in order to operate, preserve, and maintain the
Union Mills Homestead and to secure appropriate preservation funding. In
ensuing years, the Kleins transferred the structures and real property to the
Carroll County Government which in turn leased the property back to the
Foundation. By a similar arrangement, ownership of the physical artifacts was
transferred to the Foundation, now a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. The
Foundation's operation of the site continues today in accordance with these
agreements, with the Carroll County Government as a key partner in its preservation
mission.
Opening ceremonies at Union Mills Homestead on Saturday,
June 29, 2013. Photo by Kevin Dayhoff
Photo: Kevin Dayhoff and Caroline Babylon Friday August 13, 1863 [19990813
a CBK CW]
