Maryland: The Invaded State that Won’t Forget the Civil War

When the Civil War began, Maryland was a slave state and the population was also pro-Southern.  Maryland’s proximity to Washington DC (that also allowed slavery for half the wary), made it important for Lincoln, though the state’s leaders had not declared for either side in the conflict. To make sure the North had control of the state, he would not allow it to be neutral, so he declared martial law to prevent secession. The writ of habeas corpus was suspended. Baltimore’s mayor, the city council, the police commissioner, and the entire board of police, were imprisoned in Fort McHenry without charges. Arrests of Confederate sympathizers, state politicians, militia commanders, and those critical of Lincoln. Manny suffered confiscation of their property by the Federal government. Lincoln also dismissed Chief Justice Roger Taney and arrested Frank Key Howard, an editor and grandson of Francis Scott Key, and imprisoned him ironically in Fort McHenry for an editorial. He wrote a book about his imprisonment that was published in 1863, Fourteen Months in American Bastiles, and two of his publishers were also arrested.

Maryland did not forget LIncoln’s invasion. According to the New York Times, the lyrics of “Maryland, My Maryland” are from a poem written in 1861 by James Ryder Randall, a Confederate sympathizer, and the song is set to the tune of “O, Tannenbaum.” Another website says Maryland’s General Assembly adopted “Maryland, My Maryland” as the state song on April 29, 1939. The song’s words refer to Lincoln’s invasion of Maryland, Maryland’s history, and geography, specifically mentioning several historical figures of importance to the state. Tennessee Earnie Ford made a recording of the song on his CD Songs of the Civil War.

Here are the lyrics!

The despot’s heel is on thy shore
Maryland, my Maryland
His torches at thy temple door
Maryland, my Maryland

Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore
And be the battle queen of yore
Maryland, my Maryland

Thou wilt not cower in the dust
Maryland, my Maryland
Thy beaming sword shall never rust
Maryland, my Maryland

Remember Carroll’s sacred trust
Remember Howard’s warlike thrust
And though thy slumberers with the just
Maryland, my Maryland

Dear mother, burst the tyrant’s chain
Maryland, my Maryland
Virginia should not call in vain
Maryland, my Maryland

She meets her sisters on the plain
“Sic semper” ’tis the proud refrain
That baffle’s minions back o’Maine
Maryland, my Maryland

Arise, arise in majesty again
Maryland, Maryland, my Maryland

Though forced to be a Northern state, thousands of Maryland’s men fought for the South. Here are a few of the Maryland units’ flags: