Maryland is a fascinating state...
She's located on the Mason/Dixon Line and found herself
stategically placed during the Civil War...
The North capitalized on her position, by garrisoning
Union troops throughout her territory.
But Maryland had a true southern heart
and wouldn't allow herself to be swayed by these
Blue coated, musketbarreled soldiers sweeping her
countryside...
One of the most heroic spies of the time was
A woman, Rose O'Neal Greenbow,
"Wild Rose"
Her secret message to General Pierre G.T. Beauregard
caused him to win the battle of Bull Run!
She was so successful spying that Jefferson Davis
gave her the credit for winning the battle of Manassas.
The North did imprison her, first in her very own home
and later in Old Capital Prison.
But that didn't stop her efforts to save the South!
She continued getting messages to the Confederacy which she
strategically placed in women's hair!!!
The North exiled her to the Confederate States after her second
prison term.
She travelled to Britain and France to win support for the
Confederate cause. Her diary is still in existance today
in the North Carolina State Archives detailing this time
of her life.
Rose died in 1864 as she was returning home...
In order to avoid a Union gunboat that was chasing her
ship, she fled in a rowboat, but never made it.
The little boat capsized and she was drowned by the
weight of the gold she was carrying!
She was buried with full military honors and her epitaph
reads: "Mrs. Rose O'N. Greenbow, a bearer of dispatches
to the Confederate Government."
James Ryder Randall, pictured above, wrote the state song
"Maryland, My Maryland", in 1861. He was a native of Maryland
and was outraged that Union troops dared to march through
Baltimore. The poem was written as a tribute to Randall's
Confederate sympathies.
It was adopted as the state song in 1939.
"Maryland, My Maryland"
The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland!
His torch is at thy temple door, Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore,
And be the battle queen of yore, Maryland! My Maryland!
Hark to an exiled son's appeal, Maryland!
My mother State! to thee I kneel, Maryland!
Thy peerless chivalry reveal,
And gird thy beauteous limbs with steel, Maryland! My
Maryland!
Thou wilt not cower in the dust, Maryland!
Thy beaming sword shall never rust, Maryland!
Remember Carroll's sacred trust,
Remember Howard's warlike thrust,~
And all they slumberers with the just, Maryland! My Maryland!
Come! 'tis the red dawn of the day, Maryland!
Come with thy panoplied array, Maryland!
With Ringgold's spirit for the fray,
With Watson's blood at Monterey,
With fearless Lowe and dashing May, Maryland! My Maryland!
Come! for thy shield is bright and strong, Maryland!
Come! for thy dalliance does thee wrong, Maryland!
Come to thine own heroic throng,
Stalking with Liberty along,
And chaunt thy dauntless slogan song, Maryland! My Maryland!
Dear Mother! burst the tyrant's chain, Maryland!
Virginia should not call in vain, Maryland!
She meets her sisters on the plain ~
"Sic semper!" 'tis the proud refrain
That baffles minions back again, Maryland! My Maryland!
I see the blush upon thy cheek, Maryland!
For thou wast ever bravely meek, Maryland!
But lo! there surges forth a shriek
From hill to fill, from creek to creek ~
Potomac calls to Chesapeake, Maryland! My Maryland!
Thou wilt not yield the vandal toll, Maryland!
Thou wilt not crook to his control, Maryland!
Better the fire upon thee roll,
Better the blade, the shot, the bowl,
Than crucifixion of the soul, Maryland! My Maryland!
I hear the distant thunder-hum, Maryland!
The Old Line's bugle, fife, and drum, Maryland!
She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb ~
Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum!
She breathes! she burns! she'll come! she'll come!
Maryland! My Maryland!
If you're interested in learning more about the Confederacy
and Southern Independence, check out this site:
Contacts for Information and Research on the War For Southern Independence
Be sure and check out my
Famous Women of Maryland
and...A Tribute to America!
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