Army of the Potomac
Westminster, Carroll County, Maryland
Marker Inscription
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC JULY 3 1863 First and Second brigades First cavalry division marched from Taneytown to Westminster The reserve brigade of First cavalry division from Emmitsburg to the field of Gettysburg and the second brigade second cavalry
The Story
In the first days of July 1863, the roads of northern Maryland filled with the men and horses of the Union Army of the Potomac as it raced to intercept Robert E. Lee's invasion of the North. This tablet marks the movements of the army's cavalry on July 3 — the climactic day at Gettysburg, just across the Pennsylvania line — as brigades of the First Cavalry Division shifted from Taneytown and Emmitsburg toward the fighting, while Westminster served as a vital supply and staging hub along the army's rear. These War Department itinerary tablets, placed to trace exactly where each command marched, turn quiet crossroads towns into legible chapters of the campaign.
Why it matters
The Gettysburg Campaign was the high-water mark of the Confederacy, and the swift, coordinated marches recorded here show how Union logistics and cavalry screening set the stage for the war's decisive Eastern battle.
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Related events
- · Battle of Gettysburg
- · Gettysburg Campaign
Themes & tags
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