Neal Boys, Arrested for "Sympathies",Westminster, MD, Corbit's Charge, JEB Stuart

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Here in Westminster, Maryland, the Neal boys were just 2 of the thousands of Americans who were imprisoned by Lincon’s Yankees simply for their “sympathies” or “opinions”. I’m sharing their story primarily because their historical marker was permanently removed, yet the plaque that marked the location of their home remains. Both their home and this historical marker are located on Main street where JEB Stuart engaged in Corbit’s Charge.

Here’s an excerpt from the historical marker in Westminster, MD that is now missing.

“A block away, at what is now 71 East Main Street, stood the Abner Neal house. In August 1862, Federal soldiers arrested sixteen Westminster residents as Southern sympathizers and escorted them to Baltimore for questioning. The group, soon released, included Neal’s two sons, Henry and Frank. The young men joined the Confederate army in September 1862, when Col. Thomas L. Rosser’s 5th Virginia Cavalry swept through Westminster during the Antietam Campaign. The Neals served in Co. D, 1st Maryland Cavalry (CSA).”

“They returned home on June 29, 1863, helping guide Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry corps through Maryland en route to Gettysburg. As their mother, Rose, and sister, Mary, sat in their second-floor parlor reading the Bible, they heard a shout – “The Rebels are coming!” – in the street. Stepping to the balcony, they asked, “How do you know they are Rebels?” The answer came, “I know Henry and Frank Neal!” At that moment Rose Neal placed a bookmark in the Bible where she had stopped reading, and it was never removed. Soon, the Neal boys waved hello as they road west on Main Street, but before long they dashed by the other way in pursuit of Delaware cavalrymen escaping toward Baltimore. After the war, Rose Neal warned her sons against returning home because of anti-Confederate sentiment, and they never came back.”

“On July 4, after the Battle of Gettysburg, Union Gen. John Gibbon arrived at the house, where Rose Neal treated his wounds. She was his wife’s aunt.”

It begs the questions, why are these historical markers increasingly removed, why are these stories increasingly suppressed, is censorship happening in other forms today, and can this fully happen again in the near-future?

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It was also here on this same main street that Corbit's Charge skimish/battle with JEB Stuart occurred. Although only a few were killed, the ramifications were tremendous. The battle prompted JEB Stuart's cavalry to stay an extra night in Westminster, causing his delayed arrival at Gettysburg which deprived Gen Lee of important intelligence, and led him to commit to fight at Gettysburg on ground he did not particularly like.
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An additional historical marker nearby on this same main street explains the primary 4 reasons Robert E Lee decided to enter or "invade" Maryland"

1) Compel the Union to end the war, sue for peace
2) Reap the fall harvest (take war out of devastated south)
3) Gain Confederate Recruits
4) Earn foreign recognition (similar to Revolutionary war)


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ADDITIONAL READING:

Historical Marker about the Neal Family (permanently removed):
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=114404

Neal Home:
https://historicalmarkerproject.com/markers/tmp-9aaf3_neal-home_Westminster-MD.html

Rosser Raid, 4 reasons Lee entered the north:
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=114405


Location: Westminster, MD, USA

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