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