TARGETED TRACKS: The Cumberland Valley Railroad in the Civil War, 1861-1865

1-220540

Using the railway's voluminous reports, the letters and diaries of local residents and Union and Confederate soldiers, official reports, and newspaper accounts, this book profiles the 1861-1865 Cumberland Valley Railroad connecting Hagerstown, Maryland to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Includes 28 images and three maps.

Because of its proximity to major cities in the Eastern Theater, the Cumberland Valley Railroad was an enticing target for Confederate leaders. As invading armies jostled for position, the CVRR's valuable rolling stock was never far from their minds. Northern military and railway officials, who knew the line was a prized target, coordinated-and just as often butted heads-in a series of efforts to ensure the railroad's prized resources remained out of enemy hands. When they failed to protect the line, as they sometimes did, Southern horsemen wrought havoc on the Northern war effort by tearing up its tracks, seizing or torching Union supplies, and laying waste to warehouses, engine houses, and passenger depots.