Harpers Ferry, WV

This is such a beautiful little slice of land nestled in the blue ridge mountains in northeast WV.  This is a place, an area where i could see us settling again.  Its a little warmer than were we are from, finger lakes area in NYS.  Its not too far south were you get killed by the heat and humidity 6 months of the year.  It still has 4 seasons, only the summer is longer and the winter is shorter.  

We camped at a KOA a few years back in Harpers Ferry.  We liked it then too.  It was our camp for a AT hike.  The appellation trail (AT) runs right through HF.  Its actually the halfway point of the AT.  About 1000 miles south of the start up there in Maine and 1000 miles north of southern GA, i think that's where it ends ;).

The town is very quaint and rich in both revolutionary and civil war history.  George Washington owned a home here and his family descendants are sprinkled around the area and surrounding counties.

Civil war history is more interesting as Harpers Ferry was a strategic location for both the Union and the Confederacy.  Harpers Ferry is know for the largest Union army of the war to surrender, without a fight.  12,500 men.  An entire Union core was camped at HF in the fall of 1862.  The Union clearly wanted to keep this area of VA under control.  WV did not exist yet, it was still VA at the time, only it was the western slice of VA that had sided with the union, thanks in large part to early Union victories in small areas of the state that were thought to be Union sympathetic.   This part of VA split in 1863 and was founded as West Virginia, which stayed loyal to the Union.  

 

In 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign, Confederate General Robert E Lee invaded Union soil.  Part of that campaign included sacking a Union core at Harpers Ferry.  Confederate troops under Stonewall Jackson and AP Hill surrounded the garrison on Camp Hill and lay siege to the camp.  After only 2 days and plenty of artillery fire from Maryland Heights, Union troops surrendered.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a very neat informational placard on display in HF denoting that the Potomac river was once an international border.  It literally was the dividing line between Union and Confederate countries.  For four years this beautiful little area was war torn!





Another neat thing about this area is the confluence of the mighty Shenandoah and Potomac rivers.  They clash together and create some powerful energy, which was harnessed by mills during the 19th century. Also key to the area was the BO railroad (Baltimore - Ohio).  It was a key rail area and was desired as a military transportation port by both Union and Confederate armies.

James

 



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