For Adults. Join us for a special presentation by Scott Mingus, author of Targeted Tracks: The Cumberland Valley Railroad in the Civil War, 1861-1865.

The Cumberland Valley Railroad (CVRR) played an important strategic role during some of the Civil War’s most critical campaigns by connecting Hagerstown, Maryland, to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. As invading armies jostled for position, the CVRR’s valuable rolling stock was an enticing Confederate target, and in October 1859, Abolitionist John Brown used the CVRR in his fateful Harpers Ferry raid.

Despite the line’s significance to the Union war effort, its remarkable story remains little known.

This Robert H. McCauley Historical Lecture is presented by the Western Maryland Room at Washington County Free Library in partnership with Carroll County Public Library, the Historical Society of Carroll County, and Frederick County Public Libraries.