A journal following the history, design, construction and operation of Bernard Kempinski's O Scale model railroad depicting the U. S. Military Railroad (USMRR) Aquia-Falmouth line in 1863, and other model railroad projects.
©Bernard Kempinski All text and images, except as noted, on this blog are copyrighted by the author and may not be used without permission.
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December 16, 2019

Merry Christmas 2019



This animated battle map was very well done.
A plaque outside the visitor's center describes the opening
phases of the battle
The NPS spent over a million dollars restoring
 the exterior of the Worthington Farm House,
but the interior was not completely restored.
Location where confederate artillery began the battle
The past few months have been trying times for us. We managed to rebuild the damage after the flood and even had a chance to upgrade some parts the house. Then, after Thanksgiving, my mother got sick and spent 10 days in hospital and 6 days in rehab. She made a good recovery thanks to modern medicine and wonderful nurses and doctors.

Last weekend, we transported mom to Pennsylvania where she will spend Christmas with my brother.  On the way back home, we had just enough daylight to stop at the Monocacy battlefield. We had visited it about 15 years ago with Alicia's mom and dad on a genealogy trip with several members of the Worthington family.

The farm house in the lead photo is the Worthington House on the battlefield. Fighting swirled around the farm while a boy, one of Alicia's distant relatives, watched the battle from the basement. He later wrote the book, "The Battle that Saved Washington."

I would like to build a model of this farm for the expanded Aquia Line layout. Hopefully, I can begin work on that in 2020.

The NPS has built a new visitor's center on the north side of the battlefield. It has some nice displays, including one of the better animated battle maps I have seen.

Along with the family connection, the Battle of Monocacy holds a special place in my memory. The first miniature wargame I played was a scenario based on the Battle of Monocacy. It was at Larry Bond's house around 1988. It was this game the really ignited my interest in civil war history and gaming.





























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1 comment:

  1. revansDecember 22, 2019

    Any visitor to the battlefield needs to watch the animated map & see how the battle unfolded. You'll enjoy your visit more because the battle is spread over several areas & the map will show you what happens in each of those areas.
    I love that pic of the Wellington house. If you follow the trail down the hill to the right of the house you'll see where the rebels crossed the Monocacy.
    Any railroad enthusiast should be interested in this battle. The B&O played an important role & the battle raged around the tracks. Just before the battle Gen Early sent Col Gilmore east towards Towson to raise some hell. Gilmore eventually ended up in Joppa Md & captured 2 trains. His men set one train on fire & pushed it over the Gunpowder River RR bridge. A portion of the bridge collapsed & fell into the river.

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