Union soldiers' letters offer insight about Civil War camp in Ellicott City

(ExploreHoward.com) As the nation prepares to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, new information has been discovered about a Union encampment high on the hill above Ellicott City.
Throughout the war, Union soldiers camped on both sides of the Patapsco River to guard the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, but the 12th New Jersey Volunteers was the first out-of-state regiment to stand guard over the town, known then as Ellicott's Mills. They came after the local unit, the Patapsco Guard, moved on to other parts of Maryland in May 1862. Continued

Images: Top: Annapolis Junction, on the Washington branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, in possession of the troops of the United States government. Bottom: 8th N.J.V. Camp near Matawoman [sic] Creek on the Potomac Charles Co. Md. (Library of Congress).