The Civil War was the first conflict in which railroads played a
major role. Although much has been written about their role in
general, little has been written about specific lines. The
Cumberland Valley Railroad, for example, played an important
strategic role by connecting Hagerstown, Maryland to Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania. Its location enhanced its importance during some of
the Civil War's most critical campaigns. Despite the line's
significance to the Union war effort, its remarkable story remains
little known. The publication of Targeted Tracks: The Cumberland
Valley Railroad in the Civil War, 1861-1865, by Scott L. Mingus Sr.
and Cooper H. Wingert, rectifies that oversight. 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. In October 1859,
Abolitionist John Brown used the CVRR in his fateful Harpers Ferry
raid. The line was under direct threat by invading Confederates
during the Antietam Campaign, and the following summer suffered
serious damage during the Gettysburg Campaign. In 1864, Rebel
raiders burned much of its headquarters town, Chambersburg,
including the homes of many CVRR employees. The railroad was as
vital to residents of the bustling and fertile Cumberland Valley as
it was to the Union war effort. Targeted Tracks is grounded on the
railway's voluminous reports, the letters and diaries of local
residents and Union and Confederate soldiers, official reports, and
newspaper accounts. The primary sources, combined with the
expertise of the authors, bring this largely untold story to life.
General
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