“Held the Bridge to the Last”: The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the Battle of Monocacy
March 6 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
B&O Ellicott City Station Museum
2025 kicks off our Seventh Annual Patapsco Days Celebration! Patapsco Days is a roughly month-long thematic event where we host programs about the history, environment, and sociopolitical aspects of the Patapsco Valley Heritage Area (PVHA). This year, our theme is “Advocacy & Action”: Exploring how people, places, and industries are all vital to pursuing justice and equality in the past and present.
Join us and hear from NPS Park Ranger Matthew Borders as he discusses the role of the B&O Railroad during the Civil War.
Known as the battle that saved Washington, the Battle of Monocacy helped to delay the Confederate advance on the National Capital in 1864. The success of Federal forces in delaying the Confederates at Monocacy results, in large part, from the efforts of and the need to defend the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Join us as we discuss how this crucial railway was used and why it was so important to the Federal war effort during the Civil War and the Battle of Monocacy.
This talk takes place in the Car House of the B&O Ellicott City Station Museum. Guests are welcome to explore the exhibit spaces in the museum before and after our speakers talk.
Matt Borders is a graduate of Michigan State and Eastern Michigan University and has been in and out of the National Park Service for over 20 years. Starting first as an intern and later a seasonal ranger at Antietam National Battlefield, Matt also worked in Washington DC and helped survey over 100 different Civil War battlefields. He has been with Monocacy National Battlefield since 2017.
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