On the night of June 27, 1863, Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and 5,000 horsemen crossed the Potomac River at “Rowser’s Ford” and proceeded to ransack Montgomery County. This invasion, and its impact on the Battle of Gettysburg, will the be the subject of an online presentation of Montgomery History at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 19.
Speaker Jim Johnston will lead the free presentation, which will include a look at the location of the mysterious “Rowser’s Ford. Mr. Johnston is a member of the Montgomery History Speaker’s Bureau.
The invasion of Montgomery County started Stuart's involvement in three battles of Gettysburg. The first was on July 2, 1863, when he arrived in Gettysburg after, rather than before, the battle. The second continued for years after the battle, as General Robert E. Lee and his lieutenants said Stuart’s “ride,” (a.k.a. his detour around the Union army via the ford), violated his orders and led to defeat.
The third was in more recent times, when three different government agencies erected historical markers that ignore this history and lend a positive gloss to Stuart’s tarnished reputation. Worse, the markers are misplaced by miles from the actual ford and make no mention of what Stuart’s racist army did in Montgomery County. Mr. Johnston, will unravel this history mystery.
To register to listen to the presentation, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_f-a0DaS4QZm-20zBrZsOww.
