CAMP UPTON
During the Civil War of 1861-65, Salisbury was considered a strategic point to the Union. The two mitigating factors in the Union’s decision to have an encampment at Salisbury were the suppression of any Rebel activity and the protection of the telegraph line that ran the length of the Shore. Since there were many Southern sympathizers in the area, it was decided to form an encampment here.
The first to occupy Salisbury was the Delaware Volunteer Infantry. Initially the site was where Sharp Energy is now located. They soon moved to Upton Hill because of its high location from where they could have a commanding view of Salisbury. The troops from Delaware were soon joined by a Maryland regiment that had formed in Cambridge. They were commanded by Col. James Wallace, and the first name of the camp was Camp Wallace. As they already had a Camp Wallace in Cambridge, it was renamed Camp Upton to reflect the name of the hill on which it stood.
The camp was erected of rough-cut lumber and was constructed in a quadrangle. The barracks on the north side were reserved for the officers. The barracks on the south side housed the commissary and quartermaster departments. The buildings on the east and west were for the enlisted men. There is no known contemporary picture of the camp.
A regimental hospital was erected on an adjacent elevation where Peninsula Regional Medical Center now stands.
When the camp was filled to capacity, it had a greater population than that of the town of Salisbury.
The soldiers at Camp Upton suffered no casualties in the Civil War. In fact, they were never in a battle of any kind. The only deaths were from disease. These came about when a regiment of Union soldiers from Massachusetts was marching home from duty in the South. Either they stopped in Salisbury because of an outbreak of either typhoid fever or black measles in their ranks or they contracted the disease while bivouacking here. In any case, a total of 51 or 52 soldiers died as a result. They were buried in unmarked graves “near the camp”. That graveyard is thought to be Potter’s Field next door to Sharp Energy. Some of the graves were moved to Parsons Cemetery when Route 50 went through, and a few buttons and belt buckles were the only clue that some of the graves belonged to Union soldiers from the Civil War. Whether they were from the Massachusetts soldiers or were local, there is no way of knowing today.
9 comments:
They were local.
upton hill? where is it
Thanks, George.
This might be a good spot for a commemorative/historical sign.
This was one of two photos that were taken on that day.The first was taken of the soldiers in plain clothes.The second of them in uniform.I have seen the side by side photos & they were local.
Anonymous said...
upton hill? where is it
March 14, 2015 at 9:34 AM
Where the old Daily Times building is on Carroll Street across from the Hospital. As a matter of fact I think PRMC now owns that building.
yeah sure everybody knows where Upton Hill is regular stop for everybody that lives in Salisbury
... never heard of it
People don't understand that Maryland was an Occupied state by the Federal Government. They don't understand that Salisbury was Occupied so that we don't secede from the Union. The General Assembly met in a special session to discuss secession. See below.
On August 7, the General Assembly adjourned, intending to meet again on September 17. However, on that day Federal troops and Baltimore police officers arrived in Frederick with orders to arrest the pro-Confederate members of the General Assembly. Thus, the special session in Frederick ended, as did Frederick's summer as the state capital, as Maryland found itself inexorably drawn further and further into the heart of the bloodiest war in American history.
SOURCE: Taken from Maryland State Archives, "The General Assembly Moves to Frederick, 1861"
Thank you George, this was very interesting. 11:11 I think your idea has merit.
I think the idea of seceding also has merit.
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