Placed by Go Against the Flow

October 15, 2002

Nearest Town: Scotland, Maryland

Region: St. Marys County, Central Maryland

Difficulty: Moderate

DIRECTIONS FROM BALTIMORE (2.5 to 3 hours)

Take local routes / highways to get to Route 97

Route 97 South to Route 3 South

Route 3 South becomes Route 301 South after crossing over Route 50

Continue on Route 301 South through Bowie / Mitchellville

Take Route 4 South in Upper Marlboro

Follow Route 4 South all the way across the Solomons Island Bridge

After the bridge, take a left at the first traffic light onto Route 235 South

Follow Route 235 South well past the Air Station, into the town of Ridge (there will be a blinking red light)

Turn left onto Route 5 South

Follow Route 5 South until it ends (approximately seven miles) at the park entrance

Go through the park entrance ($3 per person from May through September)

Turn right into the Boat Launch parking area (limited small car parking in rear, near trail head)

Look for the Hiker's Sign to begin the trek

DIRECTIONS FROM WASHINGTON, DC (2.5 hours)

Take local routes / highways to get to 495

Follow 495 to Route 4 / Pennsylvania Avenue south to Upper Marlboro

Follow directions listed above, beginning with Route 4 South

DIRECTIONS FROM ROUTE 301 BRIDGE (1 hour)

Continue on Route 301 North until you reach Route 234

Take Route 234 towards Leonardtown

When you reach the end of Route 234 at Route 5, turn right

Follow Route 5 South until it ends at the Point Lookout State Park entrance

Go through the park entrance ($3 per person from May through September)

Turn right into the Boat Launch parking area (limited small car parking in rear, near trail head)

Look for the Hiker's Sign to begin the trek

PARK INFORMATION

Point Lookout State Park, a picturesque peninsula formed by the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River, abounds in recreational opportunities and history.  Residents and visitors often enjoy swimming, fishing, boating and camping activities.  The cost is $3 per person May through September, on weekends and holidays only.

This parks peaceful surroundings belie its history as the location of a prison camp that imprisoned as many as 52,264 Confederate soldiers during the Civil War.  In 1862, following General George B. McClellans unsuccessful campaign to capture Richmond, the federal government erected Hammond Hospital at the tip of the point.  The ward buildings radiated in spoke fashion from a central bay.  Wounded and sick soldiers began pouring in for treatment.  The following year, after the Battle of Gettysburg, Union authorities started sending Confederate prisoners to Point Lookout for incarceration.  As the prisoner population swelled to 20,000 and more, Union soldiers constructed a wooden walled prisoner pen along the bay-shore.  Most of the prison pen site rests under bay waters now.  Union soldiers held the rebel captives inside this walled area, where they lived in tents.  Exposure, disease and starvation took their toll and nearly 4,000 men died between 1863 and 1865.  A memorial to the north of the state park along Route 5 honors these men.

Among the Federal Army units to rotate from the front to serve as guards at Point Lookout were African-American soldiers of the USCT (United States Colored Troops) Regiments.  Among these soldiers were SGT Christian A. Fleetwood of the USCT, a Baltimore native and Medal of Honor winner, and SGT Charles Douglass, the son of noted abolitionist Frederick Douglass. 

The ravages of time and nature have shorn Point Lookout of many vestiges of its history.  There is, nevertheless, much to see.  A museum on site recounts its vivid history.  This state park also contains historic Fort Lincoln, a Union fortification during the Civil War.  Its earth works still exist on the river shore near Cornfield Harbor.  The Friends of Point Lookout recreated the barracks and officers quarters of Fort Lincoln and a portion of the Point Lookout POW Camps prison pen.  Point Lookout sponsors historic programs, demonstrations and Living History weekends each year.  Popular annual festivals include the Confederate Memorial Service in June as well as Blue and Gray Days in May.

NOW FOR THE CLUES

Just follow these simple clues and you will not fail

Cross the wooden bridge and traverse the marshy trail

Keep to the right along the waters lapping edge

Climb across gray boulders until the concrete ledge

Halfway down this pier, jump to the beach and head south

On your right should be the Potomac River mouth

Climb the Fort Lincoln steps over the earthen wall

Take a look aroundBoy, these soldiers bunks are small!

Exit through the white gate; cross the bridge; read the sign

If you head right when facing this tale, youll do fine

Follow the jeep trail that meanders, turns and twists

Stay the greater path or be lost and shake your fist

Find the site of the Largest Civil War Prison

You will find it where the wooden wall has risen

Travel east alongside the wall and Deadline posts

Betwixt these white markers are Confederate ghosts

Stop at the first white Stockade post, just past the fence

Look for the large tree around which the vines are dense

Walk eighteen paces south and search behind this tree