June 1863. The Civil War has been going on for over two years now, with no end in sight. Benjamin H. Ellicott, watching it all from his home in Baltimore, has written an amazing diary of events.1 His skepticism about official reports and his access to both southern and northern newspapers makes him a valuable observer. And it doesn’t hurt that he was very articulate.
The Thatcher Burying Ground
There is a tiny burying ground located on a plot of land across from the Delaware Township Municipal Building that is used during the summer by the Sergeantsville Farmers’ Market. It is hidden in a clump of trees, and very few people know of its existence.
Ellicott’s Diary, May 1863
Benjamin H. Ellicott’s Diary for May 1863 is full of very dramatic War News: Confederate incursions into western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the assault on Fredericksburg and the failures of General Hooker and the Army of the Potomac, the battles of Chancellorsville and Spotsylvania, the death of Stonewall Jackson, capture of British vessels by Federal gunboats enforcing the blockade of Charleston, and Grant’s continued assault on Vicksburg.