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Harpers Ferry Main •Tour the Battlefield > Lower Town 

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The Daring Escapes wayside marker is in the Lower Town at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.

From the marker:

Daring Escapes

The boat ramp in front of you was the site of two daring escapes in the Battle of Harpers Ferry. Under the cover of darkness, 1,400 Union cavalrymen fled on horseback down the ramp. crossing a pontoon bridge into Maryland on September 14, 1862. The next day Confederates captured the remaining 12,500 Union soldiers. Among them were free black laborers, working for Union Colonel William Trimble’s regiment.

Here at this ramp Confederate soldiers began dragging the free black laborers away. falsely claiming the Union was “stealing their slaves.” Colonel Trimble shouted “My men are unarmed – I am not. Unhand them!” Then he ordered “Regiment march,” swiftly moving both the laborers and the soldiers past the Confederate guards, down this ramp, and across the bridge to safety in the North.

Captions from the background photo:

The Potomac River pontoon bridge, shown here partially dismantled, was attached to iron rings in the river wall below you.

Caption from the map inset:

All but surrounded by Confederates in the hills around you, the Union calvary fled across the pontoon bridge. They rode north to Pennsylvania capturing a Confederate ammunition wagon train along the way.

Location of the wayside marker

The Daring Escapes wayside marker is in the Lower Town of Harpers Ferry in the ruins of the Armory about 80 yards north of the intersection of Shenandoah and Potomac Streets. (39°19’26.0″N 77°43’46.3″W)