The C&O canal was a prize to be had
Both sides kept their eyes on it for different reasons.
The Union needed it for supplies and transport
The Confederates used it to destroy and distort.

The number of times each side crossed was a lot
Making it difficult for the people who lived there
Because they could not know whose side to be on
Not feeling like either side they could really belong.

Like the rest of the country the citizens were heavily divided.
Both sides of the canal and Potomac saw their share of death
As families, neighbors, and workers turned on each other
The saddest sight to see as brother killing brother.

But the experience here was unique compared to most
As the dividing line between the North and the South
It was impossible for a citizen to safely open their mouth
A time when safety was in a large draught.

Maryland on one side sympathetic to the cause
Some felt compelled to help their southern brethren
And so their sons they then sent to fight
Not for the North, the side we now call right.

And in Virginia, the state that was firmly the Confederates
Many felt pity towards slaves or wanted in the Union to remain.
They tended to help escaped slaves in one hand
And with the other knowledge they gave the North to understand.

admin

Comments