Telling Stories from the Past at Monocacy

When one thinks of the Civil War the names of battles like: Manassas, Antietam, and

Gettysburg are always at the fore front. It is often battles like these that get the most notoriety

and are popular to visit. But other battles, like The Battle of Monocacy, are sometimes lost

in the larger story of the Civil War.

            For my internship I have the honor to be working at and with the National Park Rangers

and Volunteers at the Monocacy National Battlefield. After being there for a few weeks I can

certainly say that I am learning a great deal about battlefield interpretation and the many jobs that

Interpretative Park Rangers usually do while having a lot fun in the process.

            Just recently I have given my first battlefield overview program to Monocacy visitors.

This program is the basic overview of the Campaign and Battle of Monocacy and why the battle

is so important and why it is known as “The Battle That Saved Washington”. This program is

given to visitors who come to the battlefield twice a day during the week. I was given the ability

to research and design my own program. My supervisor gave me input and reviewed my work  

before I was able to present . This meant I had come up with an outline of the major points I

would be talking about. For me, it is pure enjoyment being able to spend time in the battlefield’s

library and achieves going through books and memoirs in order to create my program. Strong

research is vitally important in being able to give a strong presentation to the visiting public. All

of this work helps me to tell the stories from the past to those who are not as familiar with Civil

War history.

            After I gave my first program I had people coming up to me asking more detailed

questions and discussing with me in detail things I had said during the talk. Everyone who went

on it seemed to enjoy the program and that is part of the fun of this internship. I really enjoy

being able to share and tell the story from this battle to those who visit so that the story  

continues to be told. Also many are fascinated to learn about what happened at Monocacy and

the stories that the site holds. It is really an honor to be an intern at such a historically important  

site.