Today in Labor History July 20 1877: In the midst of the Great Upheaval (AKA Great Train Strike), the Maryland state militia fired on striking railroad workers in Baltimore, killing over 20, including children. The strike had started on July 14, in Martinsburg, WV, at the B&O Railroad yards. It quickly spread into Charleston, WV and Baltimore and Cumberland, MD. In Baltimore, as the 5th Regiment marched toward Camden Station with fixed bayonets on their Springfield rifles, crowds attacked them with bricks. Miraculously, no serious injuries occurred. However, when the 6th Regiment began their march, the crowds drove them off with paving stones and fists. Without orders, they began firing at the crowd, killing several. When the two regiments met at Camden Station, the crowds again hurled stones and bricks, disabling locomotives, tearing up tracks and driving off the engineers. They set fire to railroad cars and buildings and cut the firemen’s hoses when they tried to douse the flames.
The Great Upheaval came in the middle of the Long Depression, one of the worst depr
... Show more...Today in Labor History July 20 1877: In the midst of the Great Upheaval (AKA Great Train Strike), the Maryland state militia fired on striking railroad workers in Baltimore, killing over 20, including children. The strike had started on July 14, in Martinsburg, WV, at the B&O Railroad yards. It quickly spread into Charleston, WV and Baltimore and Cumberland, MD. In Baltimore, as the 5th Regiment marched toward Camden Station with fixed bayonets on their Springfield rifles, crowds attacked them with bricks. Miraculously, no serious injuries occurred. However, when the 6th Regiment began their march, the crowds drove them off with paving stones and fists. Without orders, they began firing at the crowd, killing several. When the two regiments met at Camden Station, the crowds again hurled stones and bricks, disabling locomotives, tearing up tracks and driving off the engineers. They set fire to railroad cars and buildings and cut the firemen’s hoses when they tried to douse the flames.
The Great Upheaval came in the middle of the Long Depression, one of the worst depressions the U.S. has ever faced. My novel, “Anywhere But Schuylkill,” takes place in the years leading up to the Great Strike and is Part I of “The Great Upheaval” trilogy. I am currently working on Book II: “Red Hot Summer in the Smoky City.”
You can read my full article on the Great Upheaval here: michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/…
You can get a copy of my novel “Anywhere But Schuylkill” here:
keplers.com/
greenapplebooks.com/
Or send me $25 via Venmo (@Michael-Dunn-565) and your mailing address, and I will send you a signed copy!
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Share via: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn More (The Great Upheaval was originally published on Adriana Kraft’s Book Blog on February 21, 2024) “There was a time in the history of France when the poor found themselves oppressed to such an extent that forbe…
Michael Dunn
