Best Farm (L'Hermitage) Secondary House

Secondary House, a 1790s dwelling from L'Hermitage. In 1798 it was noted as the residence of Jean Payen de Boisneuf, a distant relative of the Vincendière family who had come with them from Saint-Domingue (Haiti). The two-room house was built of local limestone laid in neat flat courses. There must have been some sort of porch or stair system to provide access to the two west side entrances. The Best Farm, or Hermitage, is located at the northwest side of the Monocacy battlefield. The Best Farm comprises the southern 274 acres of what was originally a 748-acre plantation known as L'Hermitage, and was home to Victoire Vincendière (1776-1854). The Vincendières are believed to have been former landowners from Saint-Domingue (Haiti) who had fled the Haitian Revolution, assembling L'Hermitage between 1793 and 1798. By 1800 there were ninety slaves on the property, the second largest number in Frederick County, and one of the largest in Maryland. The Vincendieres sold the farm in 1827, and after several transfers of ownership it was acquired by Charles E. Trail in 1852 who operated it as a tenant farm. Confederate armies camped at the Best Farm throughout the Civil War. On September 13, 1862, during the Maryland Campaign, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's lost order No. 191 (which outlined his army's movements) was found on the Best Farm by soldiers from the 27th Indiana. In 1864, John T. Best took over operation of the farm from his father David. (David held six enslaved persons in 1860). During the Battle of Monocacy on July 9, 1864, Confederate artillery set up on his farm and sharpshooters took positions in the barn. They fired at Union troops guarding the covered bridge over the Monocacy River on the Georgetown Pike. The Union returned fire, however, setting the Best's barn ablaze and destroying the grain, hay, tools, and farming implements kept there. Contributing resource, Monocacy National Battlefield. National Register of Historic Places 66000908. Stop 1 on the Monocacy Battlefield driving tour. DSC_0804