Biography
Ross Winans was a wealthy Baltimore inventor and railroad-equipment manufacturer who, at the outbreak of the Civil War, served as a pro-secession member of the Maryland House of Delegates. An outspoken states'-rights advocate, he introduced a resolution protesting the use of Northern militia to garrison Southern forts, and reports circulated that his works were manufacturing weapons for Baltimore's defense against Union troops. He was briefly arrested after the Baltimore riot of April 19, 1861, released, and promptly re-elected on a States Rights ticket. While returning to Baltimore on May 14, 1861 — a day after martial law had been declared in the city — he was arrested a second time by federal troops under General Benjamin Butler. Unlike the contemporaneous habeas corpus case of John Merryman, Winans's detention was not legally challenged, and he was quickly released after signing a parole pledging loyalty to the federal government. His arrest reflected the Lincoln administration's broader effort to suppress secessionist activity and hold Maryland in the Union.
