Blood, Trauma, and Biohazard Cleanup in Benedict, MD

Benedict is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Charles County, Maryland, on the Patuxent River in Southern Maryland.

The community was founded in 1683 as Benedict-Leonardtown, a name honoring Benedict Leonard Calvert, the 15th Proprietary Governor of Maryland.

Benedict began as a fishing village along the Patuxent River in the late 17th century.

A historical marker in the village records that a vessel was constructed at Benedict for George Washington in 1760.

During the War of 1812, British forces under Major General Robert Ross came ashore at Benedict in August 1814 - some 4,500 troops landed - and from here began the march that routed American forces at Bladensburg and burned Washington, D.C.

In October 1863 the Union Army built Camp Stanton at Benedict, a training camp first used by the 7th Maryland Regiment.

On December 19, 1863, the 19th Regiment of the United States Colored Troops was organized at Camp Stanton, recruited largely from enslaved Maryland men whose freedom the federal government purchased so they could serve; the regiment went on to distinguish itself at the Battle of the Wilderness.

A school was established at Camp Stanton to educate the Black soldiers, most of whom had received no education while enslaved; it was run by Samuel Chapman Armstrong.

Maxwell Hall, built in 1768 by Benedict merchant George Maxwell on a bluff overlooking the Patuxent River and Swanson Creek near the village, is now owned and preserved by Charles County.

Just outside the village, the half-mile-long Benedict Bridge carries Maryland Route 231 across the Patuxent River into Calvert County.