Battle of Monocacy
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Monocacy (also known as Monocacy Junction) was fought on July 9, 1864, just outside Frederick, Maryland
Frederick, Maryland
Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864
Valley Campaigns of 1864
The Valley Campaigns of 1864 were American Civil War operations and battles that took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia from May to October 1864. Military historians divide this period into three separate campaigns, but it is useful to consider the three together and how they...
, in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
forces under Lt. Gen.
Lieutenant General (United States)
In the United States Army, the United States Air Force and the United States Marine Corps, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general...
Jubal A. Early defeated Union
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
forces under Maj. Gen.
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
Lew Wallace
Lew Wallace
Lewis "Lew" Wallace was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, territorial governor and statesman, politician and author...
. The battle was part of Early's raid through the Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
and into Maryland, attempting to divert Union forces away from Gen. Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
's army under siege at Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
.
Background
Reacting to Early's raid, Union General-in-Chief Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
dispatched two brigades of the VI Corps, about 5,000 men, under Brig. Gen.
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
James B. Ricketts
James B. Ricketts
James Brewerton Ricketts was a career officer in the United States Army, serving as a Union Army general in the Eastern Theater during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
on July 6, 1864. Until those troops arrived, however, the only Federal force between Early and the capital city was a command of 6,300 men (mostly Hundred Days Men
Hundred Days Men
The Hundred Days Men was the nickname applied to a series of volunteer regiments raised in 1864 for 100-days service in the Union Army during the height of the American Civil War...
) commanded by Major General Lew Wallace
Lew Wallace
Lewis "Lew" Wallace was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, territorial governor and statesman, politician and author...
. At the time, Wallace, who would eventually become best known for his book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Ben-Hur (novel)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a novel by Lew Wallace published on November 12, 1880 by Harper & Brothers. Considered "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century", it was the best-selling American novel from the time of its publication, superseding Harriet Beecher Stowe's...
, was the head of the Union's Middle Atlantic Department
Middle Department
The Middle Department was an administrative military district created by the United States War Department early in the American Civil War to administer the troops in the Middle Atlantic states....
, headquartered at Baltimore (also referred to as the VIII Corps). Very few of Wallace's men had ever seen battle.
Agents of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
reported signs of Early's advance on June 29; this intelligence and subsequent reports were passed to Wallace by John W. Garrett
John W. Garrett
John Work Garrett was an American banker, philanthropist, and president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ....
, the president of the railroad and a Union supporter. Uncertain whether Baltimore or Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
was the Confederate objective, Wallace knew he had to delay their approach until reinforcements could reach either city.
At Frederick, following skirmishing on July 7 and 8, in which Confederate cavalry drove Union units from the town, Early demanded, and received, $200,000 ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
to forestall his destruction of the city. Wallace saw Monocacy Junction, also called Frederick Junction, three miles southeast of Frederick, as the most logical point of defense for both Baltimore and Washington. The Georgetown Pike to Washington and the National Road to Baltimore both crossed the Monocacy River
Monocacy River
The Monocacy River is a free-flowing tributary of the Potomac River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean via the Chesapeake Bay. The river is long, with a drainage area of about...
there as did the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
. If Wallace could stretch his force over six miles of the stream to protect both turnpike bridges, the railroad bridge, and several fords, he could make Early disclose the strength and objective of the Confederate force and delay him as long as possible.
At first Wallace's forces along the Monocacy consisted of Brigadier General Erastus B. Tyler
Erastus B. Tyler
Erastus Bernard Tyler was an American businessman, merchant, and soldier. He was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and fought in many of the early battles in the Eastern Theater before being assigned command of the defenses of Baltimore, Maryland. He briefly commanded the...
's First Separate Brigade (which included units from other brigades) and a cavalry force commanded by Lieutenant Colonel David Clendenin
David Clendenin
David Clendenin was an investor, soldier and legislator. With the exception of about 10 years of his life in Ohio, essentially nothing more is known of David Clendenin....
. His prospects improved with word that the first contingent of VI Corps troops commanded by Ricketts had reached Baltimore and were rushing by rail to join Wallace at the Monocacy. Although originally ordered to Harpers Ferry, Ricketts agreed to remain at the Monocacy. On Saturday, July 9, combined forces of Wallace and Ricketts, numbering about 5,800, were positioned at the bridges and fords of the river. The higher elevation of the river's east bank formed a natural breastwork for some of the soldiers. Tyler's brigade occupied the two block-houses and trenches the soldiers had dug with a few available tools near the bridges. Ricketts's division occupied the Thomas and Worthington farms on the Union left, using the fences as breastworks.
Battle
Robert E. Rodes
Robert Emmett Rodes was a railroad civil engineer and a promising young Confederate general in the American Civil War, killed in battle in the Shenandoah Valley.-Education, antebellum career:...
' division clashed with the Federals on the National Road. Prisoners taken during this phase told the Confederates that the entire VI Corps was present; this seemed to have heightened the Confederates' caution and they did not initially press their numerical advantage. Believing that a frontal attack across the Monocacy would be too costly, Early sent John McCausland's cavalry down Buckeystown Road to find a ford and outflank the Union line. McCausland forded the Monocacy below the McKinney-Worthington Ford and attacked Wallace's left flank. Believing that they had outflanked the Union positions and due to the rolling terrain, they did not notice Ricketts' veterans had taken a position at a fence separating the Worthington and Thomas farms. Consequently, the Union line was able to fire a volley that panicked the Confederates. McCausland was able to rally his brigade and launched another attack, but was unable to break the Union division.
When it became apparent that the cavalry alone would not be able to break the Union flank, Early sent Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon's division across the ford to assist in the attack. Gordon launched a three-pronged attack against Ricketts' center and both flanks. Ricketts' regiments on the right flank were pushed back and allowed the Confederates to enfilade the rest of the Union line. Due to pressure from Ramseur's attack on the Union center, Wallace was unable to reinforce Ricketts; the entire Union line was rendered untenable and Wallace ordered a retreat towards Baltimore, with Tyler's brigade and the cavalry acting as a rearguard.
Aftermath
By late afternoon the Federals, following the northernmost Confederate victory of the war, were retreating toward Baltimore, leaving behind over 1,294 dead, wounded, and captured. On the 11th, after his forces reached Baltimore, Wallace learned that he was relieved by Lieutenant General U.S. Grant of the military command of his department, while retaining "in charge of the administration of the department." Later Grant would admit that this was a mistake, and restore Wallace to command. Later, Wallace gave orders to collect the bodies of the dead in a burial ground on the battlefield where he proposed a monument to read: "These men died to save the National Capital, and they did save it." (Wallace's proposed monument was never built.)The way lay open to Washington. Early's army had won the field at Monocacy, but at the expense of 700 to 900 killed and wounded and at least one day lost. The next morning the Confederates marched on, and by midday Monday, Early stood inside the District of Columbia at Fort Stevens
Battle of Fort Stevens
The Battle of Fort Stevens was an American Civil War battle fought July 11–12, 1864, in Northwest Washington, D.C., as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 between forces under Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early and Union Maj. Gen. Alexander McD. McCook. Although Early caused consternation...
. Early could see the Capitol Dome through his glasses. But with his troops spread out far behind him (exhausted from the heat and the long march) and seeing the impressive Fort Stevens, decided not to attack. However there were artillery exchanges and skirmishes that day, July 11, 1864, and the following day. On July 13 Early retraced his steps and crossed the Potomac back into Virginia at White's Ferry.
Monocacy cost Early a day's march and his chance to capture Washington. Thwarted in the attempt to take the capital, the Confederates retreated back into Virginia, ending their last campaign to carry the war into the North. Union forces in the area attempted to pursue Early, but due to the divided command structure were unable to defeat him. This led Grant to form the Middle Military Division
Middle Military Division
The Middle Military Division was an organization of the Union Army during the American Civil War, responsible for operations around the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the Valley Campaigns of 1864....
, covering Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and the Shenandoah Valley, for a coordinated offensive against Confederate forces in the Valley.
General Early wrote in a report of the 1864 campaign:
General Grant also assessed Wallace's delaying tactics at Monocacy:
The battlefield remained in private hands for over 100 years before portions were acquired in the late 1970s to create the Monocacy National Battlefield
Monocacy National Battlefield
Monocacy National Battlefield is a unit of the National Park Service, the site of the Battle of Monocacy Junction in the American Civil War fought on July 9, 1864. The battlefield straddles the Monocacy River southwest of the city of Frederick, Maryland. The battle, labeled "The Battle That Saved...
. The park was dedicated in July 1991. Several monuments were dedicated following the war, including monuments for the New Jersey, Vermont, and Pennsylvania units which fought in the battle, as well as to the Confederate force.
In popular culture
The American independent film, No Retreat from Destiny: The Battle That Rescued Washington, is a 2006 docudrama that features the Battle of Monocacy. Directed by Kevin Hershberger and featuring Fritz KleinFritz Klein (actor)
Richard Frederick "Fritz" Klein is an American actor.One of the nation's best known Lincoln reenactors, he has portrayed the 16th president in a variety of shorter films and at numerous venues across the country since 1981. Klein's portrayals of the president have achieved local and national...
as Lincoln, it won two awards in 2006 at the Blue Ridge - Southwest Virginia Vision Film Festival for its music, the Festival Prize and the Vision Award.
Further reading
- Leepson, Marc. Desperate Engagement: How a Little-Known Civil War Battle Saved Washington, D.C., and Changed American History. New York: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-312-36364-2.
External links
- Monocacy Battlefield Page: Battle maps, photos, history articles, and battlefield news (CWPT)