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Battle of Monocacy
Other Names: Battle that Saved Washington
Location: Frederick County
Campaign: Early’s Raid and Operations against the B&O
Railroad (June-August 1864); 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaigns
Date(s): July 9, 1864
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace [US]; Lt. Gen. Jubal
A. Early [CS]
Forces Engaged: Corps
Estimated Casualties: 2,359 total
Description: After marching north through the Shenandoah Valley
from Lynchburg, the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early side-stepped the Federal garrison at Harpers Ferry and crossed
the Potomac River at Shepherdstown into Maryland on July 5-6. On July 9, 1864, a makeshift Union force under Maj. Gen. Lew
Wallace attempted to arrest Early’s invading Confederate divisions along the Monocacy River, just east of Frederick.
Wallace, joined by Ricketts’s Division of the VI Corps that had been rushed from the Petersburg lines, was outflanked
by Gordon’s Division and defeated after putting up a stiff resistance. Hearing of Early’s incursion into Maryland,
Grant embarked the rest of the VI Corps on transports at City Point, sending it with all dispatch to Washington. Wallace’s
defeat at Monocacy bought time for these veteran troops to arrive to bolster the defenses of Washington. Early’s advance
reached the outskirts of Washington on the afternoon of July 11, and the remaining divisions of the VI Corps began disembarking
that evening. Monocacy was called the “Battle that Saved Washington.”
Result(s): Confederate victory
Source: National Park Service
Recommended Reading: Desperate Engagement: How a Little-Known
Civil War Battle Saved Washington, D.C.,
and Changed American History. Description: The Battle of Monocacy, which took place on the blisteringly hot day
of July 9, 1864, is one of the Civil War’s most significant yet little-known battles. What played out that day in the
corn and wheat fields four miles south of Frederick, Maryland, was a full-field engagement between 12,000 battle-hardened
Confederate troops led by the controversial Jubal Anderson Early, and 5,800 Union troops, many of them untested in battle,
under the mercurial Lew Wallace, the future author of Ben-Hur. When the fighting ended, 1,300 Union troops were dead, wounded
or missing or had been taken prisoner, and Early---who suffered 800 casualties---had routed Wallace in the northernmost Confederate
victory of the war. Two days later, on another brutally hot afternoon, Monday, July 11, 1864, Early sat astride his horse
outside the gates of Fort Stevens in the
upper northwestern fringe of Washington, D.C.
He was about to make one of the war’s most fateful, portentous decisions: whether or not to order his men to invade
the nation’s capitol. Continued below...
Early had been
on the march since June 13, when Robert E. Lee ordered him to take an entire corps of men from their Richmond-area encampment
and wreak havoc on Yankee troops in the Shenandoah Valley, then to move north and invade Maryland.
If Early found the conditions right, Lee said, he was to take the war for the first time into President Lincoln’s front
yard. Also on Lee’s agenda: forcing the Yankees to release a good number of troops from the stranglehold that Gen. U.S.
Grant had built around Richmond Among the more memorable key-players
are Early, the daring general of the valley; Lew Wallace (who would later author “Ben Hur”), who attempts to block
Early's advance; and George Davis, from Vermont, who was
awarded the Medal of Honor during this fiercely contested campaign. This is a fine recounting of a relatively obscure but
quite interesting series of events, and both the general reader and Civil War aficionados will enjoy it. The book also contains
sixty-one illustrations.
Advance to:
Recommended Reading: Jubal Early's Raid on Washington.
Description: "Cooling has produced what is sure to become the definitive scholarly account of the campaign. Drawing on a vast
array of sources, including seldom-used veterans' accounts, Cooling presents a comprehensive campaign study from origins to
aftermath. Not only does Cooling masterfully describe the specific movements of the opposing forces, but he also never loses
sight of the wider context in which the campaign was fought. Continued below…
In fact, Cooling's greatest contribution may be his clear demonstration
that Grant was fooled by Early's operations and took an uncommonly long time to react to a very serious threat." - American
Historical Review." About the Author: B.F. Cooling is chief historian of the Department of Energy and has won the Douglas
Southall Freeman Award and the Fletcher Pratt Award for best Civil War history book.
Recommended
Reading: Freedom Rising: Washington
in the Civil War. Description: In this luminous portrait of wartime Washington, Ernest B. Furgurson–author of the widely acclaimed Chancellorsville
1863, Ashes of Glory, and Not War but Murder--brings to vivid life the personalities and events that animated the Capital
during its most tumultuous time. Continued below...
Here among
the sharpsters and prostitutes, slaves and statesmen are detective Allan Pinkerton, tracking down Southern sympathizers; poet
Walt Whitman, nursing the wounded; and accused Confederate spy Antonia Ford, romancing her captor, Union Major Joseph Willard.
Here are generals George McClellan and Ulysses S. Grant, railroad crew boss Andrew Carnegie, and architect Thomas Walter,
striving to finish the Capitol dome. And here is Abraham Lincoln, wrangling with officers, pardoning deserters, and inspiring
the nation. Freedom Rising is a gripping account of the era that transformed Washington into the world’s most influential city.
Recommended
Reading: Season of Fire: The Confederate Strike on Washington
(Hardcover: 300 pages). Editorial Review from Booklist: In 1864, Confederate General Jubal Early, outraged
by Union depredations in the Shenandoah Valley by the Federals, launched a bold but futile raid on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. With this event as
the central focus of his narrative, Judge has written a fascinating and riveting account of the men in battle. He masterfully
maintains both dramatic tension and historical accuracy by relating the events through the memoirs of the actual participants.
Judge explains the military maneuvers in language that laypersons can easily grasp, and his portrayals of the key participants
breathe life into the account. Continued below...
Among the more
memorable key-players are Early, the daring general of the valley; Lew Wallace (who would later author “Ben Hur”),
who attempts to block Early's advance; and George Davis, from Vermont, who was awarded the Medal of Honor during this
fiercely contested campaign. This is a fine recounting of a relatively obscure but quite interesting series of events, and
both the general reader and Civil War aficionados will enjoy it. The book also contains sixty-one illustrations.
Recommended
Reading: Reveille in Washington,
1860 - 1865. Description: Winner of the 1942 Pulitzer Prize in History, it is an authentic, scholarly description of life in Washington during the Civil War, written in a highly readable style. The "star" of the book
is, indeed, the city of Washington D.C. Many players
walk across the D.C. stage, and Leech's research paints vivid portraits not seen before about the Lincolns, Walt Whitman,
Andrew Carnegie, Winfield Scott, John Wilkes Booth, and many others. Continued below...
It's the "Capitol" that you have never really seen or heard that much about… It's a scrappy,
dusty, muddy, unfinished city, begging for respect. Washington City,
as it was called then, was both a respite for Union soldiers, as well as the Union Army’s “prostitution headquarters.”
From the so-called 'highlife to the lowlife', the politician to the pauper, all receive their respectful, or rightful, place
in this delightful but candid prose.
Recommended
Reading: Shenandoah Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign. Description: Jubal A. Early’s disastrous battles in the Shenandoah Valley
ultimately resulted in his ignominious dismissal. But Early’s lesser-known summer campaign of 1864, between his raid
on Washington and Phil Sheridan’s renowned fall campaign, had a significant impact on the political and military landscape
of the time. By focusing on military tactics and battle history in uncovering the facts and events of these little-understood
battles, Scott C. Patchan offers a new perspective on Early’s contributions to the Confederate war effort—and
to Union battle plans and politicking. Patchan details the previously unexplored battles at Rutherford’s Farm and Kernstown
(a pinnacle of Confederate operations in the Shenandoah Valley) and examines the campaign’s
influence on President Lincoln’s reelection efforts. Continued below…
He also provides
insights into the personalities, careers, and roles in Shenandoah of Confederate General John C. Breckinridge, Union general
George Crook, and Union colonel James A. Mulligan, with his “fighting Irish” brigade from Chicago.
Finally, Patchan reconsiders the ever-colorful and controversial Early himself, whose importance in the Confederate military
pantheon this book at last makes clear. About the Author: Scott C. Patchan, a Civil War battlefield guide and historian, is
the author of Forgotten Fury: The Battle of Piedmont, Virginia, and a consultant and contributing writer for Shenandoah, 1862.
Review
"The author's
descriptions of the battles are very detailed, full or regimental level actions, and individual incidents. He bases the accounts
on commendable research in manuscript collections, newspapers, published memoirs and regimental histories, and secondary works.
The words of the participants, quoted often by the author, give the narrative an immediacy. . . . A very creditable account
of a neglected period."-Jeffry D. Wert, Civil War News (Jeffry D. Wert Civil War News 20070914)
"[Shenandoah
Summer] contains excellent diagrams and maps of every battle and is recommended reading for those who have a passion for books
on the Civil War."-Waterline (Waterline 20070831)
"The narrative
is interesting and readable, with chapters of a digestible length covering many of the battles of the campaign."-Curled Up
With a Good Book (Curled Up With a Good Book 20060815)
"Shenandoah
Summer provides readers with detailed combat action, colorful character portrayals, and sound strategic analysis. Patchan''s
book succeeds in reminding readers that there is still plenty to write about when it comes to the American Civil War."-John
Deppen, Blue & Grey Magazine (John Deppen Blue & Grey Magazine 20060508)
"Scott C. Patchan
has solidified his position as the leading authority of the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign with his outstanding campaign
study, Shenandoah Summer. Mr. Patchan not only unearths this vital portion of the campaign, he has brought it back to life
with a crisp and suspenseful narrative. His impeccable scholarship, confident analyses, spellbinding battle scenes, and wonderful
character portraits will captivate even the most demanding readers. Shenandoah Summer is a must read for the Civil War aficionado
as well as for students and scholars of American military history."-Gary Ecelbarger, author of "We Are in for It!": The First
Battle of Kernstown, March 23, 1862 (Gary Ecelbarger 20060903)
"Scott Patchan
has given us a definitive account of the 1864 Valley Campaign. In clear prose and vivid detail, he weaves a spellbinding narrative
that bristles with detail but never loses sight of the big picture. This is a campaign narrative of the first order."-Gordon
C. Rhea, author of The Battle of the Wilderness: May 5-6, 1864 (Gordon C. Rhea )
"[Scott Patchan]
is a `boots-on-the-ground' historian, who works not just in archives but also in the sun and the rain and tall grass. Patchan's
mastery of the topography and the battlefields of the Valley is what sets him apart and, together with his deep research,
gives his analysis of the campaign an unimpeachable authority."-William J. Miller, author of Mapping for Stonewall and Great
Maps of the Civil War (William J. Miller)
Try the Search Engine for Related Studies: Battle of Monocacy History, Battlefield of Monocacy
Maryland, Battle that saved Washington D C General Jubal Early’s Raid Against the B & O Railroads Shenandoah Valley
Campaign Operations Maps, Map
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