The American Civil War - Chronologically

Sept. 3-4, 1864 Battle of Berryville Clarke County, Virginia  Gen. Philip Sheridan: Gen. George Crook >  1st Division under Col. Joseph Thoburn, pickets under Col. Robert Rodgers (three regiments, the 11th West Virginia, 15th West Virginia, and 123rd Ohio joined the pickets), Col. Isaac Duval’s 2nd Division;  2nd Maryland Eastern Shore regiment and the 1st West Virginia (two units manning the old earthworks); 6th New York Cavalry Regiment Vs. Jubal Early: Gen. Richard Anderson (Kershaw’s Division); Mosby's Rangers  * According the the NPS, this is the only  marker that commemorates this smallish battle. There is a small Confederate Veterans marker on what remains of the actual battlefield too...but who cares about that?! Yea, I saw it.   * I knew about the Berryville Wagon Train . Here is Sheridan's revenge! * Get some more late-war context, if you want it, from reading the links at the end  * "Federals under Col. Rutherford B. Hayes climb...

Aug. 16, 1864 Guard Hill Engagement Front Royal, VA Maj. Gen. Sheridan: Gen. Wesley Merritt > Union Brig. Gen. George A. Custer’s brigade vs. Gen. Richard Anderson > Brig. Gen. William T. Wofford’s infantry brigade and Brig. Gen. Williams C. Wickham’s cavalry brigade * This area saw considerable action during the Battle of Front Royal in the 1862 Valley Campaign. Here we are again.  * Apparently the Union cavalry surprised the Confederates while they were midstream in the Shenandoah. Still an "inconclusive" engagement.   https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=256801 In Aug. 1864, part of Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard H. Anderson’s corps threatened the left of Union Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s army. As Brig. Gen. Wesley Merritt’s division approached on 15 Aug. to protect the Federal flank. Anderson ordered Brig. Gen. William T. Wofford’s infantry brigade and Brig. Gen. Williams C. Wickham’s cavalry brigade across the Shenandoah River to confront Merritt. Wickham w...

Aug. 13, 1864 Berryville Wagon Train Raid near Winchester, VA Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan vs. Col. John Singleton Mosby (43rd Battalion Partisan Rangers) https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=1785 "Just after dawn on 13 Aug. 1864, Col. John Singleton Mosby and 300 of his 43rd Battalion Partisan Rangers attacked the rear section of Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s 600-vehicle wagon train here. The train, headed for Winchester, carried supplies for Sheridan’s cavalry. Mosby surprised and routed the Federals as they rested, cooked breakfast, and hitched their horses. Mosby’s men, losing only one killed and one mortally wounded, captured 200 beef cattle, 500–600 horses, 100 wagons, and 200 soldiers. The raid ended by 6:30 a.m. Berryville’s citizens including many small boys, helped burn the wagons after liberating their contents." * Also spotted on a different trip to Dixie... https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=1811 Before 1798 Berryville was known as Battletown, a name that perhaps originated f...

August 4, 1864 Confederate Cavalry Raid on Fort Fuller New Creek aka Keyser, West Virginia  Col . George R. Latham defending Fort Fuller; 11th West Virginia Infantry vs. Confede rate Gen. John McCausland's cavalry & G en. Bradley Johnson * Confederate John McCausland's cavalry fights with Union defenses guarding the railroad. Confederates under Gen. Bradley Johnson advance up the hill toward the fort but are repelled by Union reinforcements On August 4, after raiding north into Pennsylvania and burning the town of Chambersburg, Confederate raiders under Generals John McCausland approached New Creek. The Rebels hoped they could damage the B&O Railroad. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=152788 "Built in 1862 as a Union defensive fortification to guard the railroad and New Creek. It was threatened on August 4, 1864, when Confederate Gen. John McCausland's cavalry rode on town. Fighting with Union troops began on outskirts and Confederate under Gen. Bradley Johnson adv...

Aug. 1, 1864 Battle of Folck's Mill; or more grandiosely (and rarely) known as the Battle of Cumberland Cumberland, MD (Alleghany County) Union General Benjamin F. Kelley defends Cumberland (with two infantry units and three "hastily organized civilian volunteer companies"): Ohio National Guard, West Virginia infantry, Illinois Artillery, and 2nd Potomac Home Guard Maryland Infantry; while  Union Gen. William W. Averell approaches with 2,000 cavalrymen in pursuit vs. Gen. John C. McCausland's lawless raiders (about 2,800 men)  https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=179238 Folck's Mill Retaliation Rebuffed —1864 Chambersburg Raid— During the Civil War, retribution by one side for "atrocities” committed against civilians by the other quickly escalated. Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early, during his 1864 Maryland invasion, demanded that several towns pay "ransoms" or be torched to avenge Union Gen. David Hunter's destruction of houses in the Shenandoah Valley. ...

July 30, 1863 The Battle of the Crater Petersburg, VA [a bit of a place holder here- I am far from visiting Richmond, much less the other side of Richmond, but wanted to save a place for Maryland's own Sgt. Dorsey] https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=5756 "Howard County native Decatur Dorsey was one of only sixteen African American soldiers to received the Medal of Honor for courage under fire during the Civil War. Sgt. Dorsey, of Company B, 39th United States Colored Troops, earned his medal at the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg, Virginia, on July 30, 1864. He bore the regiments flag during the charge through the Crater to the Confederate line. According to his Medal of Honor citation, Dorsey "planted his colors on the Confederate works in advance of his regiment, and when the regiment was driven back to the Union works he carried the colors there and bravely rallied the men." Regimental color-bearers were especially courageous, because they could not defend themselves...

July 29, 1864 Last Confederate Incursion North of the Potomac River Hagerstown, MD Col. Henry Cole's 1st Maryland Potomac Home Brigade Cavalry vs. Jubal Early: Brigadier General John C. Vaughn's cavalry Brigade https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=20856  On July 29, 1864, elements of Cole's Maryland Cavalry (Union) battled Brigadier General John C. Vaughn's cavalry brigade of Early's command for three hours in the streets of Hagerstown. By late afternoon, the Marylanders retreated north to Greencastle. That evening, the Confederates struck the Franklin Railroad Yards in Hagerstown's West End, broke into the shops, looted and burned the warehouses and captured and destroyed a train filled with supplies intended for the Union forces. These actions on July 29th were diversionary movements directed by Early to cover General John McCausland's raid on Chambersburg. Confederate diversions continued for the next week. On August 5, 1864, elements of General Early's comma...

July 24, 1864 Second Battle of Kernstown Kernstown, VA George Crook: Union infantry anchored by Col. James A. Mulligan's (mortally wounded here) division on Pritchard's Hill; To his right, Col. Joseph Thoburn's division formed on Sandy Ridge, and To his left,  Rutherford B. Hayes's brigade formed east of the Valley turnpike; plus cavalry under Averell   vs. Jubal Early: Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon's division formed the Confederate center along the Valley Turnpike; Ramseur's division formed on his left with its flank resting on Sandy Ridge to the west of Kernstown, screened by Col. William "Mudwall" Jackson's cavalry; Brig. Gen. Gabriel C. Wharton's division, led by Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge, formed the Confederate right, with its flank screened by Brig. Gen. John C. Vaughn's cavalry. * Early wins (on the same farm where Jackson lost the first battle) and launches his late-stage raid into Union territory: "the high-water point for the...