Dec. 4, 1861 - Bog Wallow Ambush

Dec. 4, 1861


Bog Wallow Ambush 


Fairfax County, VA


McClellan > Col. George W. Taylor (3rd NJ Volunteer Infantry of 1st NJ Brigade) 

vs.

Capt. J. Fred Waring (GA Hussars)


* Takes places in the aftermath of Balls Bluff, when major offensive actions were supposed to be paused for the winter break

* But there was a shoot-out November 6th, and this is the Union's plan for revenge

* "This was a small unit action of no strategic importance and resulted in only light casualties. However, it is representative of many such actions in northern VA during the early part of the American Civil War." Ah yes - unattributed commentary. 

* Relative Union victory with casualties on both sides.


https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=72404


"On 4 December 1861, fifty-five men of the 3rd New Jersey Infantry, Col. George W. Taylor commanding, set an ambush nearby in retaliation for attacks on Union pickets. They stretched two telegraph wires across Braddock Road at the eastern end of a “perfect bog hole” to dismount riders. Near midnight, twenty-four Georgia Hussars cavalrymen, led by Capt. J. Fred. Waring, entered the trap from the west. A “sheet of fire” erupted from the tree line along the swamp’s edge. The Confederates returned fire and escaped with four men wounded and one captured. Union losses were one killed, two wounded and one captured."

The area in question, including the spot along the Braddock Rd where they ran a wire.

Always nice when a "small unit action" gets its own Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bog_Wallow_Ambush


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

July 10-12, 1864 - Gilmor's Raid

Image
July 9-11, 1864  Gilmor's Raid  AKA The Magnolia Station Raid (though that's really a sub-set of the larger raid) Baltimore and Harford Counties, Maryland There's a lot going on here and I'm still piecing it together, so let's consider this entry (really, all of them) a work in progress. This could be my absolute favorite Civil War moment right here: the days the war came closest to where I live and work today. And Gilmor is a bastard of a villain just short of Lee. OK, maybe not on the same scale as Lee, but he's still an a-hole. Fittingly, though disappointingly, he becomes the Chief of Police in Baltimore after the war - and he fires on some striking railroad workers.  There is some irony in knowing that the street named for him is in West Baltimore's Sandown-Winchester neighborhood - epicenter of the 2015 Baltimore uprising. Gilmor Homes, an undeniably notorious housing project in the same area, also bore his name.  From Brett W. Spaulding's Last Ch...
Read more

July 10, 1863- Battle of Funkstown

Image
July 10, 1863 Battle of Funkstown (AKA the Second Battle of Funkstown) Funkstown, MD John Buford's Cavalry Division and one infantry brigade (Col. Thomas C. Devin’s dismounted Union cavalry brigade, then Col. Lewis A. Grant’s First Vermont Brigade of infantry) VS. JEB Stuart's cavalry and his one infantry brigade too ( Preston Chew’s  horse artillery  and the 34th Virginia Battalion’s dismounted cavalry;  Gen. George T. Anderson’s Confederate brigade ) * The "first" Battle of Funkstown was a much smaller engagement on July 7th. * The Feds trying to catch up with the Rebels' retreating rear-guard; blocked by Stuart's occupation of the town.  * Allegedly the first time opposing infantries faced each other since the Battle of Gettysburg . OK.  * Also, "Stuart's first defensive battle since reentering Maryland." OK. (I like "firsts," but these are getting ridiculous!) * Ends with a Union withdrawal; Stuart buys Lee more time to escape. But ...
Read more

July 6, 1863 -Battle of Hagerstown

Image
July 6, 1863 The Battle of Hagerstown -  AKA The Battle of Williamsport, or Falling Waters (Again), but really those are three different things, and all conflated with the retreat after Gettysburg . This is sometimes called "the First" Battle of Hagerstown, and that actually makes some sense. Neither Wikipedia nor even the American Battlefield Trust will deign to give this important battle its own page :(   Hagerstown, MD (Washington County)  Meade (Brig. Gen Judson Kilpatrick [why is he sometimes listed as Hugh Kilpatrick? Same guy?]; Capt. Ulric Dahlgren*; 18th PA Cavalry)  vs Lee (Col. John Chambliss's 9th VA Cavalry come in south of town, while the 10th formed a barricade in the streets; Capt. Frank Bond; Hammond Dorsey @ Public Square;  NC Cavalry under Gen Beverly Robertson; JEB Stuart shows up late) * Intense urban warfare, in a rainstorm: flipped the wagons for barricades at the intersection of what is now/still Baltimore and South Potomac Stre...
Read more