July 9, 1864 - Monocacy

July 9, 1864

Monocacy

Frederick County, MD

Lew Wallace > Brig. Gen. James B. Ricketts joins from Petersburg 

vs

Jubal Early > Maj. Gen John B. Gordon's infantry Division 

* Home-state gem right here: "If Johnny Reb was really fighting a 'war against Northern aggression' then WTF was he doing in Maryland (again) in 1864?" 

* You know Lew Wallace wrote Ben-Hur, right? (It sold more than even Uncle Tom's Cabin.)

"After marching north down the Shenandoah Valley, the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early crossed the Potomac River into Maryland on July 5, 1864 headed for Washington D.C. On July 9, a makeshift Union force under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace attempted to stop Early along the Monocacy River, just east of Frederick. Wallace, joined by another division sent north from the Petersburg lines, was outflanked and defeated after putting up a stiff resistance. After defeating Wallace, Early continued his advance towards the Federal capital. Wallace’s defeat at Monocacy bought time for more reinforcements to bolster the defenses of Washington."

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=3218
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=155658

"Here was written the famous lost order No. 191 and the proclamation to the people of Maryland."

AND

"Here along the Monocacy River on July 9, 1864, was fought the battle between Union forces under General Lew Wallace and Confederate forces under General Jubal A. Early.

The battle, although a temporary victory for the Confederates, delayed their march on Washington one day, thereby enabling General Grant to send veteran reinforcements from Petersburg, Virginia to the defenses of Washington in time to forestall the attack by the Confederates and thus save the capital from capture.

Dedicated on July 9, 1964
To honor the Maryland soldiers who fought here
for the Union and the Confederacy.

J. Millard Tawes, Governor of Maryland
Maryland Civil War Centennial Commission
George L. Radcliffe, Chairman"

To most people, the battle of Monocacy is known as "the battle that saved Washington, DC" because that is exactly what it did. Jubal Early had an army focused on the nation's capital. Sure, the Feds were running scared at the end of the fight(s), but they did what they needed to do: stall for time. Nonetheless, the DOC will spread their distortions here as elsewhere. At Harpers Ferry there was a story of an African American woman making a ruckus at the public unveiling of the DOC's similar, still extant, boulder memorializing a black man killed protecting the railroad during John Brown's raid. Perhaps factually true but missing the point entirely as usual as they cling to their fantasies because they've lost everything else. Not to be outdone, Maryland raised a monument to her own sons a couple years later and that's right next to the boulder. The third historical marker indicated Lee's headquarters, and where he wrote the famous Lost Orders.

So OK, fine: let's call Monocacy "the only Southern victory on Northern soil," but then all those other so-called draws were not. I'm looking at you Gettysburg and Antietam. They can't have it both ways. It should also count as a third invasion of the North, and I was really shocked to learn about how much trouble the Confederate cavalry caused running much further into Maryland, messing with the railroad and telegraph. There's a Johnson's Raid and a Gilmor's Raid near Baltimore - on the Westside, and on the East: up and down Harford and Bel Air Roads right near my house, and fighting a skirmish where the B&O crosses the Gunpowder. That's July of 1864 but they return and regroup when Early is repelled from Washington. More on that later. Much more.        

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=155659

I live in Baltimore and my child attended Garrett Heights Elementary and Middle School. It is indeed on heights sorta overlooking Baltimore, except for the trees. We can see the fireworks from the Inner Harbor on the Fourth of July. We live in the Lauraville neighborhood, on the slope of Garrett Heights. His mansion is long gone, but the neighborhood public school bearing his name remains. 

Yes, yes he did. Very helpful. 

Heading into the farm outside Frederick where the famous Lost Orders were lost...and later found. It saw action during the battle and lost a barn: The Rebels had a bunch of sharpshooters in there taking pot shots at the Union lines; so the Union fired some big guns into there and set the motherfucker on fire; they had the satisfaction of watching the snipers carried away on stretchers. Big picture: The Rebels were trying to cross the river, control the train lines headed East, and clear their way towards DC. They eventually make it through but were up against far tougher odds then they thought and were significantly delayed, then exhausted for their march on Washington. Their attack on the capital fizzled.  

Yep - that's a stone barn. 

On the other field of battle, across the river, a six year old boy watched intense aspects of the battle from between the slats of a cellar window in this farmhouse. That boy grew up to get all political/historical - writing the first book about the battle and becoming instrumental in the battlefield's preservation. On this side of the river the Confederates thought they were facing green troops, so they held much of their troops in reserve. They were actually facing veterans and the fighting got ugly and intense. 

I do not like to think of the retreating federals running over this railroad bridge under fire. A NY Regiment got stuck over there on the wrong side of the river when the other bridge was burned. Actually, they were knowingly abandoned on the far left flank because it was feared that the Confederates that they were engaged with could take control of the bridge. Sad. in the third and final Confederate thrust by mainly North Carolinian divisions some Maryland boys ended up having to flee across the railroad bridge too. Lastly, the Vermonters had it the worst though: pursued over the same bridge with the Carolinians at their collars and literally grabbing them and throwing them off the bridge, firing at them from behind and below. 

This modern bridge over the Monocacy River stands in the same place as the covered bridge that the Union set ablaze when it was clear they couldn't hold the crossing. In the end the Union ran away, but the Confederacy didn't pursue very enthusiastically at all; at points, they had thousands lined up against 100s of Union soldier. The Rebels didn't even send in their reserves and only lost about 50 men in the whole battle, but the rag-tag Union teams bought time for just enough seasoned troops to reinforce the capital. 

And this mansion on the battlefield grounds is now a school where they train people in historical restoration of cannons and homes and such. It's kind of like the Xavier Institute in reverse. 

Am I crazy or do only some of these battles get to be one word? Nobody calls it "The Battle of" Gettysburg, much - do they? 

Source:

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/monocacy