Oct. 21, 1861 - Battle of Ball's Bluff

Oct. 21, 1861

The Battle of Ball's Bluff

Harrison's Island
Loudoun County, VA

Union Charles P. Stone defeated by

vs.

Confederate Nathan G. Evans

* "last major action in the East for the first year of the war."

It wasn't even supposed to be a battle. McClellan was just probing Virginia, peeking over the line from Maryland. They were trying to see who or what was in Leesburg, VA. So Capt. Chase Philbrick crossed the river and thought he saw a little camp worth attacking - but he got more than he bargained for and didn't leave and escape route. Brigadier General Charles Pomeroy Stone, a sitting U.S. Senator, got killed trying to help him out. 

Ball's Bluff is a pretty important battle early in the war, though it is largely forgotten today. It was a major blunder that got blamed on McClellan and others, largely Stone. And although it was called a Union slaughter at the the time, it was a picnic compared to later battles. A U.S. Senator died here! Coming only a few months after the disaster at First Bull Run, a bunch of Union soldiers backed up against a cliff and then fired on while retreating did not make the Union's prospects look good. It was the "last major action in the East for the first year of the war." And thus Congress set up the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. These guys went so far as to suspect conspiracy to defeat the Union from within - and got messy and political for the rest of the war. It started with throwing Brigadier Stone in jail, blaming him for the battle's failures, and not letting him out  until much later in the war (without charges or apology), when all the other good leaders are dead.  

The best shot of the bluffs. The thickly grown trees of summer obscure the height and steepness. 

I do love an interpretive trail!

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=157212

"On the night of October 20, 1861, a small Federal scouting party crossed the Potomac River from Maryland to determine whether recent troop movements indicated a Confederate withdrawal from Leesburg. Advancing inland from Ball’s Bluff, the Federals moved past this point, crested a low ridge near the Jackson house, and saw in the dim moonlight what appeared to be a Confederate Camp. Upon learning of this, the Federal commander, Brig. Gen. Charles P. Stone, saw a target of opportunity and quickly organized a raiding party.


Five companies of the 15th Massachusetts led by Col. Charles Devens spent several hours quietly crossing the river from Harrison’s Island. At dawn they marched up the path on their way to destroy the supposed enemy camp and return to Maryland. The “camp,” however, did not exist. In the dark, the scouts had mistaken a row of trees for tents. By the time the error was reported to General Stone, an unintended battle had begun.

At 7:30 a.m. on October 21, Company K of the 17th Mississippi clashed with the Massachusetts men near the Jackson house.

General Stone remained in Maryland at Edward’s Ferry. On hearing of the patrol’s mistake, but not yet knowing that fighting had occurred, he ordered Col. Edward D. Baker to evaluate the situation. On his way upriver to do this, Baker learned of the fighting from a messenger who then proceeded downriver to alert General Stone. Col. Nathan G. “Shanks” Evans directed his Confederate forces from an earthen fort named for him on nearby Edwards Ferry Road. By midmorning, Evans had committed four more companies of Mississippi infantry and three companies of Virginia cavalry to the Ball’s Bluff fight. Devens’ men withdrew to a wood line near the Jackson house. About 12:30, the 8th Virginia Infantry arrived. Shortly thereafter, the Confederate line, now nearly 700 strong, attacked Devens’ roughly 650 Federal troops. The skirmish lasted perhaps an hour. Afterwards, Devens withdrew to the bluff. The most serious fighting was about to begin."
 

The excellent trail circled through the open field, where most of the fighting occurred, then to the bluff in back and around again. 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=168041

"2:00PM: After skirmishing with a growing Confederate force in the vicinity of the Jackson House since early morning, and having received no orders from Colonel Edward Baker, Colonel Charles Devens withdrew the 15th Massachusetts to the bluff. The 8th Virginia cautiously followed and deployed at the top of the slope along the line of today's parking lot facing the bluff. After personally supervising the deployment of additional boats from approximately 10:00AM - 2:00PM, Colonel Baker crossed the river, arriving on the field about the same time that Devens returned.

2:00PM-3:00PM: Colonel Baker deployed his growing force in a formation which, from the bluff, appeared to be a backwards capital "L." The 15th Massachusetts was on sloping ground in the woods to the north or Union right, though some men were deployed further north to protect the rear of that line. Elements of the 20th Massachusetts, 1st California, and 42nd New York plus two mountain howitzers from the 2nd New York State Militia, were deployed along the top of the bluff facing inland. A third artillery piece, a James rifle from Battery B, 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery, was later deployed near today's cemetery.

3:00-5:00 PM: After conferring with several of his officers, all of whom noted the high ground near today's parking lot as the key to the field, Colonel Baker sent two of his California companies forward under Captain John Markoe to determine the position of the Confederates. These troops engaged part of the 8th Virginia on the slope leading up to the parking lot. After a brief but vicious fight, both sides pulled back. Low on ammunition from the morning skirmishing, and needing to reorganize his regiment which was in some disarray, Col. Eppa Hunton then withdrew to a field near the Jackson house, leaving only some previously detached companies of the 17th and 18th Mississippi and Lt. Col. Walter Jenifer's dismounted Virginia cavalrymen to oppose the Union force.

Col. Erasmus Burt's 18th Mississippi was the next Confederate unit to arrive and deployed, as the Virginians had done, and the 17th Mississippi later would do, at the top of the slope. Seeing the Union troops arrayed along the bluff, but failing to detect the Massachusetts men concealed in the woods on his left, Colonel Burt ordered his men forward, inadvertently marching them between the arms of the Union "L" and into a deadly crossfire. In the open field in front of you, the Mississippians were hit by volleys from front and flank and suffered heavy casualties, including Colonel Burt, who was mortally wounded. Lt. Col. Thomas Griffin took command, withdrew to the parking lot area, and deployed the companies into two battalions. One of these worked around the Union left along the deep ravine while the second connected to Jenifer's dismounted cavalry and the Mississippi infantry companies on their left."

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=85501
Here's a 2009 monument to a Virginia Regiment that fought at Ball's Bluff. Note that they were at First Manassas too, and that three of those guys were still around for Appomattox. Three very lucky men. 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=150412

I really liked this contemporary hand-drawn map. It shows the river and island at the bottom with the battlefield above.

These are the cannons that the Union had on the heights. It seems like a good position, but there are steep cliffs behind them- and they had no place to go when they were overrun. 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=168055

This is ONE of the smallest National Cemeteries in America. The smallest is Hampton VAMC, with only 22 interments. There are 54 dead Americans at Ball's Bluff. In-between the two is the previously-visited Battleground National Cemetery, near Fort Stevens in DC, where the 40 Union soldier who fought and died defending the capital are burred. 

Yes! and it was HOT

He's buried back home, but this marks the spot where the U.S. Senator died in battle. 

Aftermath

"Ball’s Bluff is the only battlefield on which a United States senator was killed in combat. Edward Dickinson Baker, senator from Oregon, was also a colonel and one of Brig. Gen. Charles Stone’s three brigade commanders. Baker was a long-time friend of President Lincoln and was known as a brilliant orator. His canvassing efforts during the 1860 election campaign helped win both California and Oregon for Lincoln.

Baker’s death here and three Union defeats in 1861 resulted in the creation of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. Composed of three senators and four representatives, this committee remained in session throughout the war and gave itself the power to investigate anything or anyone. Its first investigation dealt with Ball’s Bluff. Its first victim was General Stone.

Going after Stone more for political reasons than because he had lost a battle, the committee allowed hearsay and complaints by officers whom General Stone had previously disciplined to count as valid testimony. The sessions were closed and Stone himself was questioned without being informed he had become the target of the investigation. Stone was arrested in front of his Washington home near midnight on February 8, 1862.

Stone was imprisoned in New York at Forts Lafayette and Hamilton for six months with no charges ever being filed against him. He finally was released on August 16, 1862.

He served for several months in the western theater under General Nathaniel P. Banks, and then briefly commanded a brigade in the V Corps of the Army of the Potomac. But typhoid and the attacks on his reputation did their work and he resigned from the army in September of 1864. He later spent over 12 years as Chief of Staff to the Khedive of Egypt and, following his return home early in 1883, became chief engineer on the Statue of Liberty project. Stone died of pneumonia on January 24, 1887, three months after serving as Grand Marshall at the dedication of the Statue of Liberty."

"The battle, while small in scale, had major political implications that would haunt the Union army for the rest of the war"

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