July 8, 1863 - Battle of Boonsboro
July 8, 1863
The Battle of Boonsboro
North of Boonsboro, along the National Road in Washington County, MD (first resistance at Beaver Creek Bridge, 4.5 miles North of town)
US Alfred Pleasonton: Kilpatrick and Buford's cavalry ordered to protect the South Mountain passes for Meade, similar to the Rebel position before Antietam.
VS.
J.E.B. Stuart (with 5 cavalry brigades advancing towards the ford at Williamsport)
* Stuart aggressively trying to protect Lee's retreat from Gettysburg
* Biggest and Most Sustained Cavalry Battle in MD during the campaign
* Too muddy for horses so they had to "dismount and slug it out like infantry"
* Stuart withdraws when the Union infantry arrives, and fights another delaying battle at Funkstown two days later
* "The Battle of Boonsboro" is definitively its own thing as part of the Gettysburg retreat, but there was also action here as part of the Antietam campaign, though that business is often thrown in with the rambling Battle of South Mountain. It's a bit like "Falling Waters" like that. Maryland gets trampled coming and going.
* That said, pre- and post- Gettysburg and Antietam is my favorite stuff, so this is a good one: Judson Kilpatrick again!
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=1913 |
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=1162 |
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| Here's what remains of the actual battlefield |
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| And here's what remains of the historical marker. It said: "Two U.S. Cavalry divisions repulsed five rebel cavalry brigades in a day-long fight north of Boonsboro on July 8, 1863. The South Mountain passes remained open to the Federal Army in pursuit of the Confederates retreating from Gettysburg via Hagerstown to Williamsport." And here's what happened in more detail according to the final marker, which I technically didn't visit and will* definitely return for: "Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart faced a difficult assignment: to locate the Union cavalry and prevent it from severing Gen. Robert E. Lee’s avenue of retreat to Williamsport and the Potomac River after the Battle of Gettysburg. The result was the biggest and most sustained cavalry battle in Maryland during the campaign. The Battle of Boonsboro occurred here along the National Road on Wednesday, July 8, 1863. "Stuart, with five brigades advancing from the direction of Funkstown and Williamsport, first encountered Federal resistance at Beaver Creek Bridge, 4½ miles north of Boonsboro. By 11 a.m., the Confederate cavalry had pushed to these mud-soaked fields, where fighting on horseback was nearly impossible, forcing Stuart’s troopers and Gens. H. Judson Kilpatrick’s and John Buford’s Union cavalry divisions to dismount and slug it out like infantry. By mid-afternoon, the Union left under Kilpatrick crumbled as the Federals ran low on ammunition under increasing Confederate pressure. Stuart’s advance ended about 7 p.m., however, when Union infantry arrived—the first to engage on a Maryland battlefield since Gettysburg-- Stuart withdrew north to Funkstown, but he had gained another day for Lee’s retreating army. “The Seven-Shooter Spencer” Some Union cavalry used Spencer rifles with their seven-cartridge magazines, versus traditional single-shot muzzleloaders. The new weapon also proved deadly accurate. Capt. James Kidd, 6th Michigan Cavalry, later recalled a Confederate officer here waving his men forward from atop a stone fence: “A shot from a Spencer brought him headlong to the ground, and after that no one had the temerity to expose himself in that way.” * And then in late 2024 I made it to that marker too- on the way back from a trip to Cumberland, and just before losing daylight. Here's where I was, for context (I had hit Meade's HQ on the way out!):   It was good to finally get this one!   Also, on the way home: a moment of Zen over Antietam bridge (not Burnside's, but same style and same creek).     https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=5669 |
The retreat from Gettysburg is some good stuff and this map shows it excellently. Lots of central Maryland action here, including Boonsboro. And here's a great essay on the retreat from Eric J Wittenberg.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Boonsboro#:~:text=The%20Battle%20of%20Boonsboro%20occurred,7.2%20km)%20north%20of%20Boonsboro.
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