Jan 7, 1862 - The Battle of Blue's Gap

Jan. 7, 1862 


The Battle of Blue's Gap; or The Battle of Hanging Rock Gap 


Hanging Rock; east of Romney, WV


Gen. Kelley > Col. Dunning (5th Ohio Regiment); Gen. Milroy > Capt. Lacey (32nd Ohio regiment) 
vs.
Maj. Gen. Jackson > Capt. Sheets

* "On January 7, an advance guard of Confederates was defeated by about 2,000 Federals under Colonel Dunning at Blue's Gap."
 
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=203986


* This marker itself is the first hit when searching for "Blue's Gap Battle" online - so that's something

* This is not the 1863 battle of Cumberland Gap

This site has got a blurb from Harper's Weekly about this early, little battle:

And this has got the whole page from Harper's:


And this gives us this:

Wheeling Intelligencer
January 8, 1862

Exciting News from Romney!
Rout of the Rebels from Blue's Gap!

Fifteen Rebels Killed and Twenty Prisoners Taken.

Lieut. Col. John G. Kelley, who is now in the city, yesterday received the following dispatch from the Colonel of his regiment:

Romney, Jan. 7.

We have routed the enemy from Blue's Gap, killing seven. James Evens,
Col. 7th Virginia Regiment.


Further Particulars.
[Special dispatch to the Intelligencer.]
Cumberland, Jan. 7.

Eds. Intelligencer: A detachment of Col. Kelley's forces, commanded by Col. Dunning, of the 5th Ohio regiment, left Romney last night at 12 o'clock, and attacked the rebels two thousand strong at Blue's Gap, east of Romney, at daylight this day. The rebels were completely routed, with a loss of fifteen killed, two pieces of cannon, their wagons, tents, &c., with twenty prisoners, including one commissioned officer. Our loss--none.

It is rumored here this P. M. that the rebels are in full retreat from Hancock.

I. M. Pumphrey.

[Blue's Gap is fifteen miles from Romney, on the Winchester road at the North river, and has been the advance post of the rebels for two months. It is a gorge in the mountains of great natural strength as a military position.]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romney,_West_Virginia,_in_the_American_Civil_War







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