Monocacy National Battlefield, Maryland – Legends of America
Okay, picture this: it’s the summer of ’64, smack-dab in the middle of the Civil War. Frederick, Maryland, is a bustling little town, a real crossroads. Roads to Washington, D.C., and Baltimore all converge here, and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad chugs right through. You can imagine why both the Union and Confederate armies had their eyes on this place.
Back in ’62, during the Maryland Campaign, Confederate General Robert E. Lee himself set up camp at the Best Farm. Talk about prime real estate! It was there that he penned Special Order 191, his master plan to split his army and snatch Harpers Ferry. Fast forward a few days, and some Union troops stumble upon a lost copy of this order. Whoops!
This little slip-up made its way to Union General George B. McClellan, who kicked things into high gear and met the Confederates at South Mountain and Antietam. Later on, in ’63, Union troops marched through Monocacy on their way to Gettysburg. General Winfield Scott Hancock even made the Thomas House his HQ for a few days.
Now, let’s jump ahead to the summer of ’64. The war’s still raging, and things are getting intense. General Ulysses S. Grant’s Union forces are deep in Virginia, battling it out at Petersburg. So, what does General Lee do? He comes up with a daring plan. He tells General Jubal Early to take the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia and team up with General John C. Breckenridge to secure the Shenandoah Valley. Once that’s done, Early’s to invade Maryland and put the squeeze on Washington, D.C. By July, the Confederates are in Maryland, catching the Union forces completely off guard.
The Union troops are scrambling to put together a defense. Major General Lew Wallace and about 3,200 fresh-faced troops from the Middle Department head west from Baltimore. They set up shop south of Frederick, at Monocacy Junction, right along the Monocacy River. General Grant sends the third division of the Sixth Corps north, hoping they’ll arrive in time to slow down Early’s advance. By the morning of July 9, nearly 6,600 Union troops are gathered near Monocacy Junction, with Wallace calling the shots. Early’s 15,000 Confederates are just north in Frederick. The stage is set for a showdown.
About six miles from Frederick, the Battle of Monocacy kicks off around 8:30 a.m. Confederate troops, led by General Stephen Ramseur, push south along the Georgetown Pike and run into Union infantry near Monocacy Junction. Wallace positions his men north of the junction on a wooden covered bridge that spans the Monocacy River, blocking Early’s main route to Washington. Ramseur’s division keeps the pressure on the Union forces throughout the day, but they just can’t break through the defense, which is made up of troops from Maryland and Vermont.
Seeing that they’re stuck, the Confederates look for another way across the river. General John McCausland’s cavalry finds Worthington Ford about a mile downriver from the covered bridge and starts crossing by 10:30 a.m., putting pressure on Wallace’s forces south of the river. When Wallace gets wind of this, he orders the covered bridge burned to protect his right flank and shifts his main battle lines west to the Thomas Farm.
The first Confederate attack south of the Monocacy starts around 11:00 a.m. McCausland’s men charge east and run into Union infantry from General James Ricketts’s Sixth Corps division. McCausland gets pushed back and regroups for another attack around 2:00 p.m., moving from the Worthington Farm toward the Thomas House. The Confederates manage to take the Thomas Farm, but the Union forces launch a fierce counterattack and push them back.
Amid McCausland’s second cavalry attack, the Confederates get some much-needed backup. General John B. Gordon’s division crosses the Monocacy River using the Worthington Ford and, by mid-afternoon, is ready to join the fight. Around 3:30 p.m., Gordon’s three brigades sweep forward from Brooks Hill toward the Union line on the Thomas Farm. The fighting is brutal, with heavy losses on both sides. The Union line starts to buckle and then retreats toward the Georgetown Pike. The Confederates threaten to turn the Union’s right flank, and Wallace has no choice but to pull back to save his men. By 5:00 p.m., the Union troops are in full retreat, and the Confederates take the field. By the end of the day, about 2,200 men are killed, wounded, captured, or missing – 900 Confederates and 1,300 Union soldiers.
Even though the Confederates won the Battle of Monocacy, Lew Wallace’s efforts were a success in the long run. He managed to delay Jubal Early’s advance long enough for Union reinforcements to reach Washington, D.C. When Early’s men finally arrived at the capital on July 11, help had arrived. There was some fighting near Fort Stevens on the outskirts of the city, but Early couldn’t take Washington. His campaign was over, and he and his men retreated into Maryland and eventually crossed the Potomac River back into Virginia.
Today, the Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick, Maryland, stands as a reminder of the battle and the Civil War. The site covers 1,647 acres of farmland, forest, and coastal areas in the Monocacy River Valley. The park includes six historic properties: the Baker, Best, Lewis, Thomas, and Worthington farms, as well as the Gambrill Mill and House. In the early 20th century, Civil War veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy built monuments to commemorate the Battle of Monocacy.
So, if you’re ever in the area, take a detour and check out the Monocacy National Battlefield. It’s a great place to learn about a pivotal moment in American history and appreciate the sacrifices made by the soldiers on both sides of the conflict.