Monocacy, << mah noh cah see, >> Battle of, was an important battle of the American Civil War (1861-1865). It took place on July 9, 1864, in the northern part of Maryland . The battle ended in a Confederate victory. However, the fighting at Monocacy probably prevented the Confederates from capturing Washington, D.C. , the Union capital. General Lew Wallace led the Union forces. General Jubal Early commanded the Confederates. The battle is named after the Monocacy River, which runs through the battlefield.
Background.
By the summer of 1864, all signs pointed to a Union victory in the Civil War. In Virginia, Union General Ulysses S. Grant besieged Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s army near Petersburg and Richmond. Union General William T. Sherman’s army was advancing toward Atlanta. Confederate armies had dwindled because of battle losses and war weariness. Union armies occupied large areas of the South.
In June 1864, Lee sent General Early and about 15,000 Confederate soldiers on a raid toward Washington, D.C. Lee hoped that Early would capture or threaten the capital, causing Grant to divert Union troops from Petersburg.
In late June, Union authorities heard the first reports of Early’s raid. However, they did not understand the danger and were slow in responding. General Wallace, who was stationed in Baltimore, gathered about 2,500 Union troops in early July and moved them to the banks of the Monocacy River, south of Frederick, Maryland. Wallace chose the site because it guarded an important railroad bridge and the major roads toward both Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
On July 5, Early’s forces began to cross the Potomac River into Maryland. That same day, Grant realized that the Confederates were sending a large force, and he decided to send reinforcements from Petersburg. Grant initially sent about 5,000 troops under General James B. Ricketts toward Wallace. Grant later sent more reinforcements to Washington, D.C.
On July 8, Ricketts and the first of the Union reinforcements reached Wallace. Wallace, now with about 6,000 troops, knew that he was badly outnumbered by the Confederates. Still, he chose to stay and fight in order to allow time for further reinforcements to reach Washington, D.C.
The battle.
On the morning of July 9, the Confederates attacked the Union position at the Monocacy River. Early had hoped to take control of the road bridge over the river, but he did not want to risk a direct attack. Early instead sent soldiers to find a place to cross through the water.
Some of Early’s troops forded the river about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) downstream. The troops then attacked the flank (side) of Wallace’s army. The Union army drove back two Confederate attacks. But at about 4 p.m., troops commanded by Confederate General John B. Gordon overwhelmed the Union position. Wallace and his men retreated.
The aftermath.
On July 11, Early reached Silver Spring, Maryland, and bombarded the outskirts of Washington, D.C. By that time, however, Grant’s Union reinforcements were beginning to arrive at the capital. Early, feeling he would be unable to take the city, withdrew back to Virginia. The Confederates never again launched a major attack on Washington, D.C.
Over the course of the Battle of Monocacy, the Union suffered about 1,300 casualties (people killed, wounded, or captured). The Confederates suffered about 700. Though Wallace lost the battle, his efforts probably saved Washington, D.C. After the war was over, Gordon told Wallace that the general’s delay had “snatched Washington out of our hands.”
See also Civil War, American ; Early, Jubal Anderson ; Wallace, Lew .
