The
Battle That Saved Washington
The Battle of Monocacy
Saturday, July 9, 1864
If judged by its consequences rather than its size, the Battle of Monocacy ranks among the important battles of the American Civil War. Here, July 9, 1864, on a checkerboard of gold wheatfields and green cornfields just outside Frederick, Maryland, Confederate forces under General Jubal Early defeated Union forces under General Lew Wallace. The battle cost Early a day's march and his chance to capture Washington, DC. Thwarted in the attempt to take the capital, the Confederates turned back to Virginia, ending their last campaign to carry the war into the North.
Early's bold raid was part of a plan to divert Union forces away from
Robert E. Lee's army at Petersburg, Virginia. Pushing northward through
the Shenandoah Valley, Early arrived at Winchester, Virginia, on July
2. After plundering Federal stores at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia,
Early's men crossed the Potomac into Maryland at Sharpsburg, near Antietam,
where a previous Southern offensive had ended in bloody battle two years
before.
Early's cavalry collected $20,000 from Hagerstown residents to spare their town. But at Frederick, where the main body of troops headed, General Early himself demanded, and received, $200,000 ransom.
Meanwhile, the Confederate actions were having the desired effect on Washington.
Responding to alarm caused by Early's advances, General U.S. Grant dispatched
a 5,000-man division under James B. Ricketts on July 6, and a few days
later sent the full corps under H.G. Wright. Until those troops arrived,
however, the only Federal army between Early and the capital city was
a ragtag group of 2,300 men commanded by Major General Lew Wallace.
At the time, Wallace, who would become best known for his book Ben Hur, was headquartered m Baltimore. Away from the battlefront, the district was used for training recruits. Most of Wallace's men had never seen battle.
Wallace learned that a large enemy force was advancing. Uncertain whether Baltimore or Washington was the Confederate's objective, he knew he had to delay their approach until reinforcements could reach either city.
