In June of 1864 the Union grasp around Petersburg was beginning to tighten in Virginia. Robert E. Lee needed something to try to get U.S. Grant’s grasp to loosen. He took a gamble. He dispatched about 14,000 veteran soldiers under Jubal Early and sent them north hoping to draw considerably more troops away from Grant. Early was ordered to threaten Washington if he could.
Monocacy
The first actions took place near Lynchburg on June 17 and 18 and from there Early turned north heading down the Shenandoah Valley. Grant was slow to react, at first not believing it. As it became more apparent and with Washington breathing down his neck he began to move Horatio Wright’s VI Corps north. James Ricketts’ division was the first to leave on July 5. Union troops evacuated Harper’s Ferry and burned the bridges there with Early moving in but very few soldiers stood in Early’s path.
Only about 2,300 soldiers under Lew Wallace (the future author of Ben-Hur) were in position to stand in Early’s path and Early’s intentions were unknown. Was Early heading for Baltimore or Washington or would he move into Pennsylvania? Few of his men had ever seen combat and most were only 100 day volunteers. He knew that he could do nothing more than annoy Early unless reinforcements arrived. Wallace himself was looking for a career redemption. He had been blamed for arriving late at Shiloh in April 1862 nearly leading to disaster and had not had a combat command since.
Wallace began moving his troops to near Frederick, Maryland. Not only could Wallace block a movement towards both Washington and Baltimore from there but a nearby railroad bridge over the Monocacy River on the B&O Railroad was a vital cog that needed to be secured. Wallace’s men arrived on July 3 and began preparing defenses. Two blockhouses near the railroad bridge would provide a strong point. Two other bridges over the Monocacy River also had defenses built around it.
Early arrived in the area on July 7 and quickly drove Wallace’s cavalry back and captured the town, which he demanded a ransom to avoid burning it. (Early was looking to seek revenge for the burning of Lexington, Virginia). For Wallace the situation looked bleak but there was hope. Ricketts’ men were in Baltimore and on their way, 3,000 veteran infantrymen. Ricketts’ assignment was to protect Harper’s Ferry but he chose to stop his men and assist Wallace swelling his ranks to about 7,000 men.
On July 9 the fighting began. Around 9 AM Stephen Ramseur’s Division advance along the Georgetown Pike and ran into Ricketts’ men and Robert Rodes’ Division clashed with Wallace’s men along the Baltimore Pike. Early was surprised to find soldiers from the Army of the Potomac and he was told by prisoners that the entire VI Corps was here. This may had made him more cautious then he should have be so he decided to flank the Union soldiers out of their position and sent his cavalry under John McCausland to a nearby ford. McCasuland did not see some of Ricketts’ men hidden and one volley from them was enough to send the cavalrymen reeling as they advanced near the Worthington Farm.
Early now sent John Gordon’s Division to do what McCausland could not. Gordon hit Ricketts’ men hard and forced them back with superior numbers. Heavy fighting took place on the Thomas Farm where Ricketts’ men were able to take position behind a stone wall. Confederate artillery was now making the rest of the Union positions untenable and Wallace ordered a retreat in the late afternoon. A covering force was left to hold the bridge over the Georgetown Pike and held until 6 PM when Rodes’ men seized it.
Wallace lost the battle but he had cost Early one full day. He lost about 1,300 men compared to Early who lost about 1,000 but the time was what made the difference. Early advanced on Washington arriving on July 11 in the late afternoon and delayed his attack until the following day. That night the remainder of the VI Corps arrived and took their positions in the Washington defenses.
For Wallace he was in a bit of a thankless position. Grant replaced him with another general when he heard of Wallace’s retreat. In this case though the government came to his rescue and when they heard what he did he was restored to command.
The battlefield is today a part of Monocacy National Battlefield just south of Frederick. Few monuments dot the field but numerous trails allow visitors to walk the battlefield.