Battle At Ball's Bluff; Leesburg, Virginia October 21, 1861
Orange, VA: Moss Publications, 1989. Second Printing [stated]. Trade paperback. The format is approximately 8.5 inches by 11 inches. 166, [2] pages. Illustrations. Battlefield Chronicle, Tour Guide Bibliography. Footnotes. Index. Illustrated front cover. Minor ding to front cover. The Battle of Ball's Bluff was an early battle of the American Civil War fought in Loudoun County, Virginia, on October 21, 1861, in which Union Army forces under Major General George B. McClellan suffered a humiliating defeat. The operation was planned as a minor reconnaissance across the Potomac to establish whether the Confederates were occupying the strategically important position of Leesburg. A false report of an unguarded Confederate camp encouraged Brigadier General Charles Pomeroy Stone to order a raid, which resulted in a clash with enemy forces. Kim Bernard Holien retired as the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall historian. Holien's has a master's degree in American History from George Mason University. Holien went to work at the U.S. State Department in 1971. He entered a top secret program in which he was responsible for 29 foreign posts. Two retired U.S. ambassadors served as his official mentors, grooming him for a career in the foreign service. In 1975 he began working for the National Archives declassifying records from 1940-1955. In 1979, Holien went to work for the Army Center of Military History as a reference historian. In 1995, the position of the Fort Myer Military Community historian was created. On the morning of October 21, Colonel Devens deployed his men in a tree line and sent a messenger back to report to Stone and get instructions. On hearing the messenger's report, Stone sent him back to tell Devens that the remainder of the 15th Massachusetts (another 350 men) would cross the river and move to his position. When they arrived, Devens was to turn his raiding party back into a reconnaissance and move toward Leesburg. While the messenger was going back to Col. Devens with this new information, Colonel and U.S. Senator Edward Dickinson Baker showed up at Stone's camp to find out about the morning's events. Stone told him of the mistake about the camp and about his new orders to reinforce Devens for reconnaissance purposes. He then instructed Baker to go to the crossing point, evaluate the situation, and either withdraw the troops already in Virginia or cross additional troops at his discretion. On the way upriver to execute this order, Baker met Devens' messenger coming back a second time to report that Devens and his men had encountered and briefly engaged the enemy, one company (Co. K) of the 17th Mississippi Infantry. Baker immediately ordered as many troops as he could find to cross the river, but he did so without determining what boats were available to do this. A bottleneck quickly developed so that Union troops could only cross slowly and in small numbers, making the crossing last throughout the day. Meanwhile, Devens's men (now about 650 strong) remained in its advanced position and engaged in two additional skirmishes with a growing force of Confederates, while other Union troops crossed the river but deployed near the bluff and did not advance from there. Devens finally withdrew around 2:00 p.m. and met Baker, who had finally crossed the river half an hour later. Beginning around 3:00, the fighting began in earnest and was almost continuous until just after dark. Col. Baker was killed and remains the only United States Senator ever killed in battle. The Federals began to recross the river. Shortly before dark, a fresh Confederate regiment (the 17th Mississippi) arrived and formed the core of the climactic assault that finally broke and routed the Union troops. Many of the Union soldiers were driven down the steep slope at the southern end of Ball's Bluff and into the river. Boats attempting to cross back to Harrison Island were soon swamped and capsized. Many Federals, included some of the wounded, were drowned. Bodies floated downriver to Washington and even as far as Mount Vernon in the days following the battle. A total of 223 Federals were killed, 226 were wounded, and 553 were captured on the banks of the Potomac later that night. Fifty-four Union dead—of whom only one is identified—are buried in Ball's Bluff Battlefield and National Cemetery. A Union howitzer captured by Confederate forces was recaptured May 29, 1863 from John S. Mosby raid at Greenwich, Virginia. This Union defeat was relatively minor in comparison to the battles to come in the war, but it had an enormously wide impact in and out of military affairs. In addition to losing 223 soldiers, the Union lost a sitting senator, which led to severe political ramifications in Washington. The ensuing outcry, and a desire to learn why Federal forces had lost battles at Bull Run (Manassas), Wilson's Creek, and Ball's Bluff, led to the establishment of the Congressional Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, which would bedevil Union officers for the remainder of the war and contribute to nasty political infighting among the generals in the high command. Lt. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., of the 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, survived a wound at Ball's Bluff to become an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1902. Herman Melville's poem "Ball's Bluff – A Reverie" (1866) commemorates the battle. Edmund Rice who eventually reached the rank of Brigadier General, was awarded the Medal of Honor and survived the war by near a half century. Condition: Good.
Keywords: Ball's Bluff, Congressional Investigation, Prisoners of War, Battlefield, Edward Baker, Joint Congressional Committee, Conduct of the War, Harrison's Island, Charles Stone, George McClellan, Smart's Mill Pond, Willis Gorman
ISBN: 0943522102
[Book #91829]
Price: $75.00