Battle of Harper's Ferry – Day 3

Having spent the previous day dragging the artillery into position on the heights around Harper's Ferry, the Confederate artillery was ready to open fire 150 years ago today. In the morning an artillery barrage of 50 guns opened on the Federals in the town. Dixon Miles realized that the situation was hopeless. He had not received McClellan's message that relief was on the way, and after holding a council of war ordered that the white flag be raised. Many of troops were not happy about this decision, and shouted to Miles, "For ——'s sake, Colonel, don't surrender us. Don't you hear the signal guns? Our forces are near us. Let us cut our way out and join them." "Impossible" Miles replied, "They will blow us out of this place in half an hour."

Harper's Ferry

Just momets later, as the white flag was being raised, Miles was struck in leg by an artillery shell which exploded near by. The men were so disgusted with Miles's conduct that for a while no one would take him to the hospital. He was mortally wounded, and died the next day. Meanwhile, his troops were being surrendered. The Union had lost 44 killed and 173 wounded in the fighting, but now 12,419 men were surrendered along with 13,000 weapons, 200 wagons and 73 cannon. It was the largest surrendered of Federal forces in American history until World War II. Harper's Ferry was lost in large part due to the incapacity of Miles. He failed to hold the high ground and refused to make an attempt to recapture it. This victory was won with little cost to the Confederates. Jackson lost 39 killed and 247 wounded mostly from the fighting on Maryland Heights.

Jackson

The capture of Harper's Ferry had a vast impact on the campaign. With the Federal victory at South Mountain the day before Lee had decided to abandon his plans for invasion and pull his army back across the river. However, he received a message that changed his mind. "Through God's blessing," Jackson wrote, "Harper's Ferry and its garrison are to be surrendered." With the fall of Harper's Ferry Jackson was free to move, so Lee determined to assemble the army just upriver at Sharpsburg, Maryland, to prepare to fight a battle on Union soil.

Battle of Harper's Ferry - Day 2

On September 13th, 150 years ago yesterday, the Confederates were able to occupy the high ground around Harper's Ferry. The Federals had given them the key to the position, but it would take time to make the most of it. Jackson ordered that guns be placed on the heights, and that none open until they could open fire all at once. This required a lot of hard work dragging heavy guns up the steep mountain sides. It took 200 men per gun to place four Parrott rifles on the summit of Maryland Heights. Walker was able to get his guns on Loudoun Heights placed fairly quickly, and impatient at the slowness of the preparations, opened fire at 1 pm. However, alone these guns were ineffectual and they soon ceased fire. The Federals realized they didn't have much time left. However, no effort was made to recapture the heights. If they had attacked Maryland Heights, it is likely that it would have been successful, as all of the troops there had been withdrawn except for one regiment to join the battle of Crampton's Gap.

Davis

Dixon Miles, Union commander, did allow another movement to be made. Colonel Benjamin Franklin “Grimes” Davis, commander of the 12th Illinois Cavalry and other mounted Union units in Harper's Ferry, proposed an attempt to break out. The cavalry would be useless in a siege, but at first Miles dismissed the idea as impractical, but Davis finally convinced him. Davis led his 1,400 cavalry across the Potomac and around the base of Maryland Heights. They had several close calls with rebels, but they were able to avoid detection. On their way back to Union lines they encountered a wagon train. It was Longstreet's reserve supply of ammunition. Unprotected by Confederates, it was an easy prey. They were able to trick the drivers into following them in a different direction, drove off the escort in the rear of the column, and brought the 40 wagons back to Union lines. Up to this point in the east Stuart's Confederate troops had literally ridden circles around the Yankees, but now, without loosing a man, Davis had performed the first great cavalry exploit of the Union army.

Battle of South Mountain

McClellan, having captured the Lost Order the day before, advanced towards South Mountain on September 14th, 150 years ago today. He know knew the position of the Confederate columns, but standing in his way was South Mountain. Running north south it was held by D. H. Hill's division. Lee had not expected to have to hold the mountain, as McClellan had been advancing slowly. But with the discovery of Lee's plans McClellan took more initiative than he was wont and began an attack on the mountain.

D. H. Hill

There were three main gaps in which fighting took place. Hill held only the two north most, Turner's and Fox's, but he still had only 5,000 to defend these positions separated by two miles. Further south was Crampton's Gap, held by a small force from McLaw's division. McClellan assaulted Turner's and Fox's gaps with his main army, while Franklin attacked Crampton's Gap with his corps in an attempt to raise the siege of Harper's Ferry.

Jesse Reno

McClellan advanced cautiously, as he did not know the small numbers of rebels holding the gap. Confused and fierce fighting continued throughout the day. Jesse Reno, commander of the 9th Corps made an attempt to Fox's gap. Hill sent in Samuel Garland's brigade, but Garland commanded inexperienced troops, and they were confused. The Federals were able to slowly push back the Confederates. Both Garland and Reno fell in the fighting. The Federal advance was halted by the timely arrival of Confederate reinforcements under John Bell Hood.

D. H. Hill went up to a lookout station and saw

the vast array of McClellan spread out before me. The marching columns extended back as far as eye could see in the distance; but many of the troops had already arrived and were in double lines of battle, and those advancing were taking up positions as fast as they arrived. It was a grand and glorious spectacle, and it was impossible to look at it without admiration. I had never seen so tremendous an army before, and I did not see one like it afterward.

Hooker's 1st coprs attacked Turner's gap. His preparations for the attack were slow, and by the time he attacked at 4 pm, Longstreet's men were arriving to bolster Hill's thin line. Rufus Dawes of the Iron Brigade, one of Hooker's most famous units, wrote:

From Turner's gap in our front, and along the right on the summit of the mountain, the artillery of the enemy was firing, and we could see the shells bursting over and amoung our advancing troops. For nearly an hour we laid upon the grassy knoll, passive spectators of the scene. The sun was sinking behind the mountain, when our order came to move forward. ... For half a mile of advance, our skirmishers played a deadly game of 'Bo-peep.' hiding behind logs, fences, rocks and bushes. ... Our skirmishers ... encountered the enemy in force and were behind a fence. ... Suddenly the seventh Wisconsin halted and opened fire, and we could see a rapid spitting of musketry flashes from the woods above and in front of us, and wounded men from the sevent began to hobble by us. ... Our whole line was slowly advanced up the mountain, the men shouting and firing. ... The rebels fell back from the woods, but stuck to the stone wall. The hostile lines had approached each other closely and the fire was deadly. It was dark and our only aim was by the flashes of the enemy's guns.

Down at Crampton's Gap, Franklin had attained more success. He broke through the Confederate defenders, capturing the gap in the afternoon. But he would be too late to aid Harper's Ferry. The delays in the attacks meant that although Lee had lost key positions on South Mountain, the siege had not been relieved or the army destroyed. The Confederates would have another day to concentrate to avoid destruction.

Dawes

Battle of Harper's Ferry - Day 1

Dixon Miles

The Union officer commanding garrison at Harper's Ferry was Colonel Dixon Miles. A veteran of the Mexican War, he had fought at Bull Run but then, being accused of drunkenness, was sent to Harper's Ferry on garrison duty, a post of less responsibility. But now with his 14,000 he was under attack by converging Confederate columns under the famed Stonewall Jackson. Miles's orders were to hold the town, and he took those orders very strictly. He placed most of the men in the town itself, but the town was indefensible without holding the high ridges surrounding it. On Maryland Heights, across the Potomac River, he did place Colonel Thomas Ford with four regiments. Several batteries were on the heights as well, but they were useless as they were positioned to meet an attack from a different angle.

Brig. Gen. Lafayette McLaws, commanding the Confederate column advancing on the Maryland side of the Potomac, encountered Ford's troops on the Heights near evening on the 12th, and halted for the night. Kershaw's South Carolina brigade attacked at 6:30 am on the 13th, 150 years ago today. The rebel plan was for Kershaw to attack directly at the Federal breastworks while Barksdale's Mississippi brigade worked around the Union right. At first Ford's green troops held their own. They met Kershaw's attacks from the front, but when the Mississippi troops were seen on their flank, they panicked and ran precipitously off the mountain and across the river, to the supposed safety of the town. With this small force driven back, Miles had lost one of the three keys to the defense of Harper's Ferry. But although his officers pleaded with him to launch a counterattack, he refused. Maryland Heights would remain in Confederate hands.

Harper's Ferry with Maryland Heights on the left and Loudon Heights on the right

While McLaws pushed the Federals off Maryland Heights, the other Confederate columns were arriving in position. Brig. Gen. John Walker found Loundon Heights across the Shenandoah River on the east of Harper's Ferry unoccupied, and occupied it. To the west of Harper's Ferry, Jackson's column occupied Bolivar Heights, astonished that Miles had left this position undefended as well. Holding the high ground, all the Confederates had to do was bring up their artillery and without a doubt Harper's Ferry would soon fall.

Harper's Ferry from Maryland Heights

Miles continued to reject proposals to retake Maryland Heights. He put his troops in position opposite Jackson on Bolivar Heights, and told his subordinates, "I am ordered to hold this place and God ---- my soul to hell if I don't." He did, however, send out 10 cavalry troops which found McClellan and informed him of the situation at Harper's Ferry. McClellan had what he needed to out general Lee – Special Order 191, the Lost Order. He assured Miles,

"You may count on our making every effort to relieve you. You may rely upon my speedily accomplishing that object. Hold out to the last extremity. If it is possible, re-occupy the Maryland heights with your whole force."

This order would never arrive, for before a courier could find a way in to beleaguered Harper's Ferry, the town would fall to the rebels.

McClellan Discovers Special Order 191

On September 9th Lee had written Special Order 191, which explained his plan for the campaign. He ordered three columns under the overall direction of Stonewall Jackson to converge on Harper's Ferry and capture it. This would open the Shenandoah Valley and eliminate a force in the Confederate rear. At that point Lee could move north into Pennsylvania with his rear secure. However, it would be a dangerous maneuver, splitting his army into several separate columns while McClellan was still moving to pursue. The order said this:

Special Orders, No. 191
Hdqrs. Army of Northern Virginia
September 9, 1862

… The army will resume its march tomorrow, taking the Hagerstown road. General Jackson's command will form the advance, and, after passing Middletown, with such portion as he may select, take the route toward Sharpsburg, cross the Potomac at the most convenient point, and by Friday morning take possession of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, capture such of them as may be at Martinsburg, and intercept such as may attempt to escape from Harpers Ferry.

General Longstreet's command will pursue the same road as far as Boonsborough, where it will halt, with reserve, supply, and baggage trains of the army.

General McLaws, with his own division and that of General R. H. Anderson, will follow General Longstreet. On reaching Middletown will take the route to Harpers Ferry, and by Friday morning possess himself of the Maryland Heights and endeavor to capture the enemy at Harpers Ferry and vicinity.

General Walker, with his division, after accomplishing the object in which he is now engaged, will cross the Potomac at Cheek's Ford, ascend its right bank to Lovettsville, take possession of Loudoun Heights, if practicable, by Friday morning, Key's Ford on his left, and the road between the end of the mountain and the Potomac on his right. He will, as far as practicable, cooperate with General McLaws and Jackson, and intercept retreat of the enemy.

General D. H. Hill's division will form the rear guard of the army, pursuing the road taken by the main body. The reserve artillery, ordnance, and supply trains, &c., will precede General Hill.

General Stuart will detach a squadron of cavalry to accompany the commands of Generals Longstreet, Jackson, and McLaws, and, with the main body of the cavalry, will cover the route of the army, bringing up all stragglers that may have been left behind.

The commands of Generals Jackson, McLaws, and Walker, after accomplishing the objects for which they have been detached, will join the main body of the army at Boonsborough or Hagerstown.

Each regiment on the march will habitually carry its axes in the regimental ordnance—wagons, for use of the men at their encampments, to procure wood &c.

By command of General R. E. Lee
R.H. Chilton, Assistant Adjutant General

The order

On September 13th, 150 years ago today, the order was being executed, although it was going slower than planned. However, at about 10:00 am Corporal Barton W. Mitchell of the 27th Indiana, which was camping on a rebel camp ground of a few days before, found a piece of paper wrapped around three cigars. Opening it, he found a copy of Special Orders 191. Two orders had been written for D. H. Hill, and through a staff oversight one was mislaid and dropped at camp, where it was found by this Indiana corporal. Mitchell recognized the document's importance and turned it over to his sergeant. It proceeded up to Corps Commander Alpheus S. Williams, who had a staff officer who recognized the handwriting of that of Richard Chilton, Lee's adjutant, as he remembered his signature from before the war. This proved that the order was genuine, and it was sent up to McClellan himself.

McClellan was overcome with joy when he read the order. It gave him the Confederate plans, and now he only had to push over South Mountain and then fall upon the scattered Confederate columns and destroy them. He told an officer, "Here is a paper with which, if I cannot whip Bobby Lee, I will be willing to go home." this paper was the key to the campaign. The providential loss of the order would result in the failure of Lee's plans for invasion, instead turning the campaign into a desperate effort to save his army.

Harper's Ferry Abandoned

The burned bridge with Harper's Ferry in the background

150 years ago yesterday Joseph E. Johnston of the Confederacy evacuated Harper's Ferry, Virginia, retreating before Robert's Patterson's Army of the Shenandoah. In this theater of the war, there were four main armies. The Union had one army under Gen. McDowell stationed near Washington, and another under Gen. Patterson at the head of the Shenandoah Valley. Their plan was to invade Virginia. Gen. Johnston commanded the Confederate army facing Patterson, and Gen. Beuregard commanded the other army facing McDowell.

The same bridge pillars today

Harper's Ferry was a very strategic point in the Civil War. It was at the junction of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers, and it is at the head of the Shenadoah Valley. It changed hands eight times during the Civil War. It was abandoned by the Union troops and occupied by Johnston, and now he was retreating in the face of Patterson's superior forces.