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This is the Thomas Farm.  This field was was held by both sides, back and forth throughout the afternoon.  To your left is where the Worthington Farm, as pictured yesterday, is located. To your right is where the Union formed their lines to meet the confederates.  Straight ahead is the tree line that marks the river.

The red house that is here obscured by trees is the actual Thomas house, which was occupied at times by Union sharpshooters.  To the far right, well off the side of the picture is the Gambrill Mill, which was the site of the Unions field hospital.

Behind you (although pretty far behind you) is Washington, and to the right would be  Baltimore.  Keep in mind that this battle was being fought by Wallace with many untrained soldiers and with 7 cannons against 15,000 regular Confederates and their 40 guns.  It’s doubtful that union commanders on this field thought that they could win the battle after they understood that they were fighting an entire corps of the enemy army.  Still the battle waged on, delaying the confederate advance until they finally broke the Union line in the late afternoon.

While it was being fought, troops were being rushed to Washington from Virginia to protect the defenseless city. The  union soldiers on this field held back the larger opposing force for the entire afternoon.  By the time the battle had ended, the Confederates would have to make camp for the night and continue on their way to DC the next morning.  The battle cost them a day, and it was just enough to allow DC to protect itself before the attack.

There are a lot more stories about this battle that I haven’t shared.  While I’ve focused on the river, the bridges, and the crossing, I’ve really only covered the center and the left of the Union line.  There is a history on the right flank as well.   I have pictures of specific places and specific things on the field that were not appropriate for this overview and that I’ll trickle into the future MDP flow of things.  I hope that some of you can stop by the battlefield, check out the visitor center, and see it for yourself.

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We are now on the south side of the river. The treeline that is directly in front and moving to the right of this picture is on the banks of the Monocacy river.  Straight ahead is where the confederates crossed the river, and about half a mile behind us is where Wallace’s men were.

Wallace’s Union soldiers had known that the confederates were coming.  They laid waiting not too far back from here in a concealed position and attacked the Cavalry as it first moved in.  The line of battle would remain just a little behind where this picture was taken in a place called Thomas farm.

Today’s picture is Worthington farm.  It was occupied by confederates from the moment they arrived there until the end of the battle. As the fighting waged on, and the confederate infantry arrived, this field and the farmhouse, as pictured below, were used as a confederate field hospital.  This was also the position from which  the artillery would attack the Union soldiers just to the east.

Today the field between Thomas farm, where the lines of battle were, and Worthington Farm, pictured today is cut in two by I-270.  Trees lining the highway prevent one from standing here at Worthington Farm and looking out at the Thomas farm.

I would encourage everyone to go to the visitors center, wherein there is an excellent topographical battlefield diorama, which lights up to show the battles progression throughout the day.

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Of the three battle monuments at the field today the 14th New Jersey Infantry’s monument is the most substantial.  It’s placed where the hardest action occurred during the first phase of the battle of July 9th.  It is essentially the spot where the canon from yesterday’s picture is aimed.  To your right are the railroad tracks and to the left is the river.   Most of Wallace’s union troops were on the other side of the river, to the south.  Most of early’s were across the tracks on the right, to the north.

Wallace had Skirmishing units in this spot on the north side of the river and only the covered bridge to tie them with the rest of the army.  In this area between the tracks and the river, the men of the 14th New Jersey held back the confederates from the bridge.

Of course, there were two problems for the Union defenders.  The overwhelming number of confederates was one problem.  But the other problem was that Jubal Early directed his cavalry to find another way across the river to get to the bulk of the union forces.  They found one just a mile or so downriver and suddenly the confederates brought a two sided attack.    Once the cavalry found a way across, a confederate infantry division found its way across and the fiercest fighting began on the other side of the river.

To avoid facing a battle on two sides, the union troops burned the covered bridge connecting the two banks of the river at this point.  The soldiers left here on the north side fought as long as they could until they had to retreat by struggling across the railroad bridge.

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This isn’t a story about trains (I know you are upset) but they do play a major role.

On June 29, 1864 news came of a Confederate invasion of Maryland.  It was news that came from the station officers to the president of the B&O railroad.

That man, John W. Garrett, then tried to lobby Washington for support and protection of the railroad between Frederick, where the confederates were, and Washington DC, which was possibly where they were going.

General Grant had moved almost all of the garrisons out of DC to help support his campaign through Virginia.  This left DC unguarded from the north.   Lee  had split his army, as we was wont to do from time to time.  Lee and much of his army would be fighting off Grant’s advance in Virginia, while he tasked Jubal Early to secure the Shenandoah valley, cross into Maryland, and take DC from the North.

You may remember Jubal Early as the namesake of the boat at White’s Ferry.

While nobody in Washington could help Garrett, his notice did serve as a warning for Grant to move troops back north to protect the district.  Meanwhile, Garrett did attract the attention of Lew Wallace, the Union General who was situated in Baltimore at the time.    Wallace moved his troops westward between Jubal Early in Frederick and his otherwise completely open path to DC.

He settled at a place called Monocacy Junction.  The monocacy river has been pictured so many times on this website that it should have its own category.  So if you are wondering if there’s a connection, there is.   Monocacy junction was a point just south of Frederick and along the Monocacy river.  At this place there was crucial railroad junction of tracks moving to Frederick and to the west as well as a bridge moving the tracks over the river and east to Baltimore.  This was a part of the B&O main line.

Just as the confederates previously attempted to destroy the aqueduct where the C&O canal crossed the Monocacy river, they frequently chose the railroad bridge over the Monocacy as another favorite target.   From this junction, Wallace could protect the critical bridge but he could also safely assume that the confederates would pass by on their way to either Baltimore or DC.   It was a good place to make a nuisance for the invaders and it was a place from which he could also the move to defend either city.

At the junction there was also a covered bridge to take a roadway over the river.  It was the only practical means of getting across the river if you weren’t on a train.  Wallace’s 2,800 troops set in to protect the junction and the nearby bridges over the Monocacy river.  Most of his troops were on the south bank of the river and Early was coming from the North.

By the morning of July 9, Early brought the first of his 15,000 confederate troops to within a mile of the junction and the bridges.  He laid his artillery out between what is today the north end of the battlefield park, and an area to the southwest known as Best Farm, after the family that owned it.  This picture is taken from Best farm.  The canon you see is in the position that one of those confederate cannons would have been just after the first shots were fired.  To the right of this picture, trees obscure the railroad tracks that run directly behind them and the river that runs just 100 feet or so beyond the tracks.

Lew Wallace, his men, and their 7 cannons would spend the day fighting off 15,000 confederates and 40 cannons. (only 19 of which were used)  Outnumbered from the start, they had little chance of protecting the railroad assets.  What they could do was use the geography of the area to delay Early as long as possible while Union troops continued to move from Petersburg up to DC, hoping to be in position to defend the city before Early could get there.

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• 1 shelly // Aug 24, 2010 at 10:30 AM

  Pretty.

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