Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The last of the Federal units to file into the defenses of Washinton DC was General Banks Corps of the Army of Virginia. Because of his terrible performance in the Valley and subsequent defeat at Cedar Mountain, Banks' men had been held out of the recent fighting, used instead as supply guards, wagon escorts and deserter chasers. As Banks and his men came up from Bristoe Station, General Pope had ridden out to meet them on the road, escorted by General McDowell. Near Munson Hill, the location of General Johnston's "Quaker Gun" fortifications the previous year, Pope and his escorts were met by a party of Federal officers, led by a yellow sashed general on a tall black horse.
After an exchange of words lasting but a few minutes, Pope then asked permission for he and General McDowell, to return to Washington.
This was granted by George McClellan, who had just informed Pope that he had been relieved and replaced. Little Mac was once more in command.
Just as he had predicted to his wife, Pope would meet with disaster and in the alarm associated with defeat, the nation would turn once more to McClellan to save them all.
The decision to fire Pope was far easier than the decision regarding his replacement. President Lincoln's cabinet was divided, Secretary Stanton, who despised McClellan led those opposed to Mac's return, and they were in the majority. All knew of the severe animosity which existed between the radical Republicans and the Democrat general, and feared the backlash Mac's reinstatement would generate from that quarter. There was also the memory of McClellan's failed operations, his sluggish movements and timid approach to battle.
It was the president who had gone against the collective advice and decided that they must endure Little Mac once again. Pope's claims to the contrary, Lincon could see the strongly demoralized attitude of the troops now occupying the capitol, and he knew that regardless of McClellan's incompetency in the field, he excelled at organization and morale building. That was what was most immediately needed and no one was more capable of producing it quickly than McClellan.
That evening he and General Halleck had called upon Mac and informed him of the decision.
Word rapidly spread throughout the Union army and the news was greeted with great celebration by the men of both the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Virginia. It was impossible to find anyone lamenting Pope's termination. Four days later Pope would be on a train heading for Minnesota where he would fight the Sioux who had lately launched a war against the white settlers there.
With the Union army pulled back into the fortifications and trenches surrounding Washington DC, and the Army of Northern Virginia keeping an eye on it from a position to the west, there was finally a break in the extended fury which had marked the eastern theater of the war from Cedar Mountain through Chantilly.
While General Lee was contemplating his next move and General McClellan was reorganizing the Federal army, 150 years ago today things were heating up in the west.
Three parallel columns were all marching north. In eastern Tennessee, General Kirby Smith had sent a 9000 man division to close the Cumberland Gap, needed to insure no threat to his right flank as he launched his invasion of Kentucky with the remaining 12,000 in his force. Smith had crossed the Tennessee/Kentucky border in mid August and marched toward the Ohio River. Standing between him and that goal was General William Nelson with 8000 raw recruits. He had been dispatched by General Buell to deal with Smith and defend the Bluegrass State.
Nelson was not at all confident that his men were up to the job. Not only had they never seen combat, they had not had time to complete much training. They were divided into two divisions, both of which were commanded by inexperienced civillians turned soldiers. The men had been recruited and rushed to the scene by the governors of Ohio and Indiana in response to the threat from Smith, and had signed only emergency three and five week enlistments.
On August 30th, Smith's force was nearing Richmond Kentucky, a short distance from Nelson's headquarters in Lexington. Nelson planned to pull the men back from Richmond to a fortified defensive line near Lexington, but his amatuer brigadiers decided to make a stand in front of Richmond. Rushing to the scene from Lexington, Nelson discovered that Smith's 12,000 veterans had already stampeded Nelson's men and he came upon a disordered scene of panic and rout.
Nelson did what he could, rallying those men he could stop and shoving them into a defensive line. Feeling the need to inspire these frightened soldiers, Nelson walked back and forth in front of the line, calling our encouragement and claiming that the rebels "couldn't hit anything."
He was wrong about the latter, receiving three wounds, all slight, during his demonstration of courage. His rallied men stood for three volleys from the Confederates and then broke and ran, Nelson unable to do a thing to stop them.
For 78 killed and 372 wounded, Smith had put Nelson's force entirely out of business. 206 Union soldiers had lost their lives, 844 were wounded and 4300 were captured. The Confederate attack had been led by a rising star in the rebel army, General Patrick Clerburne. It would be hard to be more Irish than Clerburne, he was born in County Cork on Saint Patrick's Day. He served for a time in the British army before emigrating to Arkansas where he became an attorney. His hobbies were chess and pistol target shooting, he excelled in both. Clerburne was wounded in this action, shot in the cheek by a bullet which exited through his open mouth.
With the opposition before him scattered, Smith resumed his march, reaching Lexington on the 1st of September and 150 years ago today they marched into the state capitol of Frankfort where they hauled down the US flag and replaced it with their own. Needless to say all the Union officials had fled in advance of this ceremony.
Further to the west, General Bragg had left Chattanooga on August 28th, having twice the distance to cover as Smith, he would not cross into Kentucky for another week. The movement did precisely what Bragg had hoped it would do, forcing General Don Carlos Buell to abandon northern Alabama and march toward Nashville, which he assumed was Bragg's primary goal.
And that was exactly what Bragg wished him to think.
Map of the Kentucky Invasion. Smith is the red line on the far right, Bragg the red line in the center and Buell the blue line on the left.
General McClellan was not currently plagued by having to choose among various military options. The task was clear, put the army back into fighting shape and defend the capitol.
For General Lee, the next move would require some thinking.
He could not attack the Washington fortifications, his army was too small and he lacked the siege weapons required. He could not simply remain in place keeping the capitol under a defacto siege, the area had been marched and fought over so many times already that the competing armies had stripped the land of food for the men and fodder for the animals. If he fell back to the Rappahannock River line, that would be forfeiting all the gains he had just made and the bloodshed would have been in vain.
That left only invasion.
Lee was attracted to this option for a number of reasons. He very much recognized that northern Virginia needed a break from the war if it was to be able to feed itself this coming winter. Taking the war to the north would not only allow the southern farmers to resume their work, but the bounty of the northern farms would be feeding the rebel soldiers. Lee further felt that the European nations had been impressed by the Confederate victories of the summer and topping those off with a triumph on northern soil, in conjunction with Bragg's invasion in the west, might be enough to generate foreign recognition.
Finally it was widely believed in the South that the border states had been coerced into remaining in the Union and that the true sympathies of the majority of the citizens lay with rebellion. A Confederate presence in Maryland would allow those supporters who had been disguising their true leanings, to come out openly, leading to thousands of enlistments.
Lee sent a wire to President Davis explaining his thinking on the Maryland campaign, announcing that unless he was ordered to not do it, he would be getting under way shortly.
Shortly turned out to be even before the reply from Davis arrived. 150 years ago this morning the soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia were on the march, heading for White's Ferry where they would cross the Potomac into Maryland.
Lee was making the advance riding in an ambulance. Four days earlier, during the rains which had lashed the battle at Chantilly, Lee had been standing by his horse holding the reins when a sudden noise startled the beast and caused it to rear. Lee slipped in the muck while grabbing for the bridle and landed on his hands, breaking a bone in one and spraining the other. The injuries requires that splints be worn and Lee could not hold reins, thus, he bounced along in a wagon.
The Union Invaded...Lee's March Into Maryland, McClellan Follows.
Three days earlier General Lee's troops had splashed across the Potomac into Maryland at White's Ford. The troops were in high spirits and sang "Maryland My Maryland" as they marched. 150 years ago today found the army passing through Frederick, Maryland. It was at this time and place that a famous legend grew around a very real person.
Barbara Fritchie was a 94 year old Frederick resident. A glovemaker's widow, she had been a personal friend of Francis Scott Key. Though what she may or may not have actually done that day is lost to history, a story began circulating that when Stonewall Jackson's troops were marching past her home, she did something to either obstruct or mock the rebels.
The legends became codified in 1864 when John Greenleaf Whittier decided to convert the story into an epic poem. Whittier has Fritchie mounting an American flag outside her upstairs window. It gets riddled by a volley from Jackson's troops, and is then seized and waved by Barbara, defying the Confederates to shoot her rather than the flag.
Quote:
Up from the meadows rich with corn,
Clear in the cool September morn,
The clustered spires of Frederick stand
Green-walled by the hills of Maryland.
Round about them orchards sweep,
Apple- and peach-tree fruited deep,
Fair as a garden of the Lord
To the eyes of the famished rebel horde,
On that pleasant morn of the early fall
When Lee marched over the mountain wall,—
Over the mountains winding down,
Horse and foot, into Frederick town.
Forty flags with their silver stars,
Forty flags with their crimson bars,
Flapped in the morning wind: the sun
Of noon looked down, and saw not one.
Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then,
Bowed with her fourscore years and ten;
Bravest of all in Frederick town,
She took up the flag the men hauled down;
In her attic window the staff she set,
To show that one heart was loyal yet.
Up the street came the rebel tread,
Stonewall Jackson riding ahead.
Under his slouched hat left and right
He glanced: the old flag met his sight.
“Halt!”— the dust-brown ranks stood fast.
“Fire!”— out blazed the rifle-blast.
It shivered the window, pane and sash;
It rent the banner with seam and gash.
Quick, as it fell, from the broken staff
Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf;
She leaned far out on the window-sill,
And shook it forth with a royal will.
“Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,
But spare your country’s flag,” she said.
A shade of sadness, a blush of shame,
Over the face of the leader came;
The nobler nature within him stirred
To life at that woman’s deed and word:
“Who touches a hair of yon gray head
Dies like a dog! March on!” he said.
All day long through Frederick street
Sounded the tread of marching feet:
All day long that free flag tost
Over the heads of the rebel host.
Ever its torn folds rose and fell
On the loyal winds that loved it well;
And through the hill-gaps sunset light
Shone over it with a warm good-night.
Barbara Frietchie’s work is o’er,
And the Rebel rides on his raids no more.
Honor to her! and let a tear
Fall, for her sake, on Stonewall’s bier.
Over Barbara Frietchie’s grave
Flag of Freedom and Union, wave!
Peace and order and beauty draw
Round thy symbol of light and law;
And ever the stars above look down
In thy stars below in Frederick town
Ohttp://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174751
The story's credibility suffers for A) A reconstruction of the march has established that Jackson's troops never passed by Fritchie's house, and B) She was ill and in bed throughout the entire day.
But it made for an inspiring tale, poem, and later stageplay which was a huge hit in the North.
Barbara Fritchie
It was while in Frederick that Lee made his plans for how his invasion would unfold. Of first consideration was what to do about the 12,000 man Union garrison at Harper's Ferry. If Lee moved north leaving it intact, he would have an enemy force posed on his line of communications back to Virginia. This was unacceptable, so Lee commanded Jackson to seize the place with his Corps, while Lee continued north with Longstreet's Corps to threaten Northern cities and impose itself between General McClellan's army and Jackson's force....if Little Mac was willing to disturb the army's respite in the capitol. Lee was inclined to think that he would not, estimating that the defeats which had been inflicted on McClellan's and Pope's forces would require at least three weeks of reorganizations and refitting before they could take any offensive action again.
For once Lee badly misread George McClellan. Far from sulking in the capitol with a demoralized army, Mac had set to work with a fury of energy, accomplishing in a few days what he had needed months to do the year before. Mac had the awols tracked down, the men back in their proper units, fresh equipment issued and two days earlier had marched NW out of Washington in pursuit.
Jackson devised a complicated plan, dividing his Corps into three wings and approaching Harper's Ferry from three different directions simultaneously. Lee approved the plan and incorporated it into his orders for the entire army which outlined not only Jackson's movements, but also the plan to split Longstreet's Corps into two strike wings, with one under Longstreet aiming for Williamsport, and another under D.H. Hill converging on Boonsboro. For a few days, Lee's army would be split into five segments, none in close supporting distance of any other.
This was Special Order # 191.
Copies were made and sent out to all concerned officers.
As previously mentioned, a partial goal of the Confederate invasions of Maryland and Kentucky was to liberate those rebel sympathizers who it was assumed would be fighting for the South were their state not controlled by the Union.
To that end, 150 years ago today General Lee issued a broadside proclamation explaining the arrival of the men in grey.
Quote:
To the People of Maryland:
Headquarters, Army N. Virginia
Fredericktown, 8th September, 1862
It is right that you should know the purpose that brought the Army under my command within the limits of your State, so far as that purpose concerns yourselves.
The People of the Confederate States have long watched with the deepest sympathy the wrongs and outrages that have been inflicted upon the citizens of a Commonwealth, allied to the States of the South by the strongest social, political and commercial ties.
They have seen with profound indignation their sister State deprived of every right, and reduced to the condition of a conquered Province.
Lee goes on for several paragraphs discussing the alleged outrages, and then closes with the nuts and bolts of the matter:
Quote:
Believing that the People of Maryland possessed a spirit too lofty to submit to such a government, the people of the south have long wished to aid you in throwing off this foreign yoke, to enable you to again enjoy the inalienable rights of free men, and restore independence and sovereignty to your State.
In obedience to this wish, our Army has come among you, and is prepared to assist you with the power of its arms in regaining the rights of which you have been despoiled.
This, Citizens of Maryland, is our mission, so far as you are concerned.
No constraint upon your free will is intended, no intimidation is allowed.
Within the limits of this Army, at least, Marylanders shall once more enjoy their ancient freedom of thought and speech.
We know no enemies among you, and will protect all of every opinion.
It is for you to decide your destiny, freely and without constraint.
This army will respect your choice whatever it may be, and while the Southern people will rejoice to welcome you to your natural position among them, they will only welcome you when you come of your own free will.
R. E. Lee, General Commanding.
It was an impressively diplomatic message, no threats, a promise of good behavior on the part of the invaders, more of an invitation than demand. The problem wasn't Lee's manners, it was the geography of his invasion. Though Maryland was a slave state, in the same manner as western Virginia and eastern Tennessee, the western part of Maryland through which Lee was passing, was not a region where very many owned or had use for slaves. The pro slavery elements in the state were concentrated around Baltimore in the east. While they were delighted to learn that their countryside would not be devestated by Lee's army, that did nothing to alter their existing pro Union sentiments. No large number of new recruits materialized during Lee's stay.
Most treatments of Lee have tended to divorce him from the Southern cause and portray him as motivated only by the desire to defend his home state. Lee had no love for slavery and had been against secession, so this is an easy image to embrace.
I think that image is tarnished just a bit by the wording of his proclamation to the people of Maryland.
Quote:
..the people of the south have long wished to aid you in throwing off this foreign yoke, to enable you to again enjoy the inalienable rights of free men, and restore independence and sovereignty to your State.
That certainly sounds like someone who subscribes to the idea that the rebellion is a just cause. Was that merely Lee the propagandist indulging in a little hyperbole, or was it a glimpse of his real sentiments?
General Kirby Smith's Kentucky invading army detached the 8000 man division under General Henry Heth to advance against the Ohio River city and if possible, capture it.
That was not going to be possible for when Heth arrived at the outskirts on September 6th, he found a well prepared, well defended community. Panic had set the Union into furious motion and 25,000 regulars under General Lew Wallace had been sent to see to the city fortifications. In addition, there was a 60,000 man militia force, collectively calling themselves "The Squirrel Hunters" who turned out in assorted forms of organization and discipline. So many defenders had arrived and began eating the town's food supplies that the day before Heth's force approached, Ohio governor David Tod had to make a public announcement, pleading that no more volunteers come.
Heth saw no point in trying to attack with so few men, so he instead settled on hanging around the area for six days, making threatening movements, but engaging in nothing more than light skirmishing. On the 12th, Smith turned his men around and marched back to Lexington. Wallace was prepared to pursue Smith's retreat, but instead was called upon to immediately march his force to Louisville which was being threatened by General Bragg's column of 31,000 men who were four days away from Glascow, Kentucky where Bragg planned to issue a broadside proclamation of his own which he completed 150 years ago today. It was very much the same message which Lee was spreading in Maryland, but with greater hyperbole.
Quote:
Kentuckians. — I have entered your State with the Confederate Army of the West, and offer you an opportunity to free yourselves from the tyranny of a despotic ruler.' We come, not as conquercrs or as despoilers, but to restore to you the liberties of which yon have been deprived by a cruel and relentless foe. — We come to guarantee to all the sanctity of their homes and altars; to punish with a rod of iron the depoiers of your peace, and to avenge the cowardly insults to your women. With all non combatants the past shall he forgotten. I shall enforce a rigid discipline and shall protect all in their persons and property. Needful supplies most be had for my army, but they shall be paid for at fair and remunerating prices.
The idea that the Confederates would be purchasing needed supplies rather than confiscating them was something of a sham. True, the Kentuckian being relieved of his or her property would receive payment, but it was in the form of Confederate money, the value of which was in serial flux, and would be of no use to a Kentuckian until after the war ...and only if the South was triumphant. A handful of paper which he didn't want and couldn't use was small consolation to the Kentucky farmer who watched his animals and produce being carried away by the rebels.
Like Lee, Bragg was careful to explain that all was on a voluntary basis.
Quote:
Kentuckians !— We have come with joyous hopes, let us not depart in sorrow, as we shall if we find you wedded in your choice to your present lot. If you prefer Federal rule, show it by your frowns and we shall return whence we came. If you choose rather to come within the folds of our brotherhood, then cheer us with the smiles of your women, and lend your willing lands to secure you in your heiitage of liberty.
Did this mean that a Kentuckian whose barn was being emptied by Bragg or Smith's men could simply step outside and frown, followed by an apology and the departure of the Confederates? It did not work out that way.
Bragg had a special wagon train with him which was carrying arms, powder and equipment earmarked for the 5 to 10 thousand recruits he expected to come forward for enlistment. He need not have bothered. As with their Maryland bretheren, very few Kentuckians took advantage of Bragg's offer.
General Lew Wallace. Not only did he write "Ben-Hur", he also saved Cincinnati.
From Frederick Maryland the Confederate army had marched north and west, eventually fragmenting into five distinct units. Furthest to the north, half of General Longstreet's Corps occupied Hagerstown, the other half under General D.H. Hill was at Boonsboro. Stonewall Jackson's Corps had split into three units to converge on Harper's Ferry from both north of the Potomac, and from both sides of the Shenandoah River, sealing it off and preventing the escape of the garrison. Jackson led the portion which marched north and then looped back to the west bank of the Shenandoah River. General McLaws marched due west and General Walker angled up from the SE.
150 years ago today the rebel force which had the most marching to do, commanded personally by Jackson, descended from Williamsport after recrossing the Potomac and surprised the small Union garrison at Martinsburg, 60 miles NW of Harper's Ferry on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The Federals fled for the "safety" of Harper's Ferry. Martinsburg was familiar territory to Jackson, it had been here in 1861 that he had pulled off his multiple locomotive theft stunt. The town was also the home of the rebel spy Belle Boyd who had previously been of good service to Stonewall.
SE of all this activity marched the Army of the Potomac, which by Lee's calculations should have still been recuperating in their Washington fortifications. 150 years ago this evening the lead elements began arriving in Frederick, four days after Lee's troops had departed. The Federals camped there and in the surrounding fields for the night. General McClellan's arrival had greatly cheered the town's residents after having had to host Lee's hungry men. Although Mac's presence did not inspire any epic poems, two Union soldiers, Sergeant J.M. Bloss and Private B.W. Mitchell, would get their names into the history books as a consequence of their stay in Frederick. The caprice of fate would be touching them tomorrow.
Map of the Antietam Campaign. Martinsburg is in the upper left corner.
Company E of the 27th Indiana regiment was crossing a field outside of Frederick Maryland 150 years ago this morning when the order came for a rest. While taking their ease in the grass, Sergeant J.M. Bloss and Private B.W. Mitchell prepared to consume some treats which had been provided to them by Union well wishers in Frederick. Then they found a bonus, a long envelope was lying next to them and upon opening it they discovered three cigars wrapped in paper. By chance Mitchell decided to read what was on the paper before throwing it away.
It was titled "Special Orders 191" and featured eight paragraphs full of dates, objectives, unit commander names and marching instructions. It was Lee's entire campaign plan spelled out in full.
Recognizing the importance of the find, the two men rushed the find to regimental headquarters who rushed it to division headquarters who rushed it to General McClellan's attention. A staff officer recognized the handwriting of Lee's assistant adjutant general, R.H. Chilton, authenticating the document.
What Little Mac had in his hands was a map of where all of Lee's forces were expected to be for the next several days, scattered around SW Maryland, with portions to the north and portions to the south converging on Harper's Ferry. All McClellan had to do was move quickly enough and he could impose his 75,000 men between the segments of Lee's army, cutting them off from one another and forcing each section to fight while terribly outnumbered, each destroyed in turns.
"Here is a paper" said an elated McClellan, "with which if I cannot whip Bobby Lee I will be willing to go home." He wired President Lincoln with the news and promised that "no time would be lost" in capitalizing on this stroke of good fortune.
But this was Mac and immediately after the first burst of energy and clarity about what to do, he began to second guess himself. His first step was to conclude that he was facing 120,000 men in the invasion and had to plan accordingly. He spent the afternoon considering alternatives and finally decided on a multi headed strike, one through Turner's Gap in the mountains to the north to fall on General's Longstreet and Hill, and another assault through Crampton's Gap to the south, which when forced would open the way to falling on the rear of Generals Anderson and McLaws' divisions as they approached Harper's Ferry.
Mac didn't complete all of his brainstorming until evening time, so he decided to give the men a night's rest and move out the next morning. Had he put his men on the road right away rather than waiting for the next day, they would have come upon the two gaps when they were only lightly defended by small forces which would have been easily swept away. By waiting Mac was going to fight his way through.
And that would give Lee the time needed to re-concentrate his army.
General Lafayette McClaws was readying his division for its assault on Harper's Ferry 150 years ago this morning. His command had marched from Frederick, through Crampton's Gap and turned south to descend on the Union garrison. Left behind at Crampton's Gap to watch the division's back was General Howell Cobb and his 2100 strong brigade. Cobb was distinguished by two things, he was among, if not the, most fanatical of the fire breathing secessionists, and he looked less like a general than perhaps anyone else of that rank in the entire South. They were not expected to see any action beyond scaring off any Yankee cavalry patrols. Around noon they received unwelcome callers.
This was General William Franklin and the 13,000 men of his 6th Corps. They had departed Frederick early that morning with orders to cross through Crampton's Gap and attack the rear of the Confederates assaulting Harper's Ferry.
But first there was that gap to force. The terrain favored the outnumbered defenders, featuring relatively flat terraces to build defensive positions and high points for observation which commanded all approaches.
Had McClellan dispatched Franklin right away after learning General Lee's plans via the lost order, he would have been in place eleven hours earlier and in a position to follow up a successful assault through the gap. Reflecting his chief's absence of celerity, Franklin took three hours to form up his divisions for the attack, not sending them forward until three pm.
The rebels fought with cunning and courage, but eventually the numbers overwhelmed them and shortly before 6 pm they were driven down the other side of the pass, scattering in a disorganized manner. The Confederates had 130 dead and 760 wounded to Franklin's losses of 115 dead and 420 wounded, but the three hours of battle which Cobb had provided were enough. Franklin considered the late hour and called off further operations until the next morning.
The consequence was to doom his mission to futility, Harper's Ferry would fall the next morning, McClaws would be reunited with General Jackson and neither would be prevented from rejoining Lee in time for the main engagement. General McClellan had now forfeited half of the benefit he had received from the discovery of Special Orders 191. Jackson's half of the divided Confederate Army would receive no blow.
One of the war's great squandered opportunities, Franklin bursts through Crampton's Gap, but about six hours too late.
General Lafayette McClaws was readying his division for its assault on Harper's Ferry 150 years ago this morning. His command had marched from Frederick, through Crampton's Gap and turned south to descend on the Union garrison. Left behind at Crampton's Gap to watch the division's back was General Howell Cobb and his 2100 strong brigade. Cobb was distinguished by two things, he was among, if not the, most fanatical of the fire breathing secessionists, and he looked less like a general than perhaps anyone else of that rank in the entire South. They were not expected to see any action beyond scaring off any Yankee cavalry patrols. Around noon they received unwelcome callers.
This was General William Franklin and the 13,000 men of his 6th Corps. They had departed Frederick early that morning with orders to cross through Crampton's Gap and attack the rear of the Confederates assaulting Harper's Ferry.
But first there was that gap to force. The terrain favored the outnumbered defenders, featuring relatively flat terraces to build defensive positions and high points for observation which commanded all approaches.
Had McClellan dispatched Franklin right away after learning General Lee's plans via the lost order, he would have been in place eleven hours earlier and in a position to follow up a successful assault through the gap. Reflecting his chief's absence of celerity, Franklin took three hours to form up his divisions for the attack, not sending them forward until three pm.
The rebels fought with cunning and courage, but eventually the numbers overwhelmed them and shortly before 6 pm they were driven down the other side of the pass, scattering in a disorganized manner. The Confederates had 130 dead and 760 wounded to Franklin's losses of 115 dead and 420 wounded, but the three hours of battle which Cobb had provided were enough. Franklin considered the late hour and called off further operations until the next morning.
The consequence was to doom his mission to futility, Harper's Ferry would fall the next morning, McClaws would be reunited with General Jackson and neither would be prevented from rejoining Lee in time for the main engagement. General McClellan had now forfeited half of the benefit he had received from the discovery of Special Orders 191. Jackson's half of the divided Confederate Army would receive no blow.
One of the war's great squandered opportunities, Franklin bursts through Crampton's Gap, but about six hours too late.
General William Franklin
Howell Cobb...would you give this man a division?
Thank you again for posting, I wish I could rep you every day. I guess we are at the point where Napolianics gives way to attrition, which can have only one outcome
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hey, we're just friends with guns...
