Ball's Bluff Battlefield

A false intelligence report from a Union Army reconnaissance patrol precipitated the disastrous rout of Union forces at Ball's Bluff above the Potomac River less than three miles northeast of Leesburg, Virginia on October 21, 1861.

Ball's Bluff National Military Cemetary

Tim and I paid a visit to the Civil War battlefield of Ball's Bluff before we biked back to Washington, D.C.

Tim at the entrance to Ball's Bluff Battlefield

In October 1861 Union commander General George B. McClelland ordered troops to scout out the strength of Confederate forces in northern Virginia. 

Following orders, Captain Chase Philbrick led a small patrol across the Potomac River to scale the bluffs.  Upon arriving at the top and moving inland less than a mile, the inexperienced officer mistook a row of trees for an unguarded Confederate camp.  Without confirming his assumption, Philbrick and his men scurried back across the river to report this misinformation to Brigadier General Charles P. Stone.  Stone elected to mount a raid at dawn and placed Colonel Edward Baker in command. 

Although it's difficult to see amid the foliage, that is the
Potomac River at the bottom of Ball's Bluff.

During the night, Union troops were quietly ferried across the Potomac, but a shortage of boats allowed only 1,700 of the 7,000 Federal troops to cross.  Meanwhile, Confederate soldiers on patrol from their encampment at Leesburg observed this activity and the unplanned, unintended battle between 1,709 Confederate and 1,720 Federal soldiers ensued.

This marker shows the movements of Union troops in blue and Confederate units in red.

Under the command of General Nathan G. Evans, the Confederates held the high ground.  Despite advice from several Union officers who urged him to advance away from the bluff and into the field, Colonel Baker fought a defensive battle at the summit.  Sadly, Colonel Baker who was also Senator Baker remains the only U.S. Senator ever killed in battle.

This marker commemorates Col. Edward Baker.

A historical marker on the battlefield relates this description of the battle: 

The 17th Mississippi regiment was the last Confederate unit to arrive on the field late in the afternoon.  According to Private Robert Moore, the Mississippians had marched double-time from Leesburg and were "very near run down when we got there." 

To let them catch their breath and to protect them from the still heavy Union fire, Colonel Winfield Scott Featherson ordered his men to lie down.  Private Calvin Vance later wrote that Featherston's order "was obeyed with great alacrity; no lizards ever got closer to the ground than we did...the Minie balls came screaming by and over us, saying, 'Where are you?' while we hugged old mother earth."

Two of the three small, mobile "mountain howitzers"
the Union forces reassembled at the top of the bluff.

Shortly before dark, the 17th Mississippi regiment joined the 18th Mississippi in what became the battle's climatic assault as the Confederates moved in a broad arc towards the summit of the bluff.  They overwhelmed the beleaguered Union troops, finally driving them into the river, shooting down on them from the crest of the bluff.  They ceased fire only when it became too dark to see.

The third Union gun is near the Ball's Bluff National Military Cemetery.

Many of the Union wounded fell into the river and drowned.  The Union forces sustained 1,002 casualties with 223 killed, 226 wounded and 553 captured by the Confederates who only suffered 149 casualities.  Washingtonians were horrified to see bodies of fallen Federal soldiers floating downriver to the city.

The death of Senator Baker, as well as the disparity of casualties, resulted in a Congressional investigation that led to the arrest of General Charles Stone.  Stone was imprisoned at Fort Lafayette in New York harbor where he remained, untried for 189 days.  In later battles, Union commanders would fail to act for fear of similar Congressional reprimand. 

The remains of 25 unknown Union soldiers were buried in a circle within the Ball's Bluff National Military Cemetery.

It truly is a wonder that the Union Army won the war!