Battle of Ball's Bluff, Virginia
Battle of Ball's Bluff, Virginia - The Battle of Ball's Bluff in Loudoun County, Virginia on October 21, 1861, was one of the early battles of the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Army forces of the Army of the Potomac, under the command of 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 Leesburg. A false report of an unguarded Confederate camp encouraged Brigadier General Charles Pomeroy Stone to order a raid, which clashed with enemy forces. A prominent U.S. Senator in uniform, Colonel Edward Baker, tried to reinforce the Union troops, but failed to ensure that there were enough boats for the river crossings, which were then delayed. Baker was killed, and a newly-arrived Confederate unit routed the rest of Stone’s expedition.
The Union losses, although modest by later standards, alarmed Congress, which set-up the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, a body which would provoke years of bitter political infighting.
Sub-Operations
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Union Order of Battle
Oct. 21 Engagement, Ball's Bluff, Leesburg, Harrison's Island, Conrad's Ferry MARYLAND---1st Cavalry. MASSACHUSUETTS--15th, 19th and 20th Infantry. NEW YORK--3d Cavalry; 6th Indpt. Battery Light Arty.; 40th, 42d and 82d (2d S. M.) Infantry. PENNSYLVANIA--71st Infantry. RHODE ISLAND---Battery "B" 1st Light Arty. UNITED STATES--Battery "I" 1st Light Arty. Union loss, 49 killed, 158 wounded, 714 captured and missing. Total, 921.
Confederate Order of Battle
Confederate Troops
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Casualties
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Notes
- Also referred to as the Engagement at/Battle of Leesburg, Engagement at Harrison's Island, and Engagement at Conrad's Ferry (Maryland)
- Per Wikipedia: The "Official Records" and most secondary sources like Dyer's Compendium reverse the listing of Lander's and Gorman's brigades, assign the 15th Massachusetts and 42nd New York to Gorman's brigade, and do not include the Putnam Rangers as part of General Stone's attached cavalry. The information above, however, was taken from Record Group 393 (Corps of Observation Records, National Archives, Washington, DC) which contains the actual orders and correspondence of Stone's division.
Sources
- Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. The Dyer Publishing Company (Des Moine, 1908). (Pages 597, 621, 628, 882, 883, 886, 887, 896)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ball%27s_Bluff
- Morgan, James A., III (2004). A Little Short of Boats: The Fights at Ball's Bluff and Edwards Ferry, October 21–22, 1862; a history and tour guide. Discovering Civil War America. 2. Fort Mitchell, Kentucky: Ironclad Publishing. pp. 225–228. ISBN 0-9673770-4-8.
- Ellis, Alden C. (2012). The Massachusetts Andrew Sharpshooters. US: McFarland. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-7864-6489-0.
