The Alabama in the Civil War Message Board

5th Alabama Infantry Regiment - Monocacy

A force of about 2,500 soldiers under Union General Lewis Wallace, supported by about 5,000 veteran soldiers under General James B. Ricketts, awaited the Confederates on the east bank of the Monocacy River just below Frederick. Uncertain whether Early's goal was Washington or Baltimore, Wallace had selected a position from which he could dispute Confederate crossings of the Monocacy on both the National Road to Baltimore and the Georgetown Pike which led to Washington. Wallace expected the Confederates to attack in the vicinity of Monocacy Junction where the Georgetown Pike and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad cross the river, or to seize fords farther downstream. Watching both of these critical points on the line were Ricketts's brigades, positioned on high ground running southwest from a covered wooden bridge that carried the Georgetown Pike across the river. Tyler's brigade held the Union right, guarding fords and bridges from the Baltimore & Ohio's iron bridge upstream to the National Road. Union defenders at the junction made use of two blockhouses, one on each side of the Monocacy, and rifle pits on the east bank of the river. A line of Union skirmishers crouched behind the railroad embankment west of the river. Six 3-inch rifled guns and a 24-pounder howitzer, the latter in an emplacement overlooking the bridges near the junction, supported the Union infantry.

On the morning of July 9, 1864, the Confederates were on the move early as usual. They got to Frederick at about 10:00 A.M. and found the enemy had just evacuated the place and had taken a position on the railroad line about three miles from town. General Robert E. Rodes' Division was in the lead on the National Road or Baltimore Pike, moving east to threaten Union forces guarding the direct route to Baltimore. This was the northernmost road of the advance, with Cook’s and Cox’s Brigades leading, skirmishers three deep in front, with the brigades of Battle and Grimes following. General Stephen Ramseur's Division edged southward on the Georgetown Pike connecting Frederick with Washington. The divisions of General John B. Gordon and General Gabriel C. Wharton, under the command of Major General John C. Breckinridge, and the cavalry of General John McCausland advanced down the Buckeystown Road. Two artillery battalions were with Ramseur and one with Breckinridge.

Skirmishing had erupted at about 6:30 A.M. between Ramseur's Division and Union soldiers positioned astride the Georgetown Pike west of the river. The Confederates pushed the Union pickets back and moved into position in the fields of the Best farm, west of the railroad and the pike. Soon three Confederate batteries were duelling with the Federal guns across the river. Convinced by the volume of Union fire that it would be costly to storm the covered bridge on the Georgetown Road, Ramseur asked Early if there were some other route across the Monocacy.

The other crossing of the Monocacy River was to the north at Jugg Bridge (also known as the Stone Bridge), where Robert Rodes' Division had arrived about mid-morning and had engaged the Union troops of Tyler's Brigade in fitful fighting along the National Road (which was also known as the Baltimore Pike). The men of his division had formed their line of battle across the Pike and sent out their sharpshooters, who at the time probably numbered about five or six hundred men. They faced a Federal force of about 750.

However, the Confederate sharpshooters occupied a strong position about five hundred yards west of the Union line atop a parallel ridge with a valley between them. Some of them had taken a position in the log house of Mr. Simpson’s near the Baltimore Pike. The structure provided excellent protection, and with the chinking between the logs removed, the sharpshooters were able to pick away at the Union skirmish line. A Union officer observed, “So accurate was their fire that it was dangerous for our men to even show their heads above the hilltop.”

Meanwhile, the Confederate cavalry forced its way across the Monocacy a mile and a quarter below the junction at the Worthington-McKinney Ford. Federal infantry, partially hidden by a fence, easily stopped the surprised Confederate troopers. Union General Wallace sensed potential disaster on his left and decided to commit all of Ricketts's veterans on that end of the line. He ordered the covered bridge burned, thus releasing its defenders from their stations, and deployed all but one piece of artillery on Ricketts's front. As smoke billowed skyward from the blazing span shortly after noon, Early was at work on the west side of the Monocacy. Orders went to Breckinridge "to move rapidly with Gordon's and Wharton's divisions to McCausland's assistance ... and strike the enemy on his left flank, and drive him from the position commanding the crossings in Ramseur's front, so as to enable the latter to cross."

Around 11:30 A.M., Blackford’s Sharpshooters had worked their way around the enemy’s left flank, utilizing the natural ground cover, which at that point greatly favoured such a movement and attacked. They were able to force the Union defenders on the left portion of the line, back to within one hundred yards of the Stone Bridge. From their new position, the sharpshooters enfiladed the Federal line wreaking havoc on the remainder of the Union force. The Yankees fell back in confusion until Union Colonel Brown attempted to restore his line by having men of the 149th Ohio launch a bayonet attack. Rodes’ seasoned veterans hunkered down behind a fence and shot them to pieces. The men then surged forward towards the bridge scattering the remnants of the enemy. Fortunately for the Federals, their cavalry came up and with the assistance of other reserves near the bridge they launched a counterattack that successfully drove back the Rebels.

The climactic phase of the battle began at about 3:30 p.m. Ramseur and Rodes continued to apply pressure at Monocacy Junction and the National Road, while Gordon's three brigades assaulted the Union left. A final Union line took advantage of fences and cuts in the Georgetown Pike on the north side of the Thomas farm and sent a crippling fire into Confederates struggling up from a small creek bottom in their front. "In this ravine the fighting was desperate and at close quarters," Gordon recalled after the war. "Nearly one half of my men and large numbers of the Federals fell there." Wallace, fearing that prolonged resistance might bring the destruction of his small force, ordered a withdrawal to the National Road. At about 4:30 P.M. the Union army abandoned its position in front of Ramseur, enabling the Confederates to cross the railroad bridge. Gordon's exhausted troops watched as Ramseur's soldiers harried the retreating Union soldiers.

The Federals began withdrawing north to the Baltimore Pike, their only escape route. Colonel Brown was now ordered to hold the Jugg Bridge against Rodes “to the last extremity.” However, the pressure on Brown’s bridgehead was increasing by the minute, and at about six o’clock Brown reported that “a heavy attack was made along my entire front, and at the same time my left flank was turned.” Further, he learned that another group of Rodes’ Sharpshooters had infiltrated across the river and into the woods, where they prepared to assault the bridge from the rear, “thus cutting off my retreat entirely.” This development unmanned Brown’s command, which, he admitted, “was withdrawn in confusion” across the bridge. Meanwhile, Rodes brought forward a battery that dropped a shell on the bridge just as Brown’s men crossed, adding to the panic. Brown rallied some of his men on the other side in an orchard and got them to fire a few volleys at their pursuers, but Blackford’s Sharpshooters “opened fire on my flank....on the east side of the river, which added to the confusion.” Shortly after, most of the Yankees simply threw down their weapons and ran. Battle’s Brigade were in line of battle all evening and were moved from point to point, first on the Baltimore Pike, but afterwards on the Georgetown turnpike. Although not actively engaged that evening, the men were exposed to the fire of cannon and Minnie balls. The sharpshooters continued to engage the enemy all evening on the Monocacy River, but General Early called off the pursuit and prepared to move towards Washington.