Rode’s Division, which had fallen back to camp on the west side of the river near Frederick, were on the move by four o’clock the next morning. At the Monocacy River, the division crossed the ford near the burned remains of the covered bridge. Fording the river caused a delay, but once crossed, the men began a rapid march towards Washington. Everywhere there was evidence of the fighting of the previous day with Yankee dead and wounded lying all around. The men marched nearly twenty five miles on the main road to Washington, passing through Urbana, Hyattstown and other small places. It was a severe march with the sun beating down on the men relentlessly. The humid, hot weather was intensified by a lengthy drought in the area which turned the roadways to ankle deep dust so fine that it wrapped around one’s ankles. Huge clouds enveloped the sweating marchers who were soon gasping for air. They made camp within four miles of Rockville.

The next day at 3:30 A.M., the final drive for Washington began. Battle’s Brigade took the lead of the Confederate column, followed by the other brigades of Rodes Division. The divisions of Ramseur and Gordon, then took line of march. General Early called for a quick pace, hoping this with the early start might beat not only the heat, but also the reinforcements he expected would soon file into the capital’s defences. As the morning wore on, however, the temperature rose to ninety-four degrees, so General Early reluctantly granted requests to slacken the pace. The column approached Washington from the northwest on the Georgetown Road (now Wisconsin Avenue). The city was ringed by a series of forts and three forts guarded the approach near Tennallytown in the direction the Confederates were heading. Consequently, General Early changed course at Rockville. After turning east at Rockville and crossing upper Rock Creek, Rodes turned his division south onto the Washington and Brookville Turnpike, known in Maryland as Union Road and in the District of Columbia as the Seventh Street Road (now Georgia Avenue). On both sides of the road stood tall, lush fields of ripening corn. Just before 1:00 P.M., Rodes, riding at the head of his division, reached Sligo Post Office (now Silver Springs) “on the borders of the District of Columbia.” Up the road he could see Fort Stevens, and beyond that, the Soldiers’ Home. In the distance, the men could plainly see the unfinished dome of the Capitol and other prominent buildings, and to the southwest, Arlington Heights (General Lee’s old home), and four lofty redoubts, well manned with huge, frowning cannon.

There was great excitement in the ranks, and all the men seemed very anxious to come up so that they might be amongst the first to enter the city. Within a mile or so of the outer fortifications Battle’s Brigade was filed off into the woods and rested. Fort Stevens was a formidable bastion, protected by ditches and abatis, whose 375 yard perimeter enclosed seventeen heavy guns and mortars. To the east of Fort Stevens lay Fort Slocum, west of it loomed Fort De Russy, which included amongst its’ copious armaments a 100-pound Parrot rifle, and the intervening space was connected by batteries, rifle pits, and trenches.

Fort Stevens was defended by the 13th Michigan Independent Light Artillery Battery (79 men), a detachment from the Provisional Brigade (52 men) and the 150th Ohio National Guard’s Company K (78 men). Company K formed the picket line in front of the fort near the home of Postmaster General Montgomery Blair. On the Confederate left, Fort Slocum was garrisoned by the 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery Regiment, 14th Michigan Independent Light Artillery Battery and the 150th Ohio National Guard Company G. An additional 105 artillerymen from the Provisional Brigade also bolstered the garrison. Between Forts Slocum and Stevens were 550 men from the 12th Veteran Reserve Corps, an equal number from the 2nd Regiment District of Columbia Volunteers, and three companies of quartermasters’ troops totalling 221 troops. One section from Battery L, 1st Ohio Independent Light Artillery, with 121 men and two guns were also positioned in this area. The remaining troops from the Provisional Brigade were placed in reserve to the rear of Fort Slocum. To the Confederate right, from Fort Stevens to Fort De Russy, the rifle pits were manned by the 6th Veteran Reserve Corps, 157th Ohio National Guard (184 men), 9th Veteran Reserve Corps (350 men), 147th Ohio National Guard (465 men) and one section from the 1st Maine Light Artillery Battalion (112 men and two guns). Fort De Russy was garrisoned by Battery A, 1st Wisconsin Heavy Artillery Regiment, half of Battery L, 9th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment, and the 151st Ohio National Guard’s companies C and G.

When Early’s army reached the defences that afternoon, the General noted, “The men (are) almost completely exhausted and not in a condition to make an attack.” As Battle’s Brigade went into camp, stragglers and the rest of the army continued to arrive throughout the afternoon and evening. Union troops from the forts, welcomed the approaching Confederates with artillery fire. The big shells made a roaring noise like the passing of a railroad train. Several 100 pound shells burst over Rodes’ men, but only one or two in the entire division were hurt.

Rodes’ Sharpshooters were sent forward from the rising ground near the Blair House and they soon pushed the Federal pickets and skirmishers to within 150 yards of the fort. The 25th New York Cavalry Regiment (dismounted) and about 100 men from the 2nd Regiment District of Columbia Volunteers were ordered to the skirmish line in front in the trenches in front of Fort Stevens. A detachment of mixed cavalry from several regiments also arrived. Many of the cavalry units were armed with breech-loading carbines which provided increased rates of fire. The reinforced skirmish line advanced under artillery support and drove the Confederate line back some distance and established a new picket line by 1:30 P.M. About 3:00 P.M., Rodes’ Division was sent forward near the skirmish line. An observer at Fort Stevens reported, “A regular line of battle was extending to the right and left, running across farms, through orchards and doorways, and batteries planting their guns to open on our fortifications.” A battery of field pieces unlimbered in an open field to the right of Rodes’ Division and about four hundred yards from Fort Stevens. Skirmishing continued into the evening.

Federal reinforcements continued to arrive throughout the afternoon, however, by five o’clock, the situation was becoming critical for the Yankees. Blackford’s Sharpshooters were “annoying...very considerably” the Union skirmish line, effectively using houses and trees as sniping posts and infiltrating down the ravine between Forts DeRussy and Stevens. The Federals had blocked the gulch with abatis, but this failed to keep small groups of Rebel riflemen from using it to approach their picket line. As General Rodes stared at the ramparts through field glasses he noted a long file of Federal soldiers entering the trenches. The 5th Alabama Infantry was sent out to support the sharpshooters. He ordered the artillery to begin firing as the 5th Alabama Infantry Regiment spread into skirmish lines and moved forward. All the houses in their path had been vacated by the occupants on their approach of the Confederates, and the skirmishers in front were soon in them. The accurate fire of the sharpshooters in an orchard succeeded in clearing Fort Steven’s guns of cannoneers for about twenty minutes, “so that it was impossible to man them.” A single Federal Company rushed from the works, attempting to destroy a dwelling which could harbor Confederate marksmen, but the Alabamians repulse them easily. After about an hour of hard fighting, the Union picket line stood where it had been that morning. The sharpshooters continued to skirmish throughout the night.

On the morning of July 12, 1864, Blackford’s men probed the forts and found them fully manned, causing General Early to call off his offensive. Instead, the Confederates awaited the attack of the Federals, now knowing that they had been re-enforced during the night. The men of the 5th Alabama retired to a ravine a few hundred yards in rear of the skirmish line at about sun up. There was occasional shelling throughout the day, but to the disappointment of the Confederates, no attack, so some of the men went and plundered the deserted houses. The sharpshooters remained on duty, sniping at the Federals in their breastworks. During this confrontation, an interesting event took place. An entourage had come out from the Capital that included Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln actually went out onto the ramparts to observe the battle while there. From a perch amid the branches of a tulip tree, one of Major Eugene Blackford’s sharpshooters chose a target and squeezed off a shot. He saw a man go down and as he reloaded he yelled down to his comrades that he had scored a hit. The marksman didn’t know it, but he had shot Assistant Surgeon Cornelius Crawford of the 102nd Pennsylvania who had been standing beside President Lincoln! Had he chosen the distant figure wearing the top hat, how may have history been changed? Other nearby officers, fearing for his safety, encouraged him to leave and he complied. Partially due to this incident, Union General Wright who was in command, ordered an offensive that afternoon, to drive off the pesky sharpshooters.

A heavy cannonade preceded the assault by a brigade of the Union VI Corps, led by Colonel Daniel Bidwell of the 43rd New York. Along with the 7th Maine and the 49th New York, the Federals advanced in line of battle toward a low wooded hill held by General Battle’s Brigade. The skirmishers of Rodes' Division and the sharpshooters were forced back and merged into the line of the 5th Alabama Infantry who had once again been deployed in their support. A sharp fight ensued lasting about two hours in which the enemy was repulsed three times with substantial loss. Bidwell had suffered about two hundred and fifty casualties or twenty-five percent of his attacking force. The Federal cannoneers fired sixty-seven shots from Fort Stevens, fifty-three from Fort Slocum, and one hundred and nine from Fort De Russy during the course of the day’s action. Only Private William McCrary of Company D was wounded in the 5th Alabama. After dark, General Early ordered the army to begin their orderly withdrawal to Virginia. A Federal Signal Corps officer said of the Confederates, “They have accomplished all they wished to or rather expected to, - carried off all they needed from Maryland, while we were squat around Washington; trembling in our boots.” The Rebels “can subsist now for six months, then do it all over again in Maryland, Ohio, or elsewhere,” he wrote bitterly to homefolks.

That night, the men passed through Rockville and continued on to Darnestown arriving there at about three o’clock in the afternoon of July 13, 1864. The men rested and received rations and then at sundown, they took up their line of march once again. They marched all night, passing through Poolsville and reached White’s Ferry on the Potomac River where they halted near the river long enough to eat. They had only travelled about five miles the entire night because of constantly having to move short distances at intervals of a few minutes. The large herds of horses and cattle that the Confederates had appropriated were partially to blame, as well as about one thousand Union prisoners which were being escorted back into Virginia and to Confederate prisons. At about 8:00 A.M. they moved out, waded across the river at Edward’s Ford and then halted about four miles from the river, where they camped all day. In the last month, the Confederate soldiers had fought four battles, marched eight hundred and fifty miles, and now welcomed their well-deserved day of rest.