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Ball's Bluff Battlefield and National Cemetery: Difference between revisions
Ball's Bluff Battlefield and National Cemetery (view source)
Revision as of 00:53, 26 January 2025
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==Battle== | ==Battle== | ||
{{main|Battle of Ball's Bluff}} | {{main|Battle of Ball's Bluff}} | ||
The [[Battle of Ball's Bluff]] was a small but consequential defeat for the [[Union Army|Union]] early in the | The [[Battle of Ball's Bluff]] was a small but consequential defeat for the [[Union Army|Union]] early in the American Civil War, occurring just months after the [[Union Army|Union Army's]] rout after the [[First Battle of Bull Run]] and another embarrassing loss at [[Battle of Wilson's Creek]] in the Western Theater. The Union defeat at Ball's Bluff revealed something to the public about the political nature of Union appointments of officers and their occasional incompetence, and led directly to the creation of the [[United States Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War|Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War]]. | ||
On October 21, 1861, Union [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] [[Edward Dickinson Baker|Edward D. Baker]], a [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from [[Oregon]] and close friend of [[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]], was given orders from [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]] [[Charles Pomeroy Stone|Charles P. Stone]] to either withdraw [[Massachusetts]] troops who already had landed on the [[Virginia]] side of the [[Potomac River]] to reconnoiter and raid a Confederate camp north of Leesburg, or reinforce the expedition in the event the raid was successful, at his discretion. Before Baker could discover the true nature of the situation, Confederates pickets detected and fired upon the Union force, and local Confederate district commander Col. [[Nathan George Evans|Nathan "Shanks" Evans]] quickly deployed his Virginia and [[Mississippi]] regiments against the threat, while still presenting a defense against a larger Union crossing downriver at Edwards Ferry. The inexperienced Baker crossed additional companies to the bluff, but positioned his troops poorly, with the peak of the bluff against their back and higher ground in front of their lines. | On October 21, 1861, Union [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] [[Edward Dickinson Baker|Edward D. Baker]], a [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from [[Oregon]] and close friend of [[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]], was given orders from [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]] [[Charles Pomeroy Stone|Charles P. Stone]] to either withdraw [[Massachusetts]] troops who already had landed on the [[Virginia]] side of the [[Potomac River]] to reconnoiter and raid a Confederate camp north of Leesburg, or reinforce the expedition in the event the raid was successful, at his discretion. Before Baker could discover the true nature of the situation, Confederates pickets detected and fired upon the Union force, and local Confederate district commander Col. [[Nathan George Evans|Nathan "Shanks" Evans]] quickly deployed his Virginia and [[Mississippi]] regiments against the threat, while still presenting a defense against a larger Union crossing downriver at Edwards Ferry. The inexperienced Baker crossed additional companies to the bluff, but positioned his troops poorly, with the peak of the bluff against their back and higher ground in front of their lines. | ||