Monocacy Battlefield Visit

[66TH Indiana]

Had a very nice visit to this battlefield 7/1/16. It has a great little Visitor Center too.

 

[Yankeedave]

A union veteran watched this enemy move across the battlefield and remarked that he knew that the enemy were veterans by the way they moved.

 

[66TH Indiana]

Artillery demonstration earlier today on the 152nd anniversary of the battle :

 

[Bruce Vail]

Great photos!

I was up in that area -- only 10-15 miles from the battlefield -- just last week. Pretty country.

 

[CheathamHill]

God's country right there folks...beautiful

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Great photos!

Indeed !

 

[dlavin]

It's a nice battlefield. Some hazardous driving though at one of the stops.

 

[cash]

I visited the battlefield this past Saturday and had a great time.

 

[Drew]

I've joked in past threads that it was in fact Lew Wallace who saved the Union, but I'm only half kidding. I went to the Civil War Institute's annual conference at Gettysburg College in June. A professor from the U.S. Army War College, Christian Keller, participated in a "lessons learned" session with respect to the Civil War.

He said that although it is mostly irrelevant to today's military in a tactical sense, they do still teach it from an academic standpoint and that all of our military service academies teach Early's Raid on Washington, specifically.

The Battle of Monocacy was hugely important in slowing Early, even though Wallace was whipped. The latter bought time for Grant to re-garrison Washington and save it. This is a huge, huge, 'what if' and Wallace gets the credit, in my view.

Thanks for the great pictures!

 

[Rank and File]

Thanks for the photos. I'll be there in Sept

 

[sflickinger]

Thanks for the photos. I'll be there in Sept

Lots of Ohio units.

 

[7thWisconsin]

Monocacy is a great example of "lose the battle, win the campaign." Wallace needed to stall for time and did it masterfully. Kept his route of retreat open and pulled the pin on it at just the right time. His troops performed well, even outnumbered. Great action.
Thanks for the pictures. Monocacy is my favorite "small" battlefield park.

 

[Yankeedave]

DC had 60 forts 93 batteries and 825 guns. with grant's stripping what were left were some veteran artillery troops, invalid corps troops (its not a corps yet but will be with Hancock at its head. Those type of invalids.) , and trainees and short timers. And Ricketts and Wallace. I dont know that they were whipped as much as out numbered and flanked. Its was dreadfully hot and dry dusty. It hampered the confederate follow up. Besides the hype it amounted to little. Baltimore is more tricky tho. And the union follow up and pursuit will be brutal.

 

[cash]

DC had 60 forts 93 batteries and 825 guns. with grant's stripping what were left were some veteran artillery troops, invalid corps troops (its not a corps yet but will be with Hancock at its head. Those type of invalids.) , and trainees and short timers. And Ricketts and Wallace. I dont know that they were whipped as much as out numbered and flanked. Its was dreadfully hot and dry dusty. It hampered the confederate follow up. Besides the hype it amounted to little. Baltimore is more tricky tho. And the union follow up and pursuit will be brutal.

As was explained at the battlefield, the Union troops ran out of ammunition and retreated. That doesn't say whipped to me. The confederates tried a flanking maneuver, thinking they'd scare the bejeezus out of a home guard unit, but they had the misfortune of coming up on Ricketts' veterans, who simply rose up and mowed down a bunch of confederates, forcing them back. The battle lasted all day until the Union troops left.

 

[Yankeedave]

 

[James N.]

It's a nice battlefield. Some hazardous driving though at one of the stops.

The NPS Ranger leading the tour there I took two years ago cautioned us to be careful as our car caravan pulled out from the area around this VI Corps monument on the west bank of the river:

 

[Yankeedave]

Places to get back too for a better walkie.