- Joined
- Feb 23, 2013
- Location
- East Texas
Harpers Ferry - A Place in Time
Harpers Ferry in 1862 was a tiny community resting in the gorge formed by the junction of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers; it owed its existence to them as the source which powered the machinery of the U. S. Armory and nearby Hall Rifle Works. It owed its notoriety to the "raid" of abolitionist John Brown on the arsenal there in Oct., 1859, attempting unsuccessfully to seize weapons with which to arm a slave revolt. When war came less than two years later Harpers Ferry suffered devastation at the hands of both sides, leaving its public buildings gutted and burned and the population largely fled, instead becoming an armed camp to guard the still vital route of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad which linked Washington, D. C., to the west.
In 1861, it had been occupied by Virginia State forces led by an eccentric professor of Virginia Military Institute, Thomas J. Jackson, who first set about to defend it but was soon ordered to evacuate it and complete the destruction of Federal property there. While in command, Jackson was able to study its strengths and weakness, coming to the conclusion it was an easier place to attack than to defend. He was to get the chance to prove his theory in September, 1862, as part of Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland. Not wanting to leave Harpers Ferry and its considerable garrison of nearly 10,000 in his rear, Lee ordered Jackson to take 25,000 men and eliminate the threat.
Harpers Ferry sits at the bottom of the gorge created by the rivers and is dominated on all sides by ridges and hills: across the Potomac, Maryland Heights is the highest point; across the Shenandoah above, Loudon Heights, also seen in the background below, is a little lower but nearer; across the neck of land containing the town are three successive highpoints, a knob called Camp Hill, and two parallel ridges, Bolivar Heights and Schoolhouse Ridge. It was within these that the battle would take place.
Camp Hill
Camp Hill overlooked the town and was the site of its cemetery above, but had only a few large structures that had been offices and residences for the U. S. Armory and Arsenal like the Lockwood House below, which served as a succession of headquarters during various periods of occupation. It lay between the town and another small settlement known as Bolivar in honor of Argentine liberator Simon Bolivar, but Anglicized in pronunciation to rhyme with Oliver.
Bolivar Heights
The ridge known as Bolivar Heights was the main Union position during the battle, as it had been when Jackson commanded here and also when it was briefly threatened during his Vally Campaign earlier in the spring of 1862. Now it was the encampment and defenses for the Railroad Brigade which garrisoned Harpers Ferry under the command of Col. Dixon S. Miles. At the time, the heights were bare of trees, affording a fine field of fire towards Schoolhouse Ridge across the valley to the west, now barely visible through the "window" between the trees in the photos here.
Next - Jackson arrives and begins his attack.
Harpers Ferry in 1862 was a tiny community resting in the gorge formed by the junction of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers; it owed its existence to them as the source which powered the machinery of the U. S. Armory and nearby Hall Rifle Works. It owed its notoriety to the "raid" of abolitionist John Brown on the arsenal there in Oct., 1859, attempting unsuccessfully to seize weapons with which to arm a slave revolt. When war came less than two years later Harpers Ferry suffered devastation at the hands of both sides, leaving its public buildings gutted and burned and the population largely fled, instead becoming an armed camp to guard the still vital route of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad which linked Washington, D. C., to the west.
In 1861, it had been occupied by Virginia State forces led by an eccentric professor of Virginia Military Institute, Thomas J. Jackson, who first set about to defend it but was soon ordered to evacuate it and complete the destruction of Federal property there. While in command, Jackson was able to study its strengths and weakness, coming to the conclusion it was an easier place to attack than to defend. He was to get the chance to prove his theory in September, 1862, as part of Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland. Not wanting to leave Harpers Ferry and its considerable garrison of nearly 10,000 in his rear, Lee ordered Jackson to take 25,000 men and eliminate the threat.
Harpers Ferry sits at the bottom of the gorge created by the rivers and is dominated on all sides by ridges and hills: across the Potomac, Maryland Heights is the highest point; across the Shenandoah above, Loudon Heights, also seen in the background below, is a little lower but nearer; across the neck of land containing the town are three successive highpoints, a knob called Camp Hill, and two parallel ridges, Bolivar Heights and Schoolhouse Ridge. It was within these that the battle would take place.
Camp Hill
Camp Hill overlooked the town and was the site of its cemetery above, but had only a few large structures that had been offices and residences for the U. S. Armory and Arsenal like the Lockwood House below, which served as a succession of headquarters during various periods of occupation. It lay between the town and another small settlement known as Bolivar in honor of Argentine liberator Simon Bolivar, but Anglicized in pronunciation to rhyme with Oliver.
Bolivar Heights
The ridge known as Bolivar Heights was the main Union position during the battle, as it had been when Jackson commanded here and also when it was briefly threatened during his Vally Campaign earlier in the spring of 1862. Now it was the encampment and defenses for the Railroad Brigade which garrisoned Harpers Ferry under the command of Col. Dixon S. Miles. At the time, the heights were bare of trees, affording a fine field of fire towards Schoolhouse Ridge across the valley to the west, now barely visible through the "window" between the trees in the photos here.
Next - Jackson arrives and begins his attack.
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