Stonewall The Battle of Harpers Ferry - Jackson's Greatest Victory?

I appreciate these bumps on subjects that were posted before I was able to view this site. I need to learn much more about this subject especially since my ancestor was among the 12,000 guys captured here.

Thank you.

John
 
I appreciate these bumps on subjects that were posted before I was able to view this site. I need to learn much more about this subject especially since my ancestor was among the 12,000 guys captured here.

Thank you.

John
My pleasure! Happily for them - though many failed to realize it at the time - they were lucky enough to be paroled instantly by A. P. Hill before he set out for his own rendezvous with destiny at Antietam. A couple of years later some place like Andersonville might've been their fate! Many of the parolees, who were new soldiers in the first place, resented having to go to parole camps and cool their heels until the paperwork fulfilling and confirming their paroles was complete, which could sometimes be a lengthy process.
 
James N. Well, as it happens my ancestor does get captured again in 1864 and goes Andersonville. He died a pow after being moved to another prison.

John
 
James N. Well, as it happens my ancestor does get captured again in 1864 and goes Andersonville. He died a pow after being moved to another prison.

John
That of course was due to the failure of prisoner exchange because of complications regarding the disputed status of black soldiers fighting for the North. I'll wager he wished it had been like "the good ol' days" of Harper's Ferry!
 
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My pleasure! Happily for them - though many failed to realize it at the time - they were lucky enough to be paroled instantly by A. P. Hill before he set out for his own rendezvous with destiny at Antietam. A couple of years later some place like Andersonville might've been their fate! Many of the parolees, who were new soldiers in the first place, resented having to go to parole camps and cool their heels until the paperwork fulfilling and confirming their paroles was complete, which could sometimes be a lengthy process.

they were lucky enough to be paroled instantly by A. P. Hill - Good practice until procedure ended
 
James N. He was also " severely" wounded at Gettysburg on July 2nd. where, according to their colonel his regiment lost 50 % casualties in about twenty minutes. From what I can determine he was captured the second time shortly after returning to the army and ended up in Andersonville and later passing away in So. Carolina as a pow. Thank you for your comments.

John
 
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Here's a *BUMP* for today's anniversary of Stonewall's victory at Harper's Ferry - the photo was taken by my mother on our very first visit there in July, 1961 and shows me at Jefferson Rock overlooking the Potomac River.
 
Harpers Ferry - A Place in Time
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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.

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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.

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Camp Hill
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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.

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Bolivar Heights
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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.

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Next - Jackson arrives and begins his attack.
I have the good fortune to call Harpers Ferry home.
 
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Here's a *BUMP* for today's anniversary of Stonewall's victory at Harper's Ferry - the photo was taken by my mother on our very first visit there in July, 1961 and shows me at Jefferson Rock overlooking the Potomac River.
The whole scenario at Harpers Ferry may have had a completely different outcome had Union Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin taken Crampton's Gap more quickly at the Battle of South Mountain and proceeded directly to Harpers Ferry with his 12,800 soldiers to attack the Confederates from the rear, like he was supposed to.

One historian described Franklin's tactics at Crampton's Gap as akin to a lion positioning itself for hours to achieve a perfect pounce upon a mouse. Franklin's corps outnumbered the Confederates at Crampton's Gap by 6-1. Had his forces arrived in time to engage the Confederates and relieve Harpers Ferry's 12,000 Union troops, it might have prevented the largest surrender of US Army forces until WWII.
 
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