JULY 8, 1864:
Skirmishes
erupt all around central Maryland as Jubal Early’s forces continue to move
northward toward the District of Columbia. Minor engagements are fought at
Antietam, near Frederick, and near Sandy Hook. Although the Confederates take
losses they continue to move toward Washington.
Washington D.C. is a fortress, but a thinly-manned one. Most of the garrison troops have recently been pulled out of position to fight in the Overland Campaign, or even more recently, been sent to Petersburg to invest that Confederate city. It is a calculated risk, but General Grant feels a justifiable one, given that the Union is on Richmond’s doorstep. Now Grant must rush troops back to his own doorstep.
General David Hunter U.S.A.’s decision to flee away from the Eastern Theatre when threatened by Early in the Shenandoah Valley on June 13th is having unforeseen consequences. The Valley might as well have been a modern interstate, and the small battles in Maryland, defeats or not, may have delayed but have not disheartened the Confederates in their move on the U.S. capital.
Jubal Early, their commander, is a mulish man, a trait he showed even as a young cadet at West Point when Lewis “Lo” Armistead (later a C.S. General killed at Gettysburg) broke a plate over Early’s head in an argument. According to witnesses, this did not even distract Early. And although he lacks any of Robert E. Lee’s panache, Early was, like Lee, deeply conflicted by secession but a proud Virginian. He was an effective, if stubborn, leader of men. If the Union was expecting Early to break off and return to Virginia, they badly misread their man.
Washington D.C. is a fortress, but a thinly-manned one. Most of the garrison troops have recently been pulled out of position to fight in the Overland Campaign, or even more recently, been sent to Petersburg to invest that Confederate city. It is a calculated risk, but General Grant feels a justifiable one, given that the Union is on Richmond’s doorstep. Now Grant must rush troops back to his own doorstep.
General David Hunter U.S.A.’s decision to flee away from the Eastern Theatre when threatened by Early in the Shenandoah Valley on June 13th is having unforeseen consequences. The Valley might as well have been a modern interstate, and the small battles in Maryland, defeats or not, may have delayed but have not disheartened the Confederates in their move on the U.S. capital.
Jubal Early, their commander, is a mulish man, a trait he showed even as a young cadet at West Point when Lewis “Lo” Armistead (later a C.S. General killed at Gettysburg) broke a plate over Early’s head in an argument. According to witnesses, this did not even distract Early. And although he lacks any of Robert E. Lee’s panache, Early was, like Lee, deeply conflicted by secession but a proud Virginian. He was an effective, if stubborn, leader of men. If the Union was expecting Early to break off and return to Virginia, they badly misread their man.
Union forces in Georgia ford the Chattahoochee River and flank Joseph E. Johnston’s positions. Some of the Union troopers strip naked in an effort to keep their clothing dry, and capture several surprised Confederate pickets that way, clad in nothing but their rifles. Others discover that the Spencer repeating carbine can be fired underwater; they shoot as they swim submerged. Although nobody is hit, several amazed Confederates surrender to the armed mermen: “Lookit what them Yankees is doin’! What sort a critters be they anyway?”
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