Battle of Charlestown

Last updated
Battle of Charlestown
Part of the American Civil War
DateOctober 18, 1863 (1863-10-18)
Location 39°17′N77°52′W / 39.29°N 77.86°W / 39.29; -77.86
Result Confederate victory
Belligerents
Flag of the United States (1863-1865).svg  United States (Union)Flag of the Confederate States of America (1863-1865).svg  CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Benjamin L. Simpson John D. Imboden
Strength
1,125 1,900
Casualties and losses
452 (22 killed, 50 wounded, 382 captured) 61 (40 killed and wounded, 21 captured)
USA West Virginia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of the battle in West Virginia

The Battle of Charlestown was a small engagement between Confederate cavalry forces under Brig. Gen. John D. Imboden and the Union forces under Col. Benjamin L. Simpson on October 18, 1863, at Charles Town, West Virginia, as part of the Bristoe and Mine Run Campaigns, resulting in a Confederate victory.

Contents

Background

As the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac dueled it out in central Virginia during the Bristoe campaign, General Robert E. Lee dispatched cavalry under Brig. Gen. John Imboden to raid in the Shenandoah Valley and attack the vulnerable Union garrison at Charlestown, West Virginia, in an effort to draw Union forces away from his front. By October 17, Imboden's force had reached Berryville, where they skirmished with a company of the 1st New York Cavalry before driving them back to Charles Town. The presence of the Confederates was reported to Benjamin Simpson, commander of the Charles Town garrison. The inexperienced Simpson, having been mustered into service only 17 days earlier, dismissed recommendations to fall back on the much more strongly defended Harpers Ferry, believing Charles Town was not the target of the Confederate raid.

Battle

At dawn on the 18th, Union pickets south of Charles Town were driven back by Imboden's advance. Simpson's 9th Maryland Infantry, numbering some 375 men, took up position in the Jefferson County Courthouse (in which John Brown was tried and hanged) and ordered the cavalry, consisting of one company each of the Loudoun Rangers and 6th Michigan Cavalry, to "take care of themselves". Upon entering town, Imboden sent a flag of truce to negotiate surrender, to which Simpson refused. The cavalry, seeing the hopelessness of the situation, decided to fight their way out and unite with the Harpers Ferry garrison. On the northeast outskirts of town, the Union cavalry encountered the 18th Virginia Cavalry and 62nd Virginia Mounted Infantry, who unleashed a volley at the column, sending several troopers and their horses to the ground. Those troopers who were still mounted broke left around their felled comrades and serendipitously rode into the Confederate right, which was proved to be its weak spot. The Union cavalry cut its way out, taking heavy losses: 17 captured, 2 killed and several wounded and nearly every horse shot, several killed.

Meanwhile, back in Charles Town, Imboden brought up his artillery, and again demanded the garrison's surrender, which was rebuked for a second time, whereupon Imboden began to shell the town. Under the artillery fire, Simpson was forced to abandon the courthouse and marched his men to a field northwest of town, not far from the earlier cavalry engagement. Imboden massed his forces in a woods facing the field and unleashed a deadly volley. After several minutes and only a few shots fired in return, Simpson finally surrendered his force, now totaling some 365 men.

The artillery fire had not gone unnoticed in nearby Harpers Ferry; the 17th Indiana battery, Cole's Maryland Cavalry, and the remainder of the Loudoun Rangers and 6th Michigan, totaling 300 men in all, were dispatched to reinforce the besieged garrison. Within 15 minutes they had engaged Imboden's force and a fierce firefight ensued that lasted the entirety of the afternoon. The reinforcements, however, were not strong enough to drive off Imboden and liberate the prisoners.

At around 5 p.m. the 34th Massachusetts Infantry, 400 strong, arrived, having been marched 18 miles from their camp at Berryville to the sound of the artillery fire. As the sun set, the Bay Staters attacked Imboden, who with the cover of darkness elected to withdraw while still in possession of his prisoners and plunder from the town.

Aftermath

Imboden successfully attacked and defeated the Union garrison at Charles Town, exposing the weakness of Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley, taking only light losses. While his raid was successful, it had little overall impact on the fall campaigns, which ended shortly thereafter as the two armies went into winter quarters. For the Union's part, at considerable loss, they saved Charles Town from being sacked and burned and turned back Imboden's raid, which if had been allowed to continue may have had a larger strategic impact on the campaign in central Virginia.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of New Market</span> 1864 battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of New Market was fought on May 15, 1864, in Virginia during the Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the American Civil War. A makeshift Confederate army of 4,100 men defeated the larger Army of the Shenandoah under Major General Franz Sigel, delaying the capture of Staunton by several weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Harpers Ferry</span> Battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Harpers Ferry was fought September 12–15, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. As Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee's Confederate army invaded Maryland, a portion of his army under Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson surrounded, bombarded, and captured the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Battle of Winchester</span> 1863 battle of the American Civil War

The Second Battle of Winchester was fought between June 13 and June 15, 1863, in Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia as part of the Gettysburg Campaign during the American Civil War. As Confederate Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell moved north through the Shenandoah Valley in the direction of Pennsylvania, his corps defeated the Union Army garrison commanded by Major General Robert H. Milroy, capturing Winchester and numerous Union prisoners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Battle of Winchester</span> Battle in the American Civil War

The Third Battle of Winchester, also known as the Battle of Opequon or Battle of Opequon Creek, was an American Civil War battle fought near Winchester, Virginia, on September 19, 1864. Union Army Major General Philip Sheridan defeated Confederate Army Lieutenant General Jubal Early in one of the largest, bloodiest, and most important battles in the Shenandoah Valley. Among the 5,000 Union casualties were one general killed and three wounded. The casualty rate for the Confederates was high: about 4,000 of 15,500. Two Confederate generals were killed and four were wounded. Participants in the battle included two future presidents of the United States, two future governors of Virginia, a former vice president of the United States, and a colonel whose grandson, George S. Patton became a famous general in World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John D. Imboden</span> American politician

John Daniel Imboden, American lawyer, Virginia state legislator, and a Confederate army general. During the American Civil War, he commanded an irregular cavalry force. After the war, he resumed practicing law, became a writer, and was active in land development founding the town of Damascus, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valley campaigns of 1864</span> American Civil War operations and battles

The Valley campaigns of 1864 began as operations initiated by Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and resulting battles that took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia during the American Civil War from May to October 1864. Some military historians divide this period into three separate campaigns. This article considers them together, as the campaigns interacted and built upon one another.

The town of Romney, Virginia, traded hands between the Union Army and Confederate States Army no fewer than 10 times during the American Civil War, assuming the occupying force spent at least one night in the town. The story of the small town is emblematic of the many military campaigns that swept through western Virginia and, later, the new state of West Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Army of the Shenandoah (Confederate)</span> Military unit

The Army of the Shenandoah was a field army of the Confederate States Army active during the American Civil War. It was created to defend the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia from Union Army attacks during the early months of the war. The army was transferred to reinforce the Confederate Army of the Potomac at the First Battle of Bull Run, which was the only major engagement of the war it participated in. After the battle, the army was merged into the Army of the Potomac.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rippon, West Virginia</span> Unincorporated community in West Virginia, United States

Rippon is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, located south of Charles Town and designated as a village by the Jefferson County Commission. The village of Rippon developed in the mid-19th century at the crossroads of the Berryville and Charles Town Turnpike, Withers-LaRue Road, and Myerstown Road. The town was named after nearby Ripon Lodge, although an extra "p" was added to avoid confusion with a town in Wisconsin. According to the 2000 census, the town has a population of 223.

Loudoun County, Virginia, was destined to be an area of significant military activity during the American Civil War. Located on Virginia's northern frontier, the Potomac River, Loudoun County became a borderland after Virginia's secession from the Union in early 1861. Loudoun County's numerous Potomac bridges, ferries and fords made it an ideal location for the Union and Confederate armies to cross into and out of Virginia. Likewise, the county's several gaps in the Blue Ridge Mountains that connected the Piedmont to the Shenandoah Valley and Winchester were of considerable strategic importance. The opposing armies would traverse the county several times throughout the war leading to several small battles, most notably the Battle of Ball's Bluff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winchester, Virginia, in the American Civil War</span> Site of numerous battles during the American Civil War

The city of Winchester, Virginia, and the surrounding area, were the site of numerous battles during the American Civil War, as contending armies strove to control the lower Shenandoah Valley. Winchester changed hands more often than any other Confederate city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Unison</span> Battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Unison or Battle of Union refers to a series of American Civil War cavalry skirmishes in Loudoun County, Virginia, between October 31 – November 2, 1862, between the Confederate forces of J.E.B. Stuart and various units of the Union Army of the Potomac. Although driven from the field in individual engagements, Stuart accomplished his mission to delay the enemy and screen the movements of the retreating Army of Northern Virginia.

Heaton's Crossroads, also known as the Purcellville Wagon Raid, was an American Civil War skirmish that took place between Federal cavalry under Brig. Gen. Alfred N. Duffié and Confederate infantry under Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge on July 16, 1864, near present-day Purcellville, Virginia in Loudoun County as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864. The action was tactically inconclusive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">35th Virginia Cavalry Battalion</span> Military unit

The 35th Virginia Cavalry Battalion, also known as White's Battalion, White's Rebels and the Comanches, was a Confederate cavalry unit during the American Civil War raised by Elijah V. White in Loudoun County, Virginia in the winter of 1861-62. The battalion was initially raised as border guards along the Potomac River below Harpers Ferry but were ultimately mustered into regular service as part of the Laurel Brigade. Despite this, they continued to play a conspicuous role in the ongoing partisan warfare in Loudoun throughout the war. The battalion was particularly notable during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, when it played a prominent role in the Battle of Brandy Station and subsequently conducted a series of raids on Union-held railroads and defensive positions in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The 35th was the first Confederate unit to enter Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The action at Mount Zion Church was a cavalry skirmish during the American Civil War that took place on July 6, 1864. The skirmish was fought between Union forces under Major William H. Forbes and Confederate forces under Colonel John S. Mosby near Aldie in Loudoun County, Virginia as part of Mosby's Operations in Northern Virginia. After successfully raiding the Union garrison at Point of Rocks, Maryland, Mosby's Rangers routed Forbes's command, which had been sent into Loudoun County to engage and capture the Rangers. The fight resulted in a Confederate victory.

The George's Schoolhouse Raid was a Confederate partisan raid led by local guerrilla John Mobberly on the Union garrison at Lovettsville in Loudoun County, Virginia on January 17, 1865, during the American Civil War. The raid was tactically inconclusive. After surprising the sleeping garrison, the Confederates were driven away by superior force, taking with them only a few horses and prisoners. The raid is notable for being the last partisan action in Loudoun County involving Elijah V. White's 35th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry.

The Affair at Glenmore Farm was a small cavalry skirmish that took place October 16, 1862 in Loudoun County, Virginia between Confederate forces under First Lieutenant Frank Myers and Union forces under General John Geary during the American Civil War. The skirmish resulted in a Union victory.

The Harmony Skirmish was a small engagement of the American Civil War between Confederate forces under Colonel John Mosby and Union forces under Colonel Marcus Reno on March 21, 1865, near the village of Harmony in Loudoun County, Virginia. A union raiding party, that was sent into Loudoun County to eliminate Confederate partisans, was ambushed by Mosby's Rangers near the village of Harmony. After inflicting light casualties on the Federals, the Rangers were unable to drive off the numerically superior and better equipped force and were compelled to withdraw. The skirmish, which was the last major action of the war within Loudoun, was tactically inconclusive.

The Jones–Imboden Raid was a Confederate military action conducted in western Virginia in April and May 1863 during the American Civil War. The raid, led by Brig. Gens. William E. Jones and John D. Imboden, was aimed at disrupting traffic on the vital Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and reasserting Confederate authority in transmountain Virginia in an effort to derail the growing statehood movement in the region, since voters had in March approved a new Constitution and statehood only awaited Congressional and Presidential approval.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolivar Heights Battlefield</span>

The Bolivar Heights Battlefield in Jefferson County, West Virginia, partly in the town of Bolivar, is an American Civil War battlefield which, – because of its strategic position overlooking Harpers Ferry, where the U.S. had an armory, and its placement at the head of the Shenandoah Valley – was the site of five separate engagements between Union and Confederate forces: in October 1861, May and September 1862, June 1863, and July 1864. The battlefield lies partly on the 669-foot (204 m) Bolivar Heights plateau, but also includes School House Ridge to the west, and the slopes of both, which meet at Bakerton Road. The site was also used by the armies as a campground, and, in 1864, as a Union corral and wagon yard.

References