Battle of Loudoun Heights | |||||||
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Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States of America | Confederate States of America | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Henry A. Cole | John S. Mosby | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
1st Maryland Cavalry Battalion, Potomac Home Brigade | 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
300 | 100 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
26 | 14 |
The Battle of Loudoun Heights was a small cavalry skirmish during the American Civil War between John Mosby's Rangers and Major Henry A. Cole's 1st Potomac Home Brigade Maryland Cavalry on January 10, 1864, in Loudoun County, Virginia. Cole's Cavalry successfully defended a night raid against their camp on Loudoun Heights. The fight was one of the first engagements in which Union forces held their own against Mosby's vaunted partisans.
On January 1, 1864, eighty members of Cole's Maryland Cavalry, led by Captain A. M. Hunter, entered the region colloquially known as "Mosby's Confederacy" around Upperville and Rectortown, Virginia. With Mosby off on a scout in Fairfax, Capt. William "Billy" Smith rounded up 32 Rangers and set off in pursuit of the Federals. The Rangers caught up with Hunter's force near Middleburg. Captain Hunter quickly deployed his men into battle line just as Smith ordered a charge. The Federal line soon crumbled when Hunter's horse was killed, tumbling the captain to the ground. The Union cavalry hastily retreated towards Middleburg, but not before losing 57 killed, wounded or captured, as well as 60 horses seized by the Rangers.
Within a week, Cole's camp atop Loudoun Heights had been discovered, thanks to the work of Benjamin Franklin Stringfellow, a staff officer under J.E.B. Stuart temporarily attached to Mosby's command. Angered by the audacity of Cole's Cavalry to raid so deep into Mosby's territory and encouraged by the enemy's woeful performance at Middleburg, Mosby decided to attack Cole's main force, hoping to catch them unaware in their camp.
On January 9, Mosby ordered a rendezvous at Upperville, to which 100 Rangers responded. The partisan company set out for Loudoun Heights through deep snow and bitter cold, reaching Woodgrove around 8 p.m. and stopping for 2 hours at the home of Ranger Henry Heaton. Just north of Hillsboro, they met up with Stringfellow and his scouting party, who informed Mosby of the exact location and strength of Cole's camp. Spotting Federal pickets posted along the Hillsboro-Harpers Ferry Road, the Confederates turned and headed east toward the wooded western slope of Short Hill Mountain, which they followed until they came to the bank of the Potomac River. From there, they turned westward and made their way along the riverbank to the base of Loudoun Heights. As the Rangers made their way up mountain, they were forced to dismount, given the steep grade. They stopped once they were within 200 yards (180 m) of the Union camp. Mosby sent a detachment of men under Stringfellow to capture Cole's headquarters in the rear of the camp, while he took the rest of the men further up the hillside, until they were directly west of the camp.
At around 3 a.m., as Mosby prepared to order the attack, gunfire erupted from the direction of Stringfellow's position, followed by the distant appearance of horsemen riding towards Mosby from the direction of the enemy camp. Thinking the unknown party was Federals who had discovered Stringfellow and his men, Mosby ordered a charge. His Rangers descended upon the camp and attacked the horsemen, who turned out to be Stringfellow's squadron. It was several minutes before the two parties recognized each other in the darkness, but not before several Confederates had been hit by friendly fire.
In the meantime, Cole's men were awakened by the gunfire. Led by Captain George W.F. Vernon, of Company A, the men grabbed their weapons and hastily formed a dismounted battle line, though many were barely dressed. Despite the darkness, the Federals easily identified the Rangers, who stood out as they were the only ones on horses. Their initial volley dropped several Confederates, many of whom were caught out in the open along the road.
In the confusion of the 45 minute fight that followed, several Rangers retreated and, soon afterward, with the sound of Federal infantry approaching from Harpers Ferry, Mosby ordered a general withdrawal. The Rangers escaped with 6 prisoners (pickets from Co. B of Cole's Cavalry, all taken from their post along the Hillsboro road at the crossing of Piney Run) and nearly 60 horses, but were forced to leave their dead and seriously wounded behind. A few miles beyond the Union camp, Mosby halted and sent two Rangers back under a flag of truce to exchange the prisoners for their dead and wounded, which included Billy Smith and First Lieutenant Thomas Turner. Major Cole, however, declined the offer, and the Rangers left and made their way back towards Mosby's Confederacy.
Mosby's Rangers suffered 14 casualties—4 dead, 4 mortally wounded, 5 wounded and 1 captured. Among the wounded was William "Willie" Mosby, John's brother. Of the dead, it was believed that 3 were victims of friendly fire. Cole suffered 6 dead, 14 wounded, and 6 captured. For their performance in the fight, the first in which Federals had bested Mosby's Rangers, Cole was promoted from major to colonel and Vernon from captain to lieutenant colonel.
The Battle of Aldie took place on June 17, 1863, in Loudoun County, Virginia, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War.
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The Battle of Upperville took place in Loudoun County, Virginia on June 21, 1863 during the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War.
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John W. Mobberly, also known as John Mobley or Morbly, was a Confederate guerrilla who operated in the Loudoun Valley and Between the Hills region of Loudoun County, Virginia during the American Civil War. He also served as regular soldier in Elijah V. White's 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, nicknamed the "Comanches." Mobberly is sometimes reported as serving under John Mosby, although this is not grounded in fact. His legacy is surrounded in controversy as Federal soldiers and Union sympathizers in Loudoun County accused him of committing war atrocities, including slave-rustling, while pro-Southern Loudoun residents claimed him to be a hero, second only to Mosby in local popularity.
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The Skirmish at Miskel Farm, also known as the Fight at Miskel Farm or Gunfight at Miskel Farm, was a skirmish during the American Civil War. It took place April 1, 1863, near Broad Run in Loudoun County, Virginia, between Mosby's Rangers and the 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry as part of Mosby's operations in Northern Virginia. The 2nd Pennsylvania surprised and attacked the Rangers, who were bivouacked on the farm of Thomas Miskel. The Rangers successfully defended the attack and subsequently routed the 2nd Pennsylvania, inflicting heavy casualties and taking many prisoners.
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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.
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 Fight at Aldie was a small cavalry skirmish between Confederate forces under Major John S. Mosby and Union forces under Major Joseph Gilmore and Captain Franklin T. Huntoon in Aldie, Virginia, on March 2, 1863, as part of Mosby's Operations in Northern Virginia during the American Civil War. The fight which resulted in a Confederate victory was significant in that it was the first action of Mosby's Rangers within their operating territory in the central Loudoun Valley. In the fight Mosby and his men displayed many characteristics that would become their hallmark including the attack on numerically superior force while inflicting disproportionate casualties to those received.
The Second Battle of Dranesville, also known as the Ambush at Anker's Shop, was a small cavalry skirmish that took place between Confederate forces under Colonel John Mosby and Union forces under Captain James Sewall Reed east of Dranesville, Virginia in Loudoun County near present day Sterling on February 22, 1864 as part of Mosby's operations in Northern Virginia in the American Civil War. After successfully defending a raid into "Mosby's Confederacy" by Cole's Maryland Cavalry, the following day Mosby led his Rangers against a second raid by Reed. The action resulted in a Confederate victory.
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The Burning Raid was a Union raid conducted in the Loudoun Valley of Loudoun and Fauquier counties in Virginia in 1864 during the American Civil War. It was aimed at destroying the forage on which Confederate partisans operating in the area, specifically Mosby's Rangers, subsisted as well as at breaking the will of the citizens of the area for supporting the partisans.
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Timeline of Fauquier County, Virginia in the Civil War
The Warrenton Junction Raid was a surprise attack by Confederate guerrilla warriors on a Union cavalry detachment during the American Civil War. The raid took place near a railroad junction in Virginia's Fauquier County, less than 10 miles (16 km) from the town of Warrenton. Confederate Major John S. Mosby led the attack against about 100 men from the Union's 1st (West) Virginia Cavalry. At first, the raid was very successful, as many of the Union soldiers surrendered to the rebels. The remaining portion of the surprised force was surrounded in a house, and two of their leaders were wounded. The house was set on fire, and the Union soldiers surrendered. As Mosby's men rounded up prisoners and horses, a detachment of the 5th New York Cavalry surprised the rebels and rescued most of the captured Union soldiers. After a short fight, more men from the 5th New York, and the 1st Vermont Cavalry, joined in the pursuit of Mosby's fleeing rebels.