Battle of Blackburn's Ford

Last updated

Battle of Blackburn's Ford
Part of the American Civil War
Blackburn's Ford - Brady.png
Blackburn's Ford
DateJuly 18, 1861 (1861-07-18)
Location
Result Confederate victory
Belligerents
Flag of the United States (1861-1863).svg  United States (Army of Northeastern Virginia)Flag of the Confederate States of America (July 1861 - November 1861).svg  CSA (Confederacy) (Army of the Potomac)
Commanders and leaders
Irvin McDowell
Daniel Tyler
Israel B. Richardson
P.G.T. Beauregard
James Longstreet
Jubal Early
Strength
3,000 [1] 5,100 [1]
Casualties and losses
83 68

The Battle of Blackburn's Ford (also known as the Skirmish at Blackburn's Ford) [2] took place on July 18, 1861, in the Confederate state of Virginia, as part of the Manassas campaign of the American Civil War. Union general Irvin McDowell's Army of Northeastern Virginia was marching south towards the Confederate capital of Richmond, and encountered the Confederate Army of the Potomac under the command of P. G. T. Beauregard. McDowell sent troops from Daniel Tyler's division to probe the Confederate defenses along Bull Run Creek to locate the Confederate left flank. At Blackburn's Ford, the Union troops attempted to cross but Confederate fire broke up the attack. The repulse at Blackburn's Ford led McDowell to seek to attack the Confederates at a different point along their line, leading to the First Battle of Bull Run three days later.

Contents

Background

On July 16, 1861, the untried Union Army of Northeastern Virginia under Brigadier General (Brig. Gen.) Irvin McDowell, 35,000 strong, marched out of the Washington, D.C., defenses to give battle to the Confederate Army of the Potomac, which was concentrated around the vital railroad junction at Manassas. Moving slowly, the army reached Fairfax Court House on July 17; the next day, McDowell ordered division commander Brig. Gen. Daniel Tyler to look for a fording point across Bull Run Creek and to "keep up the impression that we are moving on Manassas". [3] [4]

The Confederates, about 22,000 men under the command of Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, were concentrated near Bull Run Creek, with detachments spread north of the creek to observe the Union troops. When McDowell started his advance from Washington, the Confederate detachments slowly retreated and rejoined the main body. Beauregard expected to be attacked either on the 18th or the 19th near Mitchell's Ford; meanwhile, he continued to ask for reinforcements, especially from Joseph E. Johnston's army in the Shenandoah Valley. [5]

Battle

Map of Blackburn's Ford Battlefield core and study areas by the American Battlefield Protection Program Blackburn's Ford Battlefield Virginia.jpg
Map of Blackburn's Ford Battlefield core and study areas by the American Battlefield Protection Program

On July 18, Tyler advanced to Centreville and was informed by local residents that the Confederates had retreated from the town. Milledge Bonham's troops in particular were reported to have retreated in the direction of Blackburn's Ford. [6] Tyler then marched southeast to Mitchell's Ford and Blackburn's Ford, arriving at the latter about 11 a.m. Looking south across the stream, Tyler believed that the road to Manassas Junction was mostly clear, but he failed to see the Confederate brigade of Brig. Gen. James Longstreet concealed in the woods behind the ford. He ordered two howitzers under Captain (Capt.) Romeyn B. Ayres to bombard the Confederates he could see—guns of the Alexandria Artillery and the Washington Artillery—but the fire had no visible effect. As a result, Tyler ordered Colonel (Col.) Israel B. Richardson and part of his brigade forward. [7]

Richardson sent out a portion of the 1st Massachusetts Infantry towards the Confederate line. The Massachusetts regiment wore gray uniforms instead of the standard Union blue, which caused initial confusion, as the Confederates were also clad in gray. [8] After the 1st Massachusetts, Richardson deployed the 1st Michigan Infantry, 2nd Michigan Infantry, 3rd Michigan Infantry, and 12th New York Infantry regiments. [9] The Union advance met initial resistance from the 1st Virginia Infantry, 11th Virginia Infantry, and 17th Virginia Infantry regiments of Longstreet's brigade. Tyler ordered Ayres to move his guns closer to the action, accompanied by cavalry, and he sent the rest of Richardson's brigade toward the ford. The 12th New York Infantry began to retreat under heavy fire, exposing the rest of Richardson's line, particularly the 1st Massachusetts, to Confederate fire. Ayres, his battery having used up much of its ammunition, withdrew his two howitzers from the field. During the exchange, Union cannons fired an estimated 415 shots, and the Confederate cannons fired an estimated 310. Tyler realized that the Confederates had a strong force at the ford, and ordered the rest of his infantry to withdraw. [2] After Richardson's brigade had completed its withdrawal, a second of Tyler's brigades commanded by William T. Sherman arrived on the field, although Sherman's brigade was only subjected to light shelling. [10]

Col. Jubal A. Early arrived with his Confederate brigade after marching two miles north from Beauregard's headquarters at Wilmer McLean's house. The availability of this additional firepower completed the Confederate victory, and a reinforced Washington Artillery kept the Union troops under fire as they retreated. Col. Patrick T. Moore of the 1st Virginia Infantry, later a Confederate brigadier general, received a severe head wound in the skirmish and was incapacitated for further field service. [11] [12]

Tyler's Union division suffered 83 casualties in the action, while the Confederates lost 68 men. [13]

Aftermath

The failed reconnaissance-in-force at Blackburn's Ford led McDowell to decide against a frontal assault along Bull Run Creek. He decided to attempt to cross the stream beyond the Confederate left flank, the maneuver he employed at the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21. [14] The resulting battle ended in a defeat for McDowell's Union army, although the Confederates were in too much of disarray to provide a strong pursuit. [15] Both Longstreet and Early later claimed that Blackburn's Ford "went a long way towards winning the victory of the 21st, for it gave our troops confidence in themselves". [16] Two Union soldiers, both from the 12th New York, would later be awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions at Blackburn's Ford. [2]

In June 1994, bodies from the 1st Massachusetts Infantry were found and later re-interred. [17]

Today, the site of the skirmish is marked with an interpretive marker set by the Virginia Civil War Trails organization. The marker is located at the site of the old ford. [18]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Davis 1977, p. 130.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Skirmish at Blackburn's Ford". National Park Service. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  3. Davis 1977, pp. 91–100.
  4. Detzer 2004, pp. 149–151.
  5. Davis 1977, pp. 108–111.
  6. Davis 1977, pp. 112–113.
  7. Davis 1977, pp. 113–115.
  8. Davis 1977, p. 116.
  9. Davis 1977, pp. 116–118.
  10. Davis 1977, pp. 122–123.
  11. Warner 1959, pp. 219–220.
  12. Wert & Moore 1986, p. 508.
  13. Detzer 2004, p. 169.
  14. Davis 1977, pp. 152–153.
  15. Bearss 2006, pp. 57–59.
  16. Detzer 2004, p. 170.
  17. Ambrose, Kevin (2018-07-19). "The forgotten graves of soldiers killed 157 years ago, during the oppressively hot Battle of Blackburn's Ford". Washington Post.
  18. Weeks 2009, p. 303.

Related Research Articles

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

The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia, and a battle of much larger scale and numbers than the First Battle of Bull Run fought on July 21, 1861 on the same ground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Battle of Bull Run</span> First major land battle of the American Civil War

The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of First Manassas, was the first major battle of the American Civil War. The battle was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, just north of the city of Manassas and about 30 miles west-southwest of Washington, D.C. The Union's forces were slow in positioning themselves, allowing Confederate reinforcements time to arrive by rail. Each side had about 18,000 poorly trained and poorly led troops. It was a Confederate victory, followed by a disorganized retreat of the Union forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peninsula campaign</span> 1862 Union offensive in southeast Virginia during the American Civil War

The Peninsula campaign of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March to July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Major General George B. McClellan, was an amphibious turning movement against the Confederate States Army in Northern Virginia, intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond. McClellan was initially successful against the equally cautious General Joseph E. Johnston, but the emergence of the more aggressive General Robert E. Lee turned the subsequent Seven Days Battles into a humiliating Union defeat.

Army of the Potomac (Confederate) Military unit

The Confederate Army of the Potomac, whose name was short-lived, was under the command of Brig. Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard in the early days of the American Civil War. Its only major combat action was the First Battle of Bull Run. Afterwards, the Army of the Shenandoah was merged into the Army of the Potomac with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, the commander of the Shenandoah, taking command. The Army of the Potomac was renamed the Army of Northern Virginia on March 14, 1862, with Beauregard's original army eventually becoming the First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson's Valley campaign</span> 1862 campaign in the American Civil War

Jackson's Valley campaign, also known as the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862, was Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's spring 1862 campaign through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia during the American Civil War. Employing audacity and rapid, unpredictable movements on interior lines, Jackson's 17,000 men marched 646 miles (1,040 km) in 48 days and won several minor battles as they successfully engaged three Union armies, preventing them from reinforcing the Union offensive against Richmond.

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

The Battle of Chantilly took place on September 1, 1862, in Fairfax County, Virginia, as the concluding battle of the Northern Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's corps of the Army of Northern Virginia attempted to cut off the line of retreat of the Union Army of Virginia following the Second Battle of Bull Run but was attacked by two Union divisions. During the ensuing battle, Union division commanders Isaac Stevens and Philip Kearny were both killed, but the Union attack halted Jackson's advance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Hoke's Run</span> Battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Hoke's Run, also known as the Battle of Falling Waters or Battle of Hainesville, took place on July 2, 1861, in Berkeley County, Virginia as part of the Manassas campaign of the American Civil War. Notable as an early engagement of Confederate Colonel Thomas J. Jackson and his Brigade of Virginia Volunteers, nineteen days before their famous nickname would originate, this brief skirmish was hailed by both sides as a stern lesson to the other. Acting precisely upon the orders of a superior officer about how to operate in the face of superior numbers, Jackson's forces resisted General Robert Patterson's Union forces briefly and then slowly retreated over several miles.

The Battle of Thoroughfare Gap, also known as Chapman's Mill, took place on August 28, 1862, in Fauquier County and Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the Northern Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. James Longstreet successfully drove back Union forces under Brig. Gen. James B. Ricketts and Col. Percy Wyndham, allowing his corps to unite with that of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson prior to the Second Battle of Bull Run.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Virginia campaign</span> Series of battles fought in Virginia during the American Civil War

The northern Virginia campaign, also known as the second Bull Run campaign or second Manassas campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during August and September 1862 in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee followed up his successes of the Seven Days Battles in the Peninsula campaign by moving north toward Washington, D.C., and defeating Maj. Gen. John Pope and his Army of Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackburn's Ford</span>

Blackburn's Ford was the crossing of Bull Run by Centreville Road between Manassas and Centreville, Virginia, in the United States. It was named after the original owner of the Yorkshire Plantation, Col. Richard Blackburn, formerly of Yorkshire, England. The land was acquired in 1854 by Wilmer McLean who owned it until 1867.

Confederate Army of the Shenandoah Military unit

The Army of the Shenandoah was an army of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War; it was organized to defend the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in 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 its only major action. After the battle, the army was merged into the Army of the Potomac.

Eastern theater of the American Civil War Military operations in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania

The eastern theater of the American Civil War consisted of the major military and naval operations in the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and the coastal fortifications and seaports of North Carolina.

Knoxville campaign 1863 campaign in the American Civil War

The Knoxville campaign was a series of American Civil War battles and maneuvers in East Tennessee during the fall of 1863 designed to secure control of the city of Knoxville and with it the railroad that linked the Confederacy east and west, and position the First Corps under Longstreet for return to the Army of Northern Virginia. Union Army forces under Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside occupied Knoxville, Tennessee, and Confederate States Army forces under Lt. Gen. James Longstreet were detached from Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee at Chattanooga to prevent Burnside's reinforcement of the besieged Federal forces there. Ultimately, Longstreet's Siege of Knoxville ended when Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman led elements of the Army of the Tennessee and other troops to Burnside's relief after Union troops had broken the Confederate siege of Chattanooga. Although Longstreet was one of Gen. Robert E. Lee's best corps commanders in the East in the Army of Northern Virginia, he was unsuccessful in his attempt to penetrate the Knoxville defenses and take the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">11th New York Infantry Regiment</span> Infantry regiment of the Union Army

The 11th New York Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Union Army in the early years of the American Civil War. The regiment was organized in New York City in May 1861 as a Zouave regiment, known for its unusual dress and drill style, by Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth, a personal friend of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Drawn from the ranks of the city's many volunteer fire companies, the unit was known alternately as the Ellsworth Zouaves, First Fire Zouaves, First Regiment New York Zouaves, and U.S. National Guards.

Philip St. George Cocke

Philip St. George Cocke was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the first year of the American Civil War. He is best known for organizing the defense of Virginia along the Potomac River soon after the state's secession from the Union. He commanded troops in the Battle of Blackburn's Ford and the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861 before becoming despondent and committing suicide.

1st Virginia Infantry Regiment Military unit

The 1st Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in the Commonwealth of Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia.

1st Massachusetts Infantry Regiment Military unit

The 1st Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union army during the American Civil War. It was the first regiment to leave Massachusetts for a three-year term in response to President Abraham Lincoln's May 3, 1861, call for three-year regiments. It was also the first three-year regiment from any state to reach Washington, D.C., for federal service. The core of the regiment was five companies from the 1st Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, a peace-time unit which was formed in 1858, replacing an earlier, disbanded unit of the same designation. Five companies of new recruits were added to the regiment and the unit was mustered in by companies beginning May 23, 1861, at Camp Cameron in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Battle of Vienna, Virginia 1861 minor engagement during the American Civil War

The Battle of Vienna, Virginia was a minor engagement between Union and Confederate forces on June 17, 1861, during the early days of the American Civil War.

Manassas campaign Military engagements in the American Civil War

The Manassas campaign was a series of military engagements in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.

James Cameron (Union colonel) Union Army officer of the American Civil War

James Cameron was a Pennsylvanian who served as colonel of the 79th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment of the Union Army during the early days of the American Civil War. He was the brother of Simon Cameron, United States Senator and first United States Secretary of War in the cabinet of President Abraham Lincoln. At the age of 61, James Cameron was killed in action at the First Battle of Bull Run, the first large battle of the war, on July 21, 1861.

References

Further reading

Coordinates: 38°48′15″N77°26′57″W / 38.80417°N 77.44917°W / 38.80417; -77.44917