Battle of Monocacy - Background

Background

Reacting to Early's raid, Union General-in-Chief Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant dispatched two brigades of the VI Corps, about 5,000 men, under Brig. Gen. James B. Ricketts on July 6, 1864. Until those troops arrived, however, the only Federal force between Early and the capital city was a command of 6,300 men (mostly Hundred Days Men) commanded by Major General Lew Wallace. At the time, Wallace, who would eventually become best known for his book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, was the head of the Union's Middle Atlantic Department, headquartered at Baltimore (also referred to as the VIII Corps). Very few of Wallace's men had ever seen battle.

Agents of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad reported signs of Early's advance on June 29; this intelligence and subsequent reports were passed to Wallace by John W. Garrett, the president of the railroad and a Union supporter. Uncertain whether Baltimore or Washington, D.C. was the Confederate objective, Wallace knew he had to delay their approach until reinforcements could reach either city.

At Frederick, following skirmishing on July 7 and 8, in which Confederate cavalry drove Union units from the town, Early demanded, and received, $200,000 ransom to forestall his destruction of the city. Wallace saw Monocacy Junction, also called Frederick Junction, three miles southeast of Frederick, as the most logical point of defense for both Baltimore and Washington. The Georgetown Pike to Washington and the National Road to Baltimore both crossed the Monocacy River there as did the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. If Wallace could stretch his force over six miles of the stream to protect both turnpike bridges, the railroad bridge, and several fords, he could make Early disclose the strength and objective of the Confederate force and delay him as long as possible.

At first Wallace's forces along the Monocacy consisted of Brigadier General Erastus B. Tyler's First Separate Brigade (which included units from other brigades) and a cavalry force commanded by Lieutenant Colonel David Clendenin. His prospects improved with word that the first contingent of VI Corps troops commanded by Ricketts had reached Baltimore and were rushing by rail to join Wallace at the Monocacy. Although originally ordered to Harpers Ferry, Ricketts agreed to remain at the Monocacy. On Saturday, July 9, combined forces of Wallace and Ricketts, numbering about 5,800, were positioned at the bridges and fords of the river. The higher elevation of the river's east bank formed a natural breastwork for some of the soldiers. Tyler's brigade occupied the two block-houses and trenches the soldiers had dug with a few available tools near the bridges. Ricketts's division occupied the Thomas and Worthington farms on the Union left, using the fences as breastworks.