A Circular Ride

In the early morning hours of June 12^th 1862 Confederate General J E B Stuart left with 1,000 cavalry to make a circular ride clean around the Union army.

Union General George B McClellan began the Peninsula Campaign in the spring of 1862, moving slowly against Richmond, Virginia.  On May 31^st 1862 at the Battle of Seven Pines, Confederate General Joseph Johnston was wounded and replaced by General Robert E Lee.

Lee had JEB Stuart put together his cavalry on June 10^th 1862 to reconnoiter the Union right flank.  The ostentatious Stuart proposed a complete ride around the Union Army starting toward the Lower Peninsula near the York River, returning to the Richmond area along the James River.  Lee gave Stuart an unspecific order, telling him the exercise “due caution”.  At 2 am on June 12^th 1862 about 1,000 of Stuart’s troopers mounted up and started north for the right flank of the Union army.  He picked up another 200 cavalry outside of Richmond, including Confederate Colonel Fitzhugh Lee and Lieutenant Colonel William H F Rooney Lee.

That first day the Confederate cavalry moved as if they were going to support of General Thomas Stonewall Jackson’s approach to Richmond.  They bivouacked that night on the bank of the South Anna River.  The next morning they ran into the Union 6^th Cavalry just west of the Hanover Court House.  Stuart tried to flank them, and the Union commander Lieutenant Edward Leib withdrew down the Richmond Stage Road.  The Confederates continued on, trying to stop a train a Tunstall’s Station.  Stuart ran into trouble crossing the rain swelled Chickahominy River, and had to rebuild the bridge at Forge Site.  They crossed the river and then re-burnt the bridge.

On June 14^th 1862 Stuart left his force under the command of Fitzhugh Lee and he continued to Richmond to meet with Robert E Lee to report on his 100 mile reconnaissance.  At about the same time Stuart was reporting his findings to Lee, Union General McClellan reported to Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton that, “A rebel force of cavalry and artillery, variously estimated at from 1,000 to 5,000, came around our right flank last evening, attacked and drove in a picket guard...at Old Church; they proceeded to a landing 3 miles above White House, where they burned two forage schooners and destroyed some wagons. Then they struck the railroad at Tunstall’s Station, fired into a train of cars, killing some 5 or 6. Here they met a force of infantry which I sent down to meet them, when they ran off. I have several cavalry detachments out after them and hope to punish them. No damage has been done to the railroad.”

If you’re interested in reading more about Stuart’s ride J. E. B. Stuart's Ride Around The Union Army is a good web site.

Taking Out A Dam

Confederate General Thomas Stonewall Jackson destroyed Dam Number 5 on the Potomac River on December 7^th 1861.

One of the first tests of Confederate General Thomas Stonewall Jackson’s army was an attack on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Dam.  The C & O Canal Company built dams in the 1830’s to have water to feed its locks.  Numbers 4 and 5 were originally wood cribbing, but had been replaced by stone in 1850’s.  Union troops were re-building the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad between Grafton, Virginia and Point of Rock, Maryland, and were using the C & O Canal to move the rail building supplies.

Union troops were located at Williamsport, Maryland about 6 miles south of Dam Number 5.  Jackson sent troops about another 5 miles downstream on the Potomac River.  The Confederate troops moved on Dam Number 5, getting there on December 7^th 1861.  Jackson’s 5,000 men were on one side of the river and the Union’s 13^th Massachusetts on the other side.  Jackson deployed his men, and they went into the cold water to destroy the dam.  The men of the 13^th ; armed with smooth bore guns, could do very little stop Jackson’s men, and only hit and killed one man from their far side of the river.  The Confederates worked through the night pulling the dam apart.

The next morning a second company of the 13^th arrived on a flatboat, these Union men were armed with Enfield rifles.  The Union soldiers opened fire on Jackson’s troops driving them off.  Jackson had partially destroyed Dam Number 5, and withdrew his men to Winchester.

An Up Front Leader

Colonel Benjamin Franklin “Grimes” Davis was killed June 9th 1863 while leading a charge during the Battle of Brandy Station.


Benjamin Franklin Davis was born 1832 in Alabama. He grew up in Mississippi. He received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 1856. He saw fighting with the 1st United States Dragoons in New Mexico against Apache.

When the Civil War started Davis stayed with the Union where he was a Captain in the 1st United States Cavalry [he had two brothers who served with the Confederacy]. On June 25th 1862 Davis received a commission to Colonel in the 8th New York Cavalry. He and his cavalry fought their way out of Harpers Ferry when it fell to Confederate General Thomas Stonewall Jackson. Following this he received a promotion to Major. David led the First Brigade in the Untied States Cavalry division for Brigadier General Alfred Pleasonton as part of the Chancellorsville Campaign.

Leading the First Brigade in the early morning hours of June 9th 1863 at the Battle of Brandy Station, his men charged a South Carolina artillery battery near Beverly’s Ford. Davis and his men were met by a Confederate cavalry counterattack. Most of Davis brigade fell back, but he refused to and challenged the on coming cavalry. The men of Confederate Major Caball E Flournoy’s 6th Virginia Cavalry charged Davis. Confederate Lieutenant Owen R Allen hugged his horse’s neck and fired his pistol point blank at Davis. The shot hit Davis in the forehead killing him instantly. Davis is buried in the cemetery at West Point.

If you like to more about Colonel Benjamin Franklin Davis this is a good site.

A Lopsided Battle

Union Major General Ambrose E Burnside missed his chance to attack at Fredericksburg before the Confederates massed there, and so the battle wasn’t fought until December 13th 1862.

Hoping to side step the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, Union Major General Ambrose Burnside made plans to move on Richmond, Virginia by crossing the Rappahannock River, and moving on the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. The Army of the Potomac reached Falmouth, Virginia across from Fredericksburg on November 17th 1862, getting ahead of the Confederates. But the pontoon bridges, to cross the river did not get there do to an administration mix up. Burnside wouldn't let any of his troops cross the river out of fear that rains would cause the river to rise and cut his forces off from each other. As the Union army sat on the Falmouth side of the river, Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet’s Corps arrived in Fredericksburg and began digging into the heights. The pontoons arrived on November 25th 1862, but Burnside still didn't move. By the end on November Confederate Lieutenant Thomas Stonewall Jackson’s Corps got into Fredericksburg and took up a position south of Longstreet. Union engineer final started the pontoon bridges on December 11th 1862, and Union troops began crossing the river under fire.

Finally at 8:30 on the morning of December 13th 1862 an assault led by Union Major General George Gorden Mead’s division with support of Brigadier Generals Abner Doubleday, and John Gibbon began. At first the Union was slowed by heavy fog, but around 10 am they exploited a gap in Jackson’s line, but were stopped by artillery fire, then about 1:30 a massive Confederate counterattack forced the three Union divisions to pull back. To the north Union Major General William H French began an assault on Marye’s Heights at 11 am. Having to cross an open plain and two small bridges to get to the Heights, and without artillery support because of the fog, French’s men were repulsed with a large number of casualties. Burnside tried to take the Height’s using Brigadier Generals Winfield Scott Hancock and Oliver Otis Howard’s troops, with the same results. Longstreet’s position was reinforced by Major General George Pickett’s division, and held against sixteen Union charges.

A terribly lopsided battle, the Battle of Fredericksburg saw huge Union losses of about 13,530 men killed, wounded or missing. The Confederates lost about 4,576 men, only about 200 of those suffered on Marye’s Heights. As the Battle came to an end, many of the Union soldiers spend a night on the field pinned down by Confederates in freezing weather. On December 14th 1862 Confederate General Robert E Lee granted a truce so the wounded could be removed from the field. Burnside took the Army of the Potomac back across the river on December 15th 1862, to Stafford Heights. Burnside would be replaced by Major General Joseph Hooker January 26th 1863.

Laid To Rest

Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was laid to rest on May 15th 1863.


While reconnoitering during the battle of Chancellorsville on May 2nd 1863 Confederate General Thomas Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot. He was shot by “friendly fire” coming from the 18th North Carolina Infantry. Hit in the arm; Jackson was taken to a field hospital on the battlefield, and his left arm was amputated. He was moved to the home of Thomas and Mary Chandler about thirty miles from the battlefield on May 4th 1863. Although Jackson’s wound was healing well, pneumonia set in and he died on May 10th 1863. His funeral was held in Lexington Virginia where his home had been while he was a Professor at Virginia Military Institute on May 15th 1863. Cadets of VMI carried his body into his old classroom where he lay state while a battery fired salutes. He was buried in the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery. Jackson’s wife Mary Anna Morrison Jackson never remarried.

The Confederate Belle

Confederate spy Belle Boyd was arrested July 29th 1862 and held for a month in the Old Capitol Prison.

Marie Isabella “Belle” Boyd was born in Martinsburg Virginia [now part of West Virginia]. She operated as a Confederate spy from the father’s hotel in Front Royal Virginia. She passed along valuable information on several occasions to General Turner Ashby and Thomas Stonewall Jackson, while they campaigned in 1862 in the Shenandoah Valley. Although Boyd was arrested several times, it wasn’t until she was betrayed by a lover on July 29th 1862 that Boyd found herself incarcerated in Washington DC’s Old Capital Prison. Boyd was released as part of a prisoner exchanged a month latter.

Belle Boyd died while touring as an actor June 11th 1900 in Kilbourn Wisconsin [now known as Wisconsin Dells]. She was only 56. She is buried in the Spring Grove Cemetery in Wisconsin Dells.

The Stonewall Fell

The Battle of Chancellorsville saw the last charge ever made by General Thomas Stonewall Jackson. It was there on May 2nd 1863 that he was accidentally shot during a nighttime reconnoiter by one of his own soldiers. The shooter was an unknown member of the 18th North Carolina Infantry. Major John D Barry gave the order to fire, and many of his soldiers fired at the same time.

Jackson would have to have his left arm amputated under chloroform. On becoming conscious following the surgery Jackson told Captain James Smith "I have always thought it wrong to administer chloroform in cases where there is a probability of immediate death. It was the most delightful physical sensation I ever experienced. I seem to remember the most delightful music that ever greeted my ears, but I should dislike above all things to enter eternity in such a condition." It was felt at the time that he would recover. Stonewall died from pneumonia eight days latter in a field hospital near Guiney Station VA.

If you would like to read more try these
Stonewall Jackson: Popular Questions

All Things for Good: The Steadfast Fidelity of Stonewall Jackson

Stonewall Jackson's Book of Maxims

It Drapped Stonewall's Coffin

On May 1st 1863 about a year after the Confederacy adopted the Stars and Bars flag the decision was made to create a new flag that wasn’t like the Union’s Stars and Stripes. The new flag known as the Stainless Banner, included the canton [the familiar Confederate flag] to be square and about 2/3 the width on field of pure white. The white field of the flag was supposed to be symbolic of the purity of the Southern cause.

Among the first times this new flag, the Stainless Banner was used, was to drape General Thomas Stonewall Jackson’s coffin. It is this flag, which was order by Confederate President Jefferson Davis, to be place on Jackson’s casket that is now on display at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond. This flag would be modified one more time, when a red bar was added so the flag wouldn’t look like the white flag of surrender when the air was calm.

Some other information about the flag
The Confederate Battle Flag: America's Most Embattled Emblem

The Flags of the Confederacy: An Illustrated History

Stonewall Trys to Draw his Sword

On August 9 1862 Gen Thomas J “Stonewall” Jackson and Maj Gen Nathaniel Bank meet in Culpeper County Virginia, and began the battle of Cedar Mountain [aka Slaughter’s Mountain, and Cedar Run]

During the first part of August, Pope marched south with the objective of capturing the railroad junction at Gordonsville,VA. The Federals gained an early advantage. The 22,000 Confederates engaged came dangerously close to defeat at the hands of the smaller, but aggressive force of about 12,000 Federals. With the Confederate line in danger of collapsing, Gen. Jackson rallied the troops. He attempted to brandish his sword; however, he tryed to draw it, he found it rusted in its scabbard. A Confederate counterattack led by A.P. Hill repulsed the Federals and won the day. After the battle Gen Jackson withdrew to meet Robert E. Lee, and begin the campaign leading to the battle of Second Manassas, Stonewall Jackson never again held the field as an independent commander. This was also where Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, saw her first field duty.

For more information look at the following web sites
http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/battles/va022.htm
http://www.nps.gov/frsp/cedar.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/3627/cedar.html
http://www.civilwar.org/travelandevents/t_vs_cedarmountain.htm
http://www.hallowedground.org/component/option,com_jthg/theme,region/task,view/county,Culpeper/Itemid,1/id,113/