Over the past several weeks, we have made substantive revisions to four battle pages related to events along the North Branch Potomac River in the Upper Potomac region in June and July 1861. Most of these were among the first additions to our site back in 2021 and were sorely in need of updating. First…
In July 1861, Union troops pushed south from Cumberland into Virginia to secure the vital B&O Railroad corridor around New Creek and Piedmont. Their advance erupted into a deadly clash at New Creek Station, where Confederate cavalry charged a fortified stone house before retreating into the mountains, setting off a pursuit that carried the fighting…
On June 26, 1861, thirteen mounted scouts from Lew Wallace’s 11th Indiana collided with Confederate cavalry near Dan’s Run and Kelly’s Island along the Upper Potomac. What began as a reconnaissance quickly erupted into two savage, close-quarters skirmishes that mortally wounded Richard Ashby, left Turner Ashby wounded, and claimed the life of the first Indiana…
Continue reading ➞ Skirmishes at Dan’s Run and Kelley’s Island
On Wednesday, June 26, 1861, Richard Ashby, captain of the Fauquier Mountain Rangers, found himself in a desperate hand-to-hand fight with mounted scouts from the 11th Indiana Infantry Regiment near where Dan’s Run empties into the Potomac River in northern Hampshire County, Virginia. Richard was the younger brother of Turner Ashby, who would later win…
Continue reading ➞ Letter from Turner Ashby to His Sister, on the Event of Their Brother’s Death
Before dawn on June 19, 1861, hundreds of Confederate soldiers waded across the Potomac River at New Creek, Virginia, intent on driving off Union defenders and destroying a vital B&O Railroad bridge. The daring raid overwhelmed a small band of local Home Guards, severed an important transportation link, and heightened fears that Lew Wallace’s isolated…
In June 1861, Lew Wallace and the 11th Indiana launched a grueling overnight march from Cumberland, Maryland, to surprise Confederate troops at Romney, Virginia, in one of the Civil War’s earliest actions. The resulting skirmish sent Confederate defenders fleeing, left Romney briefly in Union hands, and helped convince Gen. Joseph E. Johnston to abandon Harpers…
The “Battle” of Romney, fought on Wednesday, June 12, 1861, received attention at the time and in later accounts that far outstripped its actual significance. Early in the Civil War, before anyone could imagine the bloody battles to come, a virtually bloodless victory like Romney seemed like a major triumph for the Union war effort.…
Continue reading ➞ Illustrations of the 1861 “Battle” of Romney
In June 1861, future Ben-Hur author Lew Wallace and the 11th Indiana arrived in Cumberland, Maryland, with orders to protect the vital B&O Railroad and secure the Upper Potomac. Within days, Wallace’s restless pursuit of Confederate forces would carry his Hoosiers into Virginia, setting the stage for a dramatic early Civil War campaign whose consequences…
Continue reading ➞ Lew Wallace and the Indiana Zouaves Secure Cumberland
Earlier this month, I finally had the opportunity to visit Hoke’s Run Battlefield Park in Berkeley County, West Virginia. The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation and other local historic preservation groups developed this 10-acre park near the site of the July 2, 1861 Battle of Hoke’s Run, also known as Falling Waters, and erected interpretive signs…
Continue reading ➞ Exploring the New Hoke’s Run Battlefield Park
Lewis "Lew" Wallace's 11th Indiana Infantry had been protecting the vital transportation hub of Cumberland, Maryland, along the Potomac River, since early June 1861. When Wallace’s regiment departed on July 7, Cumberland and key points along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad were left dangerously exposed. At the request of General Winfield Scott, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew…
Continue reading ➞ Thomas L. Kane and his Bucktailed Wildcats
