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Hardcover Desperate Engagement: How a Little-Known Civil War Battle Saved Washington, D.C., and Changed the Course of American History Book

ISBN: 0312363648

ISBN13: 9780312363642

Desperate Engagement: How a Little-Known Civil War Battle Saved Washington, D.C., and Changed the Course of American History

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Book Overview

The Battle of Monocacy, which took place on the blisteringly hot day of July 9, 1864, is one of the Civil War's most significant yet little-known battles. What played out that day in the corn and wheat fields four miles south of Frederick, Maryland., was a full-field engagement between some 12,000 battle-hardened Confederate troops led by the controversial Jubal Anderson Early, and some 5,800 Union troops, many of them untested in battle, under the mercurial Lew Wallace, the future author of "Ben-Hur." When the fighting ended, some 1,300 Union troops were dead, wounded or missing or had been taken prisoner, and Early---who suffered some 800 casualties---had routed Wallace in the northernmost Confederate victory of the war.Two days later, on another brutally hot afternoon, Monday, July 11, 1864, the foul-mouthed, hard-drinking Early sat astride his horse outside the gates of Fort Stevens in the upper northwestern fringe of Washington, D.C. He was about to make one of the war's most fateful, portentous decisions: whether or not to order his men to invade the nation's capital. Early had been on the march since June 13, when Robert E. Lee ordered him to take an entire corps of men from their Richmond-area encampment and wreak havoc on Yankee troops in the Shenandoah Valley, then to move north and invade Maryland. If Early found the conditions right, Lee said, he was to take the war for the first time into President Lincoln's front yard. Also on Lee's agenda: forcing the Yankees to release a good number of troops from the stranglehold that Gen. U.S. Grant had built around Richmond.Once manned by tens of thousands of experienced troops, Washington's ring of forts and fortifications that day were in the hands of a ragtag collection of walking wounded Union soldiers, the Veteran Reserve Corps, along with what were known as hundred days' men---raw recruits who had joined the Union Army to serve as temporary, rear-echelon troops. It was with great shock, then, that the city received news of the impending rebel attack. With near panic filling the streets, Union leaders scrambled to coordinate a force of volunteers.But Early did not pull the trigger. Because his men were exhausted from the fight at Monocacy and the ensuing march, Early paused before attacking the feebly manned Fort Stevens, giving Grant just enough time to bring thousands of veteran troops up from Richmond. The men arrived at the eleventh hour, just as Early was contemplating whether or not to move into Washington. No invasion was launched, but Early did engage Union forces outside Fort Stevens. During the fighting, President Lincoln paid a visit to the fort, becoming the only sitting president in American history to come under fire in a military engagement.Historian Marc Leepson shows that had Early arrived in Washington one day earlier, the ensuing havoc easily could have brought about a different conclusion to the war. Leepson uses a vast amount of primary material, including memoirs, official records, newspaper accounts, diary entries and eyewitness reports in a reader-friendly and engaging description of the events surrounding what became known as "the Battle That Saved Washington." "Praise for Flag: An American Biography" "There is no story about the flag that he omits . We] now have a comprehensive guide to its unfolding."---"The Wall Street Journal" "The fascination of history is in its details, and the author of "Flag: An American Biography" knows how to find them and turn them into compelling reading. This book brings out the irony, humor, myth, and behind-the-scenes happenings that make our flag's 228-year history so fascinating."---"The Saturday Evening Post" ""Flag "is a valuable addition to American history, and Leepson...certainly is due a portion of authorly glory for this absorbing account of America's national icon."---"Richmond Times-Dispatch" "Timely and insightful."---"The Dallas Morning News" "To understand th

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Customer Reviews

5 ratings

Good description of a desperate struggle

The battle at Monocacy Junction in July, 1864 is not as well known as other engagements during the Civil War. But it may well have been as important, at least, as some better known battles. "Desperate Engagement" describes the context for the battle, its actual occurrence, and then the aftermath and a series of reflections. In short, Jubal Early and the 2nd Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia were sent to the Shenandoah, to clear it of Northern troops, as Generals Sigel, Hunter, and Crook had been attacking the area. And, if the opportunity arose, to advance on Washington, D. C. itself, to (perhaps) free Confederate prisoners, to force General U. S. Grant to divert soldiers from his siege in Virginia to relieve pressure on the Capitol, maybe to even occupy parts of the city. This book outlines why Early was given this assignment and how he carried it out. Incompetent generalship by Generals Sigel and Hunter allowed Early to cross the Potomac and head toward Washington in summer, 1864. The threat was real, but the Unions forces in Washington, D. C. were few in number and poor in quality. Many were recovering from wounds suffered on the battlefields of the East; others were brand new troops without any real training; others were simply subprime in one way or another. The center of government was surrounded by powerful forts--but there weren't the troops to make these forts formidable obstacles to the Confederates. General Lew Wallace had pretty much a desk job; he had been shelved as a battlefield commander after Shiloh (and one could argue that his poor response was as much due to Grant's bad staff work as to Wallace's own ineptitude on that occasion). This was long before he penned "Ben-Hur"! Seeing the danger to Washington, D. C., he pulled together a scratch force--nowhere large enough to defeat Early's oncoming troops, but, he hoped, enough to slow the Confederate forces down until Union regulars arrived from Virginia. Indeed, Grant was forwarding the 6th Corps and elements from yet another Corps to relieve the Capitol. The first division to arrive from Virginia, Ricketts' Division of the 6th Corps, was called to Monocacy Junction by Wallace. There, they fought a battle against the Confederate forces, badly outnumbered, until a flanking attack by the southern troops made his position untenable. Wallace's battered forces withdrew, leaving the road open to Washington, DC. However, by some accounts, it took so much time to defeat Wallace's troops that the Union forces of the 6th Corps arrived before Early could take advantage of the defensive weaknesses of the Capitol. There follows an engaging discussion of the differing perspectives by actors and historians about the battle at Monocacy Junction. All in all, a nice book, crisply written, on a battle worth knowing something about.

Excellent book

It's surprising how many people don't know about the vitally important Civil War battles that took place in and around Washington D.C., and how close the Union came to possible defeat, in the summer of 1864. Mr. Leepson provides an excellent summary, and thoughtful insights, regarding what happened (and what could have happened)when the Union capital was in danger of being invaded. Historians need to more fully realize the historical importance of those pivotal July battles. A must read.

Fascinating Insights to Little Known Battle

This book illuminates a little known, but very important, Civil War battle. Using a wide variety of primary sources, Marc Leepson educates and provides fascinating insights into this brief thirty day period of the Civil War. I greatly enjoyed the very readable book.

Battle at Monocacy Makes for "Desperate Engagement"

Don't miss out on Marc Leepson's "Desperate Engagement." This is a powerful book about the Battle at Monocacy Junction and its curious impact on the better known Battle for Washington. The Battle at Monocacy, fought between Jubal Early and Lew Wallace of Ben Hur fame, took place four miles South of Frederick, Maryland. Early, who was on his way to threaten the Union capital in Washington, D.C., was ordered to engage Wallace at Frederick, diverting Union troops from Lee's advance. Early did not want to fight this battle, but he won it. The controversy was that Jubal Early, after his victory over Wallace, should have advanced toward Washington without delay. Leepson points out that Washington was poorly defended at the time and could have been taken during this crucial window of opportunity. Instead, Early chose to rest the remainder of his army, which was wounded, ill-fed and exhausted from being on the march since June 13th. This allowed Grant some two days to send reinforcements to the capital. When Early did attack, he was defeated. Lincoln, who was visiting Fort Stevens in Washington at the time, became the first and only President to come under fire in active battle. Standing on the parapet of the fort, he was enjoying the spectacle until an officer in charge insisted he take cover. Leepson's track record for capturing history is impeccable ("Flag: an American Biography" ; "Saving Monticello"), and this latest foray will put you right in the middle of one of the strangest conflicts of the Civil War. If you enjoy being a General from the safety of an armchair (like I do), expect to be challenged by some very troubling questions about timing versus the well-being of your troops.

A Compelling Tale of a Significant but Little Known Piece of History

Every time I read about the Civil War, I am amazed that such events, and such confluences of personalities and circumstances could actually have happened. This book is a perfect example. Here is a well written narrative that is fascinating and compelling and just full of those "can you believe that?" type of events. At the start of the book, author Leepson sets the stage well. He describes the polictical, societal and military events that set the stage for June and July of 1864 so that you do not have to be a civil war buff to read and understand, enjoy and learn from this book. The narrative is seasoned with many anecdotes and personal reminiscences, so that we are always aware that the war was fought by real people; it was not just about military positions, battle lines and strategies. We are given ample description also of the character of the principal players, and as events move inexorably forward through the Shenendoah Valley and into Maryland, the book becomes a real page turner. I also appreciated the brief straightforward Epilogue that ties together any loose ends and informs us of the subsequent lives of the people involved. I dont know if truth is really stranges than fiction, but when it is this well written, it is certainly more interesting!
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