Second Day of Battle of Sherpherdstown-- Part 2: The Battle Opens

The 118th Pennsylvania Regiment splashed into the Potomac River with orders to march to Shepherdstown.  The water was cold, but they were in high spirits and had a lot of fun when a comrade would slip or stumble into the river.  They did not know about the approaching Rebels and figured that the enemy had just skedaddled and it was going to be an easy day.

Little did they know what was in store for them.

The 118th waded ashore and paused long enough to replace their socks and shoes before being ordered to take up a position at the top of the bluffs.

For Captain  Francis A. Donaldson of the 118th's Company H, this felt a whole lot like deja vu.  The lay of the land and situation reminded him of what he'd been at on October  21, 1861, when he was a member of the 71st Pennsylvania at the Battle of Ball's Bluff.

He didn't know it, but he had good reason to worry.

Confederate General A.P. Hill's Light Division was arriving on the scene.  And, there were a lot of them.

Pendleton's artillery had been moved so far away that they were unable to support Hill's men and the Union artillery across the river really poured it into the advancing Rebels.  Hill wrote it was, "the most  tremendous fire of artillery I ever saw.... It was as if each man felt the fate of the army was centered on

himself."

--Old Secesh

First Day Battle of Shepherdstown-- Part 5: I've Lost My Cannons, All Is Lost

So, we have the Confederates at Boteler's Ford in dire straits, and their commander was nowhere to be found except out riding and looking for someone to tell him what to do or at least help.  First, he  found Brigadier Gen. Roger A. Pryor, but Pryor was not willing to commit his battered division, then Pendleton went looking for Gen. John Bell Hood.  Not finding Hood, William Pendleton was in a state of near panic when he finally found Lee.

While he was on his quest, Pendleton's men meanwhile were struggling to drag their cannons to safety.  Fortunately for them, the Union sharpshooters and volunteers who had crossed the river were ordered to pull back to the Maryland side.

Lee knew there wasn't much he could do until morning and Pendleton went to sleep.  When Stonewall Jackson became aware of the situation, he ordered the nearest Confederate unit,  Major General A,P. Hill's Light Division to Boteler's Ford.

So, we had a full general doing what should have been done by staff work.

Has Anybody Seen My Artillery?  --Old Secesh

First Day Battle of Shepherdstown-- Part 4: Chaos at the River

I got to wondering how far Shepherdstown and Sharpsburg (site of the Battle of Antietam) were from each other.  I was shocked that they were so close, just 4.1 miles.

When Fitz John Porter's troops arrived at Boteler's Ford on the Maryland side, they eventually had some 70 cannons set up and began pounding the Confederate positions.  Confederate guns were effectively outdistanced.

Messages were sent to William Pendleton describing a worsening situation.  At 5:30, a group of U.S. Sharpshooters crossed the Potomac and set up a line on top of the bluffs.  Pendleton had never commanded infantry in combat before and started making mistakes with his positioning of them not knowing how many troops he actually had.

Reinforcing his flanks left him with just about 300 men to defend Boteler's Ford.  Pendleton's artillery began running low on ammunition.  Eventually the Confederate lines broke and mass confusion reined.  At that point, he went out looking for support and orders as to what he should do.  He had not seen any of his cannons for awhile and assumed the pieces had been captured.

However, all but four of the 44 cannons were saved.

--Old Secesh

The First Day at the Battle of Shepherdstown-- Part 3: William Pendleton Prepares for the Union Chase

William N. Pendleton was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1809 and graduated from West Point in 1830, a year after Robert E. Lee.  He spent three years in the Army before resigning to become an Episcopal priest, a vocation he continued  in addition to his military duties during the Civil War and that led to his nickname "Parson."

He taught at the Virginia Military Institute, serving on the faculty  with the future "Stonewall" Jackson.  At the outbreak of the war, Pendleton commanded the Rockbridge Battery, taking with him four cannons from VMI dubbed "Matthey", "Mark", "Luke" and "John."

Valued for his administrative skills, he moved through the ranks of the Confederate Army from colonel to brigadier general by March 1862.  And then he was  in the command of the Army of Northern Virginia's artillery.

He put together an artillery reserve of 44 cannons to guard the crossing at Boteler's Ford.  He managed to place 33 of the in position.  Despite looking good on paper, many of the guns were of too short range to battle with federal artillery on the other shore.  He also was given two battered brigades to protect the artillery which he posted along the shore.

--Old Secesh

The First Day of the Battle of Shepherdstown-- Part 2: Pendleton Receives the Job

Boteler's Ford was a mile and a half downstream from the town of Shepherdstown, Virginia (now West Virginia) and also called  Blackford's Ford and Pack Horse Ford and had been a spot to cross the Potomac River since colonial times.  When the water was down, the stony shelf of the ford was clearly visible.  However, during the Confederate retreat it was described as "deep and rocky" by Confederate artillery officer Lt. Col.  Edward Porter Alexander.

The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal followed the Potomac River on the Maryland side through here.  The war had been hard on the canal and its berm had been destroyed in numerous places, draining the channel.  Rolling hills on the Maryland side offered Union artillery  abundant sites.  There were heights on the Virginia side, but they were somewhat steep and made for difficulty in placing artillery for the Confederates.

Roads on both sides leading to the ford were so narrow in places that it was difficult for a horse to pass a wagon.

Lee expected McClellan to, at some point, pursue him and was aware that the ford should be defended until his army was well away from it.  Perhaps because so many able officers had been lost on September 17, he chose William Pendleton, an officer with little  combat experience, to guard Boteler's Ford.

--Old Secesh

The First Day of Battle of Shepherdstown: Defending the Ford

From American Battlefield Trust "Battle of Shepherdstown" by David A. Norris.

It was after midnight on September 20, 1862, and Gen. Lee  was getting some much-needed sleep under an apple tree when he was awakened by a real-life nightmare.  Another general reporting the loss of the army's entire rear guard and 44 cannons.  That general's name was William Nelson Pendleton, the head of the Army of Northern Virginia's chief of artillery.

"All?" asked Lee.

The shaken Pendleton replied, "Yes, general, I fear all."

First thing you have to wonder about here is why a commanding general would leave his troops and artillery to report something like this.  An aide should have been the one speaking to Lee.

After the Battle of Antietam on September 17th, the Confederates had begun  to slip across the Potomac River back into Virginia at dusk on the 18th.  At dawn on September 19th, Lee had been astride his horse in the middle of the Potomac as the last remnants of his army crossed Boteler's Ford.

He then assigned Pendleton to defend the ford as a rear guard in case the ever-cautious McClellan followed.

Now, it sounded like a disaster had occurred.

--Old Secesh

Battle of Shepherdstown-- Part 2: The Bloodied 118th Pennsylvania

Major Charles  Lovell's brigade of   Regulars encountered Major General A,P, Hill's "Light Division" about a mile from the Potomac River.  While withdrawing back to Boteler's Ford,  Hill's men attacked under a withering fire from federal artillery causing tremendous casualties.

Union Col. James Barnes' brigade was ordered to the top of the bluffs to cover to cover the retreat and two more federal brigades were ordered to cross over into Virginia (West Virginia).  After a violent clash  along the heights above the river, Porter ordered a withdrawal.

However, the colonel of the inexperienced 118th Pennsylvania  (the "Corn Exchange" regiment) refused to retire until orders were received through the proper  chain of command.  In this engagement, their first time under fire,  the 118th regiment was driven  in by four Confederate brigades and suffered 36% casualties.

--Old Secesh

Battle of Shepherdstown-- Part 1: A Rear Guard Action

Since I had never written about this battle before this week and actually wasn't even familiar with it, I will write about it here.

From Wikipedia.

Also known as the Battle of Boteler's Ford, took place September  19-20, 1862, in Jefferson County, Virginia, (now West Virginia), at the end of the Maryland Campaign which resulted in the Battle of Antietam

After the Battle of Antietam, there was an improvised truce for  both sides to recover and exchange their wounded.    Lee's forces started withdrawing across the Potomac River on the evening of September 18 and expected to be pursued by the Union Army.  he left behind a rear guard of two infantry brigades and 44-45 cannons under Brigadier General William N. Pendleton to hold Boteler's Ford.

Shortly before dusk on September 19, Union Brigadier General  Charles Griffin sent two regiments, the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters and the 4th Michigan, across the Potomac at Boteler's Ford.  They attacked Pendleton and captured four artillery pieces before being recalled.

Early on September 20,  Union Gen. Fitz John Porter sent two brigades across the Potomac for a reconnaissance in force.

Then, the fighting really took off.

--Old Secesh

Battle of Shepherdstown

From the December 2021 American Battlefield Trust calendar.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA

622 acres saved.

Still reeling from America's deadliest day at the Battle of Antietam -- the Union and Confederate armies clashed again at Shepherdstown on September 189-20, 1862. 

As Lee's Confederate Army slopped back into Virginia following the battle, he had strategically left two infantry brigades at Shepherdstown to guard Boteler's Ford on the Potomac River.  So, when elements of Union Major General Fitz John Porter's V Corps pushed across there, a battle ensued.

The Trust along with the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission has added 622 acres of hallowed ground at Shepherdstown.

I just read an article in the December Civil War Times by noted blogger John Banks about his trip there.  Done, of course, in his distinct style.

Of Course, Shepherdstown was in Virginia at the Time.--Old Secesh