Another stop I made was to visit a park near Leesburg, VA where the Civil War Battle of Ball’s Bluff took place.

The fighting took place not long after the 1st Battle of Bull Run.. and was yet another victory for the rebels.  In 1861, the CSA won nearly every engagement and after the unnecessary loss at Ball’s Bluff, the press and the public were driven to outrage and concern about the incompetent performance of the Union fighting force.

The battle of Balls’ Bluff was a disaster for the North, not for its casualties, which were slight compared to the bloodlettings that were to come, or because of the battle’s strategic effects, which were minimal, but rather because the Congress of the United States was prompted by the disaster to institute a Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War.  Anyone at all conversant with the ways of the U.S. Congress will not be in the least surprised that the committee became one of the most obstructive, ill-informed, and inefficient institutions of the northern government.  

Very briefly, the Union troops in Maryland crossed the Potomac river and entered Virginia via a steep path on their way to (they hoped) take over Leesburg, VA about 10 miles inland.

They were met with stiff resistance and through a series of poor decisions and un-coordinated attacks, were pushed back to the banks of the river.  Where the fighting took place, the bluff (really just a cliff down to the river) is more than 100’ above the river level.

The Union troops were routed and got into panicked traffic jams trying to get to boats awaiting their retreat.  Soldiers drowned, other fell from the heights to their death.  Those that could swim were picked off one-by-one by Rebel sharpshooters firing down from above into the river.

Here’s me parked to enter the grounds.  Where are the crowds?

The open fields where the Union forces set up their defensive fronts.

Location of the smallest National Cemetery in the U.S.  54 men are buried here, 53 of whom are unknown.

View from the bluff, over the Potomac and into Maryland.

Edward Baker was an interesting character.  Born to Quaker parents in England, he emigrated to Illinois and eventually became a lawyer.  He was a Representative in the US Congress for Illinois for several years.  He met and befriended Abraham Lincoln in the 40’s and 50’s.  They became so close that, when Lincoln’s second son was born, they named him Edward Baker Lincoln.

Baker fought in the Mexican war and later was in Panama and was part of the consortium that attempted (and failed) to get a canal built there in the 1850’s.  Afterwards he moved to California at the height of the gold rush to practice law and make a fortune in land speculation.  He ran for Congress in California as a Free Soil Party candidate but lost.  Frustrated by his lack of success, he moved to Salem, OR (having just become a state in 1859), set up a law practice, politicked hard and ultimately became one of Oregon’s first 2 US Senators.

When Fort Sumpter was attacked in 1861, he volunteered and was named a Colonel of the 1st California Regiment (comprised almost entirely of Pennsylvanian’s but called the CA Regiment because he lived there for so many years and wanted to see that CA was represented in the fighting).

His performance at Ball’s Bluff wasn’t good and history isn’t too kind to him based on a number of rookie mistakes he made that day that led to a lot of casualties in his regiment.

Baker is famous now for being the only US Senator ever killed in action.  Baker, OR is obviously named for him.

Upon learning that Baker died the next day, his BFF Lincoln publicly burst into tears.  “With bowed head, and tears rolling down his furrowed cheeks, his face pale and wan, his heart heaving with emotion, he almost fell as he stepped into the street.”  It was about this time that both sides finally realized that the war wouldn’t be over in 3 months, as everyone had confidently predicted, and that nothing but a long, bloody slog laid ahead.

Obligatory battlefield canons.

These photos fail to capture the steep setting.. I’m at the edge of the land and there is a 100+ foot drop just in front of me down to the river.

Pretty, though.  It started to rain a bit so I hightailed it back to the car.  The nearest Starbucks is about 5 minutes away so I could get a coffee and muffin and continue on down the road.