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BATTLE INSIGHTS WELCOME 'LABORING ON THE HOME FRONT': Saturday, Aug. 9, 1 p.m., Tredegar Iron Works, 470 Tredegar St., Richmond. Weekly series of downtown Richmond talks, tours and tales highlighting the capital's Civil War history. Today's event features a talk on women's roles in the Civil War and a ranger-guided walking tour of the Iron Works. Free; parking available for $3 an hour. 804/226-1981.

August 2, 2008 12:15 am

MANY BATTLES throughout the course of history have been labeled as "history changers." Waterloo, Gettysburg and D-Day are three that jump to the minds of many history buffs. The July 1864 Battles of Monocacy and Fort Stevens are not usually included in the category of "history changers." Yet these two battles were important during the American Civil War and are presented in a new book by Marc Leepson, "Desperate Engagement: How a Little-Known Civil War Battle Saved Washington, D.C., and Changed American History."

Leepson is not new to the writing community, and his work has previously been published in many newspapers and magazines. As a teacher of U.S. history at Lord Fairfax Community College, he is not far from the battlefields of Monocacy and Fort Stevens, both National Park Service sites.

As summer approached in 1864, the world was darkening for the Confederate cause. William T. Sherman was moving his Union army through Georgia, and Ulysses S. Grant had Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia pinned down in a prolonged siege at Petersburg.

In an attempt to loosen Grant's grip, Lee boldly sent his 2nd Corps of approximately 14,000 men under Maj. Gen. Jubal Anderson Early into the Shenandoah Valley and north toward Washington. Early, who had the colorful nickname "Lee's Bad Old Man," was to threaten Washington in hopes of drawing Union soldiers away from Petersburg and enabling Lee to break out from the siege. Great hopes were heaped upon this "Army of the Valley."

Leepson follows Early's movements through the valley well, aided by many illustrations and a few well-placed maps. He brings the story to life using diary accounts, correspondents and postwar memoirs of the campaign.

As Early's column entered Maryland, its first target was Frederick, a small city 50 miles west of Washington. Frederick played host to Confederate and Union armies time and time again throughout the war.

Frederick is nestled two miles above the Monocacy River. Along the banks of the Monocacy a ragtag Union force decided to make a stand.

At the head of the small Union force confronting Early and blocking the way to Washington was Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace. Wallace had a tarnished reputation among the Union high command. Today, many even forget that he was a Union general, and focus instead on his postwar career as the author of, among other works, "Ben-Hur."

Wallace had the unenviable task of stopping Early's movement toward Washington. Wallace was outmanned and outgunned, but his job was not to defeat Early so much as to be a roadblock and slow Early down so that Union reinforcements could be sent from Petersburg to Washington.

Wallace did just that. He held off Early throughout much of July 9. Finally the Confederates got the better of Wallace and forced him back toward Baltimore.

Still, in the long run Wallace did his job well. The intense heat of July, the long march and the difficulties of the battle took a toll on Early's men, and he was forced to slow his movement toward Washington. When Early arrived on the outskirts of the capital, he found not only heavy fortifications but also reinforcements that Grant had sent from the Army of the Gulf and the Army of the Potomac.

The Battle of Fort Stevens (July 11-12), which took place just outside Washington, was a short and relatively bloodless affair. Early knew he had been beaten to the punch, and began preparations to pull back into Virginia.

These two battles are both discussed in this quite readable one-volume work by Leepson. An updated study of the two battles has been long overdue, since very little has been written on them, and even the average Civil War buff knows little about them.

Engagements such as Monocacy and Fort Stevens are important and forgotten aspects of the American Civil War; their impact was deep, and it is refreshing to see Leepson recognize this fact.

The work is well-balanced and tells both sides of the story well. The author goes character by character, informing the reader of every major personality who played a major role in the battles. These mini-biographies shed light on many less-well-known characters, while at the same time showing the reader what these men were made of. Were they liabilities or were they assets? Leepson helps to answer this question.

One must keep in mind that this is by no means a micro-tactical study of the battle. Leepson does not follow every unit through the campaign. What he does do is show how these two battles fit into the larger picture of the Civil War.

The Battle of Monocacy is summed up in less than 40 pages. In the buildup to the Battle of Fort Stevens, Leepson paints a great picture of things to come, but the battle itself is almost glossed over.

The book does have a few other minor flaws, including Leepson's tendency at points to draw too much from a single source, but the deeper implications of the battles and campaign are effectively and thoroughly explored. The author is able to well argue his point, namely that these little-known engagements did change the course of the war for the next nine months.

For the Civil War community, this is a good addition to one's reading list. Whether you have a great deal of knowledge of the campaign or are new to these battles, you will walk away with a better understanding of why and where these events took place.

Kristopher White is a Fredericksburg historian. E-mail him in care of
Email: gwoolf@freelancestar.com.