Determined to Stand and Fight: The Battle of Monocacy, July 9, 1864 (Emerging Civil War Series)

In early July 1864, a quickly patched together force of outnumbered Union soldiers under the command of Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace prepared for a last-ditch defense along the banks of the Monocacy River. Behind them, barely fifty miles away, lay the capital of the United States, open to attack. Facing Wallace’s men were Lt. Gen. Jubal Early’s Confederates. In just under a month, they had cleared the Shenandoah Valley of Union soldiers and crossed the Potomac River, invading the north for the third time in the war. The veterans in Early’s force could almost imagine their flags flying above the White House. A Confederate victory near Washington could be all the pro-peace platforms in the north needed to defeat Abraham Lincoln in the upcoming election. Then came Monocacy. Over the course of the day, Union and Confederate soldiers attacked and counter-attacked, filling the fields just south of Frederick, Maryland, with the dead and wounded. By the end of the day, Wallace’s men fell into retreat, but they had done their job: they had slowed Jubal Early. The fighting at Monocacy soon became known as the “Battle that Saved Washington.” Determined to Stand and Fight by Ryan T. Quint tells the story of that pivotal day and an even more pivotal campaign that went right to the gates of Washington, D.C. Readers can enjoy the narrative and then easily follow along on a nine-stop driving tour around the battlefield and into the streets of historic Frederick. Another fascinating title from the award-winning Emerging Civil War Series. About the Author: Ryan Quint graduated from the University of Mary Washington, and is a seasonal park historian at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. Finalist, 2014, Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Book Award Sweep the Shenandoah Valley clean and clear, Union General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant ordered in the late summer of 1864. His man for the Maj. Gen. Little Phil Sheridan, the bandy-legged Irishman whod proven himself just the kind of scrapper Grant loved. Grant turned Sheridan loose across Virginias most vital landscape, the breadbasket of the Confederacy. In the spring of 1862, a string of Confederate victories in the Valley had foiled Union plans in the state and kept Confederate armies fed and supplied. In 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia used the Valley as its avenue of invasion, culminating in the battle of Gettysburg. The Valley continued to offer Confederates an alluring backdoor to Washington D.C. But when Sheridan returned to the Valley in 1864, the stakes jumped dramatically. To lose the Valley would mean to lose the state, Stonewall Jackson had once saidand now that prediction would be put to the test as Sheridan fought with Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal Early for possession. For the North, the fragile momentum its war effort had gained by capturing Atlanta would quickly evaporate; for Abraham Lincoln, defeat in the Valley could very well mean defeat in the upcoming election. For the South, more than its breadbasket was at stakeits nascent nationhood lay on the line. Historians Daniel Davis and Phillip Greenwalt, longtime students of the Civil War, have spent countless hours researching the Valley battles of 64 and walking the ground where those battles unfolded. Bloody The Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864 shifts attention away from the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia to the campaign that ultimately determined the balance of power across the Eastern Theater. The Day Lincoln Was Almost Shot: The Fort Stevens Story recounts the story of President Abraham Lincoln's role in the Battle of Fort Stevens in July 1864. This engagement stands apart in American history as the only time a sitting American president came under enemy fire while in office. In this new study of this overlooked moment in American history, Cooling poses a troubling question: What if Lincoln had been shot and killed during this short battle, nine months prior to his death by John Wilkes Booth's hand in Ford's Theater? A potential pivotal moment in the Civil War, the Battle of Fort Stevens could have changed—with Lincoln's demise—the course of American history.The Day Lincoln Was Almost Shot, however, is more than a meditation on an alternate history of the United States. It is also a close study of the attempt by Confederate general Jubal Early to capture Washington, DC, to remove Lincoln and the Union government from power, and to turn the tide of the Civil War in the South's favor. The dramatic events of this attempt to capture Washington—and the president with it—unfold in stunning detail as Cooling taps fresh documentary sources and offers a new interpretation of this story of the defense of the nation's capital. Commemorating this largely forgotten and under-appreciated chapter in the study of Lincoln and the Civil War, The Day Lincoln Was Almost Shot is a fascinating look at this potential turning point in American history. The Day Lincoln Was Almost The Fort Stevens Story recounts the story of President Abraham Lincolns role in the Battle of Fort Stevens in July 1864. This engagement stands apart in American history as the only time a sitting American president came under enemy fire while in office. In this new study of this overlooked moment in American history, Cooling poses a troubling What if Lincoln had been shot and killed during this short battle, nine months prior to his death by John Wilkes Booths hand in Ford's Theater? A potential pivotal moment in the Civil War, the Battle of Fort Stevens could have changedwith Lincoln's demisethe course of American history. The Day Lincoln Was Almost Shot, however, is more than a meditation on an alternate history of the United States. It is also a close study of the attempt by Confederate general Jubal Early to capture Washington, DC, to remove Lincoln and the Union government from power, and to turn the tide of the Civil War in the South's favor. The dramatic events of this attempt to capture Washingtonand the president with itunfold in stunning detail as Cooling taps fresh documentary sources and offers a new interpretation of this story of the defense of the nations capital. Commemorating this largely forgotten and under-appreciated chapter in the study of Lincoln and the Civil War, The Day Lincoln Was Almost Shot is a fascinating look at this potential turning point in American history. This Book Recounts The Story Of President Abraham Lincoln's Role In The Battle Of Fort Stevens In July 1864. This Engagement Stands Apart In American History As The Only Time A Sitting American President Came Under Enemy Fire While In Office. In This New Study Of This Overlooked Moment In American History, Cooling Poses A Troubling Question: What If Lincoln Had Been Shot And Killed During This Short Battle, Nine Months Prior To His Death By John Wilkes Booth's Hand In Ford's Theater? A Potential Pivotal Moment In The Civil War, The Battle Of Fort Stevens Could Have Changed - With Lincoln's Demise - The Course Of American History. Mr. Lincoln's Capital As Center Of Gravity -- Lincoln And The Army Come To The Suburbs -- Abe's Re-election, Old Jube And The Moment Of Greatest Danger -- Sigel, Weber And Upper Potomac Delays -- Monocacy, A Secretary's Son And The Road To Washington -- Blindness Or Stupidity On A Hot Weekend -- First Defenders To The Front: Lincoln At Fort Stevens, July 11 -- The President Is Almost Shot: July 12 -- Rebel Recessional/yankee Repercussions -- Lincoln, Fort Stevens And American Memory. Benjamin Franklin Cooling Iii. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The hoosier boy becomes a soldier First service: spring and summer 1861 Winter of discontent, Paducah, 1861-62 Doing his duty with honor Waiting: Lew Wallace at Crump's Landing, March-April 1862 The fog of war: April 6, 1862 Death and destruction: April 7, 1862 Aftermath Slow march to the "great, intolerant rebel city" : April through June 1862 Summer 1862: "my very great mistake" Opportunities: August-September 1862 Managing "hell": Camp Chase, September 1862 and beyond President of the Buell Commission: November 1862 to May 1863 "Nothing doing": spring 1863 to March 1864 Assignment: the Middle Department, 1864 "His will is the law": Middle Department commander, March 1864-July 1865 Monocacy: Horatius at the bridge The battle: July 9, 1864 Consequences Texas and the Mexican connection, 1865 Two trials: April to November 1865 Success and Shiloh. In the summer of 1864, General Jubal A. Early led about 15,000 Confederates on a daring sweep through Maryland. The savage battle proved to be one of the most decisive engagements of the Civil War. The hard-marching Confederate troops of General Early were embarked on a desperate gamble - an invasion of the North meant to take the pressure off Robert E. Lee's besieged forces at Petersburg. Early's goal was nothing less than the seat of the Federal Government, Washington, D.C. Glenn Worthington, a youthful witness at Monocacy, recounts in rich detail the see-saw fighting as lines of blue and gray swept across the rolling pasture land and wheat fields of central Maryland. Replete with official reports of the engagement, and the anecdotal recollections and memoirs of participants. Thirty-two Years after the battle of Shiloh Lew Wallace returned to the battlefield, mapping the route of his April 1862 march. Ulysses S. Grant, Wallace's commander at Shiloh, attributed Wallace's late arrival to the battle to a failure to obey orders. Shiloh still defines Wallace's military reputation, overshadowing the rest of his stellar military career. Wallace was devoted to the Union, but he was also pursuing glory, fame, and honor when he volunteered to serve in April 1861. Author Stephens specifically addresses Wallace's military career and its place in the larger context of Civil War military history. A study of the Confederate invasion of Maryland in 1864. It was an attempt to capture Washington DC and relieve the pressure on R.E. Lee's army. Heavily mapped, the reader follows Gen. Early on his routes through Maryland, the Battle of Monocacy, the attack on Fort Stevens, and the retreat back out of Maryland. A wonderful new text on the subject written by an NPS ranger at Monocacy. "Clear out the Shenandoah Valley "clean and clear," Union General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant ordered, in the late summer of 1864. His man for the job: Major General "Little Phil" Sheridan, the bandy-legged Irishman who'd proven himself just the kind of scrapper Grant loved. "...Shifts the attention away from the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia to the campaign that ultimately determined the balance of power across the Eastern Theater." -- page 4 of cover In The Day Lincoln Was Almost Shot: The Fort Stevens Story, historian B.F. Cooling documents the story of President Abraham Lincoln and the Battle of Fort Stevens in July 1864. By Ryan T. Quint ; Chris Mackowski Series Editor, Kristopher D. White, Chief Historian. Includes Bibliographical References.