Modern account of action in Rockville during Early's Raid

The following text first describes the military action as Jubal Early's Confederate army marched through Rockville on July 10, 1864. Early's objective was attacking Washington DC.  He did so by assaulting Forts Stevens and Reno on July 11 & 12.  These reinforced forts proved too strong for Early's force to take.  Threatened with counter attack and exposed in enemy territory, Early began a retreat during the night of July 12.  His army passed back through Rockville, aiming to cross the Potomac River at nearby fords, later that night and throughout the next day.  The second text excerpt describes actions on July 13 & 14 during this retreat.

        Excerpt from:

July 10, 1864

Orders were sent out to send all available cavalry mounts in the Washington area to Giesboro. In a short time five hundred troopers from every cavalry regiment in the Army of the Potomac were hurriedly equipped, mounted, and made ready for operations. Major William Fry of the 16^th Pennsylvania Cavalry was placed in command. [Col. William] Gamble instructed Fry to take the newly formed battalion toward Leesburg and Rockville and cautiously reconnoiter the area.  Fry was to avoid becoming decisively engaged and Gamble ordered him to fall back to Fort Stevens if he ran into a large enemy force.

The command reached Rockville at about 11 am, where Fry encountered Capt. Levi Wells, who was leading a squadron that consisted of Companies C and I of the 8th Illinois Cavalry. Wells and his troopers had been cut off from Clendenin's command the day before during the battle at the Monocacy River....

Fry ordered him to turn around and reinforce his command. ....

Fry's column passed through Rockville in the mid afternoon and continued toward Gerradsville. A burst of carbine fire announced the rebel advance guard. Skirmishing started immediately. Fry rode to the front and could see a brigade of enemy cavalry moving down the road toward his position. Leaving several small parties to ambush and delay the advancing Confederates, he ordered his troops to withdraw gradually to Rockville. There was some confusion as the troopers passed through Rockville because the makeshift command was short on officers to direct the movement. Fry left a rear guard on the [north] side of town to try to slow the Confederates, then halted the rest of his retreating troopers in the center of town to attempt [to] regain control of his force. While the few officers and noncoms were shaking the column out and reorganizing, rebel sympathizers slipped around the rear guard and informed the advancing Confederates of the situation in the village. The rebels charged the rear guard without waiting to form a battle line. The Union troopers got off one ragged volley then fled toward the main column in Rockville with the Confederates in hot pursuit.

Fry quickly moved his command to a small knoll about a mile east of Rockville and ordered the troopers to dismount and form a skirmish line. The position had a stand of trees to the rear to shelter the horses and the ground in front was open.  He sent a courier back with a report of his actions and a recommendation "that the forts in the vicinity of Tennallytown be strongly guarded as the enemy's column is a mile long."

Fry held the rebels for about an hour but was forced to retreat when the Confederates brought up a small battery of guns. He moved his men back to the woods, where they mounted their horses and moved down the pike. At every little hill or knoll they came to the Union troopers would halt and forma skirmish lone in an effort to delay the Confederate advance. At nightfall Fry finally let his men dismount and rest at the picket line at Tennallytown. The horses remained saddled and the men lay on the ground and slept a few hours with the reins tied around their wrists.

July 13 & 14, 1864

[Colonel Charles] Lowell moved out on the Rockville Pike in pursuit of the retreating Confederates with nearly the entire 2^nd Massachusetts [Regiment] plus Major Fry's makeshift battalion. Compan[ies] B and E moved up to the River Road to cover Lowell's left flank. At about 9:15 am Lowell's advance guard came upon the Confederate rear guard four and a half miles from Rockville. The regiment formed up and skirmishing started as the Confederates slowly pulled back. In a dispatch written at about 10:40 am Lowell was able to report:

"There seem to be no force within a quarter and a half mile from Rockville. They have been passing on the old city road certainly ever since daybreak…. Citizens here report their trains moving on that road when they went to bed last night and columns of dust seen and noise heard all this morning. The rebels talked to the citizens as if they were going to cross the river the first opportunity…. Any serious attempt against them with infantry must, I think, be made soon. Three prisoners taken from Early's old division of Early's present corps confirm the above….  They say they have been run to death."

Lowell slowed the march, hoping for infantry reinforcements to attack the Confederate column and perhaps cut off a portion of Early’s army, but no Union infantry was forthcoming. The last of the Confederates passed through Rockville a little after noon. As the dust from the retreating Confederates settled, the 2^nd  Massachusetts moved forward.

They reached Rockville about 2 pm, but not before Lowell posted Major Fry and his weary men at the intersection of the Brooksville Road and the Georgetown Pike near Saint Mary's Church. As a further precaution, Lowell ordered Lieutenant Colonel Crownshield to lead the advance to the west side of Rockville.

Unbeknownst to Lowell or Crownshield the Confederates had set a trap for them. Earlier that morning General Early had given Brig. General Bradley Johnson, commander of the Confederate rear guard, a tongue lashing for permitting the Federals to get so close to the army's rear. Johnson's troops were known as the "Maryland Line", a brigade of Marylanders that combined infantry, cavalry and artillery into a single unit. Johnson later admitted that "The Second Massachusetts Cavalry hung on our rear and made it very uncomfortable for us generally."  Johnson decided to set a trap for the Union cavalry. He ordered Col. William Jackson to set up a screen at Watt's Branch just outside Rockville and wait for the enemy to advance.  Behind Watt's Branch the Darnestown Road ran through a shallow valley then angled behind a low hill. Johnson formed the 1^st Maryland Cavalry into an assault column just out of sight behind the hill, where they waited for the Federals to advance.

Crownshield encountered Jackson's skirmish line and, perhaps recalling Lowell's criticism of Major Forbes, ordered his men into line and had them draw sabers and prepare to charge. As the Union troopers moved toward the Confederate line, Johnson ordered the Maryland cavalry hiding behind the knoll to attack. The charging rebels swung into view, surprising Crownshield's badly outnumbered squadron. The bluecoats halted their horses, fired one ragged volley, and then turned and ran. Some found themselves racing side by side with their attackers toward Rockville. A dense cloud of dust hung over the area and the sound of firing told Lowell what had happened. One trooper with Lowell's column wrote:

"When the riderless horses of our advance guard came dashing pell mell through our closed columns, communicating their panic stricken spirit to many a sober man and beast, and giving rise I think to questionable orders which soon turned our courses backwards. Some of us who were disposed to go slowly soon found ourselves in the retreating rear rank and while passing the Court House over a triangle block which broke the main street of the town our attention was attracted by the clattering hoofs of a horse. And upon looking around we saw our capless Colonel [Lowell] following in haste. The magical effect of his voice when he neared and said 'Boys, will you dismount and check them'  was all that could be desired in any emergency."

The troopers had enough combat experience to know that a dismounted man without a held horse nearby had a good chance of becoming a prisoner. In spite of this, they obeyed without reservation. They swung from their saddles with carbines in hand, and slapped their mounts on the haunch, sending the animals trotting to the rear. The dismounted troopers then ran forward for cover. Some men found shelter behind fences and trees while others took position behind several sturdy brick buildings. They did not have to wait long for the attack they knew was coming. Within a few minutes, a howling pack of rebels poured out of the mouth of the street to their front "enveloped in a cloud of dust, only to be startled, bewildered and driven back by the prompt rapid fire of our repeating carbines."

The Confederate were forced back to the edge of town by the withering fire. The Union troopers followed them for "about a quarter of a mile where we met and repulsed a better organized and more formidable charge in an engagement so close that pistols were freely used. And the pitiful sight of a wounded foeman clutching for dear life to the neck of his horse, with such apparent helplessness, impressed my mind deeply."

When the Confederate cavalry fell back, Johnson, frustrated by the stubborn Union defense, decided to attack once more. This time he ordered his infantry to attack in front while a cavalry brigade swept around Lowell's left. Lowell ordered a handful of men to take position in a grove of trees on his flank in an effort to stem the flanking Confederates but to no avail. The 2^nd Massachusetts was steadily forced back and in danger of being encircled by the thrusting cavalry. As the weight of the rebels'  overwhelming numbers began to make the position untenable, Lowell ordered his troopers to fall back to Major Fry's position outside town.

The horses were quickly rounded up and the battalion fell back. On the other side of Rockville the Confederates regrouped and moved forward again. The firing became steady. Small parties would charge forward, fire, and then fall back.  Fry had dismounted his men, who were able to deliver deliberate and effective fire. They were armed with Burnside carbines and had been resupplied with ammunition the night before. The two brigades stubbornly fell back about two miles to a knoll on Rockville Pike. With Lowell's men covering the flanks, the line held for the rest of the day.

The regiment had lost three killed or mortally wounded and twenty-six wounded. Charles Backus of Company K, a native of Nantucket Island, was killed outright. The mortally wounded included Colonel Lowell's orderly, Henry Allen of Company A, and George Carr of Company L, who did not die until October. A total of thirty-eight men were captured as a result of Lowell's order for the men to leave their horses. ....

When word of the Rockville fight reached Washington, Secretary of War Stanton sent a wire to General Hardin at Fort Reno asking: "What number of cavalry regiments did Lowell have? He says his regiment left in Rockville was badly whipped. What is the extent of his loss?"

Stanton, assuming Lowell had more than one regiment at his disposal must have been surprised by Hardin's reply:  "Colonel Lowell had, I think, four companies of his own regiment, Second Massachusetts, and several detachments from other regiments. His loss is something over 100 as near as I can learn."

....

Late in the afternoon General Wade sent two of his VI Corps divisions past Fort Reno toward Rockville. General Ricketts was en route from Baltimore with his 3^rd Division.

During the night, Lieutenant Colonel Crownshield held the forward skirmish line behind Rockville, supported by Major Fry a few miles back. Lowell was ordered to report to General Wright at Fort Reno. He brought thirty-eight enemy prisoners with him. Near sunset Crownshield sent a dispatch advising General Hardin that the rebels continued to occupy the town in strength and that there were reports of another brigade on the other side of the town. He informed Hardin that he had sent a scouting party out and that he would update Hardin as soon as the scouts reported in.

A little later he sent a second dispatch advising hardin the ";The rebels are still in Rockville. Shall I advance in the morning or not? Men and horses are quite tired. Horses have (many of them) had no water of forage today."

Meanwhile, Lowell met with General Wright, who put him in charge of the cavalry force that would lead the pursuit of the rebels at daybreak. He rode back to the skirmish line at Rockville that night with the new orders.

Thursday July 14 promised to be another hot day. Shortly after sunrise Lowell sent Companies B, D and M down the River Road to the old camp at Muddy Branch. Their mission was to cover the Potomac crossings. Lowell led the remaining nine companies and Fry's cavalry through Rockville toward Poolesville, in advance of Wright's infantry. At 11:30 am they reached Dawsonville, ten miles west of Rockville. Lowell reported that the rebel infantry had crossed the Potomac at White's or Conrad's Fords or the ford near the Monocacy. He estimated that the Confederate rear guard was about an hour or two in front of him. According to a loyal citizen, the trains and stolen property had passed through Poolesville early in the morning and were probably across the river.

....

During the fighting in Rockville ten companies of the 2^nd Massachusetts had taken on an entire Confederate brigade and held for three hours.