Transcripts For CSPAN3 The 20240703

Next speaker who so grateful for him coming in and joining us last minute and he is going to continue with our theme of bridges over troubled waters. Weve got ryan quint, whos going to present defending the bridges monocacy, another maine native like our first speaker, ryan quint is a park guide at the fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National military park. He formerly worked at the Richmond National battlefield park, Colonial Williamsburg and George Washington foundation. Ryan has a history degree from the university of mary washington. Hes one of the emerging next generation of civil war historian. Mr. Quint is the author of determined to stand and fight the battle of monocacy, july 9th, 1864. And hes contributed to other several service baby civil war titles. Lets give mr. Quint a warm welcome. Lets see. Well, thanks, everyone, for having me. Wish i was under better circumstance, but i know we all wish peter the best. A couple of quick tests. One, can everyone hear me . Yes. Check. Second, check the clicker. Hey. Okay. Here we go. All right. Im going to borrow a question from brad last night. How many of you ever been to the monocacy battlefield . All right. Thats i love to see that. Its a park that has a remarkable history and it has the unfortunate distinction of being about a half an hour or so below gettysburg. And so everyone goes to gettysburg and they see that brown parks on the side of the road. Its monocacy. Then they went by it about 65 miles an hour. So today were going to spend about 45 minutes or so talking about this very important battle that takes place in july of 1864. So lets jump right into it as all good talks. Lets start at the beginning. All of the maps im going to show you. You have on the table in front of you. So if you have trouble with the screen, feel free to use the maps that were handed out to you in the spring of 1864. Right. Ulysses grant has been promoted to general in chief of the United States army. He arrives in virginia in march of 1864, and he makes the decision to to join the army, the potomac in the field. But the army, the potomac and george meade are not going to be the only armies fighting in the spring. In virginia alone, you have whats going to be called the Overland Campaign. Benjamin butler, the army, the james attack from june 100. There will be cavalry campaigns in the southwest of the state. And you have another force assigned to neutralize the Shenandoah Valley. This story really starts with the Shenandoah Valley, something that has vexed Union Commanders since very beginning of the war. Stonewall jackson in 1862, the second battle of winchester. Later in june of 1863. This continuing problem. And so in the spring of 1864, the Shenandoah Valley will be the responsibility of a man named fran siegel. And it goes absolutely nowhere. Fran siegel is very quickly defeated at the battle of newmarket 15th, 1864, and retreats back towards Harpers Ferry. He is going to be replaced by a man named david hunter, who is again, given the responsibility of basically fixing siegels broken force and making another push into the shenandoah. One quick thing about Shenandoah Valley geography, right . If youre heading south through the valley, you are moving down the valley right . Or moving up the valley. Excuse me. It helps if i get it right. The first time. Right. So theyre moving up the valley. So when we talk about jubal early counter in just a few minutes, hes going be moving down the valley towards, the Potomac River. So if i say david hunter moves up the Shenandoah Valley, what hes trying to do ultimately is target the city of lynchburg, which is a vital railroad hub in the southwest part of virginia. But david hunter is going to introduce a new brand of warfare to virginia in the early summer of 1864, david hunter is a radical republican. David hunter is one of those guys who doesnt just want to beat the confederacy. He wants to punish the confederacy. Hes been branded an outlaw by another Jefferson Davis for his recruitment of black soldiers in the carolinas. And so as he moves up the valley, hunters men will start to burn and pillage parts of the valley. And that really reaches climax when he gets to lexington, virginia, home of the Virginia Military institute, home of washington college. Because of the vmi involvement at the battle of newmarket hunter orders, the college. Okay. And so after burning lexington, he will make his move on lynchburg as that problems of those problems continue. You have the more famous battles that we all are familiar with as the Overland Campaign, Ulysses S Grant and robert e lee are making their way through central virginia. You know, the battles, the wilderness spots in courthouse. Norris and a river. Todd a pardon me, creek cold harbor, tens of thousands of casualties in the space of these of weeks. But even as robert e lee gets his back up against richmond in closer and closer to petersburg, lee recognizes the significance of lynchburg. If you lose lynchburg, you lose the ability to bring in vital resources, mainly even things from southwest, salt and gunpowder and salt. Peter if you lose those abilities, what are we even doing here . So he knows. Robert e lee knows he needs to secure the town of lynchburg. And so he makes the decision on june 12th, 1864, to detach whats left of the Second Army Corps army in Northern Virginia. And i say whats left because these guys, again, have been through it. Theyve been there, done that, gotten the t shirt a few times. And so on june 12th, 1864, as the rest of the armies maneuver around cold harbor, what earley will do with about 8000 men, thats all. Thats left of the Second Army Corps, army, Northern Virginia is makes his way west right. And what he will eventually early is he successfully defend the town of lynchburg at the battle of lynchburg on june 17th and 18th, 1864, a two day battle of lynchburg, early wins that fight. And why that is important. When david hunter retreats away from the engagement, he does not retreat back down the valley. He does not go back to Harpers Ferry. He hops over the mountains into the canal valley of west virginia. All right. So if youre jubal early and youve just secured lynchburg and youve saved the railroad town, this, that and the other, youve got three choices to make choice. One, stay in the valley, baby. Sit it, make sure theres no other union threats. Choice two, go back to lee. Lee at this point is in is in petersburg. He could certainly use the help or choice three go north. Its a risky maneuver but everybody is aware of whats coming up in november. Abraham lincoln is up for reelection in november. Nobody yet knows who will run against him. Right. The Democratic National Convention Wont meet until august, but they know somebody. And so if if the confederacy and jubal early can make this war even more costly and even more embarrassing to the Lincoln Administration, who knows what happens, right . The u. S. Senate has just passed the 13th amendment in april of 1864. What would a confederate victory look like in repelling that amendment . And repelling lincoln choices for reelection and so early decides to do exactly that. Hes going to bring the war north. One more time. And having given this talk more than a few times, ive met people who say, yeah, its not that big a deal. What is he going to be able to accomplish in the summer of 1864, as early has made his way west and begins to make his way north, he picks up reinforcements. So hes at about 15,000 men. What can 15,000 people really do . And i think thats missing the point because jubal early tells us exactly what hes trying to do from the city of stanton on 28, 1864. Lee says this very important quote, right . Hes talking to robert e lee. Hes writing to robert e lee back in petersburg. And he says, i proceeded. I decided proceed to according to your instructions, and proceed north to washington. And if i find a chance to take it, you will early is telling us not after the war, not in his memoirs, not in a cover your report. What exactly he is trying to do go north, threaten washington and if possible, take it. Can he hold washington . Probably not. But if he takes washington even for a day, what is that going to look like to the Lincoln Administration . How many of you would vote for a guy that confederates walk into the city . They rob the treasury. They throw the Confederate Flag above the capitol building. You feel really confident in that guy, right . And so early wants to see what he can do. In the summer of 1864. So he begins to make his way down the valley heading towards Harpers Ferry. His original intent was to get to Harpers Ferry. And as you probably all know, right, the confluence of the rivers there, the shenandoah and the Potomac Rivers, if he can get to the potomac and he can use that right into washington, kind of like an underbelly of the city, if he can get there, he can get into the d. C. Defenses of washington. Federal forces at Harpers Ferry will delay that. Theres a couple of couple of days worth of skirmishing on july 2nd and third and fourth early will eventually capture Harpers Ferry. And they have a heck of a party because all of these rations were left out on july 4th, independence day. They go into confederate bellies, but because he cant go down the Potomac River early, is forced to go all the way around up through sharpsburg, South Mountain passes and down into frederick this does not go unnoticed in the late days of june 1864, but it doesnt go reported by Union Soldiers goes are reported by railroad. The map here is the baltimore and ohio railroad. The red line heading from baltimore west towards ohio and the first reports of this Confederate Movement moving down the valley come from railroad agents who dont know exactly how many, dont know their end destination, but they start to report back movement of confederate soldiers in the Shenandoah Valley that those reports ultimately come to the baltimore and a house president named john w garrett, who wants some action done by the federal high command. And so i think this letter here, i find from various quarters statements of large forces in the valley, i am satisfied the operations demand greatest vigilance and attention. June 29th, one day after jubal early made decision to move north from stanton, this was not a surprise. It was not a sneak attack. Railroad executives were reporting back this almost immediately. The ironic thing is garrett himself was not outright secessionist leaning, but secessionists and kind of sympathies. He kept undertone, but he answers to a board of directors. All right. And those board of directors would really like their Capital Investments to be protected. Thank you very much. So what are you gonna do about this problem . And garretts words fall largely on deaf ears. Ulysses s grant and chief of staff Henry Halleck get these reports and largely ignore them. Scott used earlier the phrase of chicken little. Right. Thats what grant and halleck think this is all about. There is no way theres 15,000 confederates are moving down the valley. Garrett is whining and moaning and complaining about a phantom threat. That is expressed by grant on july 3rd, 1864. Earliest corps is now here in petersburg there are no troops that can be threatening the valley. Robert e lee had sent deserters or kind of fake deserters into lines to spread disinformation. And so on july 3rd, you have ulysses as grant reporting back. Its really nothing to worry about. It is a almost catastrophic failure of information and telegraphs and reaction to those problems. Fortunately for garrett, hes not willing to take that as an answer, and hes got basically an ace up his sleeve and so on july 2nd, 1864, he pays a trip to baltimore. And what garrett is most concerned about is this bridge right here. Were going to ultimately talk about Three Bridges total. This is the first of the three. This is the railroad bridge over the Monocacy River, the b. A. Junction is just on the other side of the river. You can see the sketch there. And then from there, the railroad branches off has two spurs. One continues towards ohio, one heads into downtown frederick. This is the bridge. Garrett is concerned about, because every stinkin time confederates come here, they mess with that bridge. In 1862, they caused almost 11,000 worth of damages. During the Gettysburg Campaign, they burned some of the railroad buildings and kept moving. And so, john, quite frankly, is tired of, going to board, directing meetings and go by the way, they burned our stuff again. So he would really like, if possible to get some help. And so when Ulysses Grant and Henry Halleck are not going to give that help, thats when garrett goes to baltimore to see this guy here, lou wallace, im sure many of you, the book he wrote right after the civil war, its the best song, american up to gone with the wind and of course, benhur, a tale of the christ. Lou wallace is a fascinating guy, and i wish i had more time to get into it. All of the ins and outs his career. So lets just take a couple of minutes. Born in indiana, born to a wellconnected indiana family, his father was the acting governor of indiana, served in the mexican war, is not professionally military trained. He was a lawyer when the civil war broke using those political connections to get to colonel c in the 11th indiana zhukov regiment fights extreme well at fort donelson in february 1862, under grants command and earns himself a promotion to major general. When he was promoted to major general, he was one of the youngest people in the army to be so promoted. And then shiloh happens again, not getting into it a whole lot. But lew wallace was not with the rest of the army at Pittsburg Landing when the battle shiloh starts on april 6th, 1862, there are disagreeing parts grant orders. Wallace to move to Pittsburg Landing. There are disagreements on how he got there and how he should have got there after battle was over, grant and halleck together scapegoated, wallace claimed he got lost, claimed was his fault and this and that and the other. Lew wallace got so angry. He was actually demanding courts of inquiry in the summer of 1863. You know what, grant was doing in the summer of 1863, capturing vicksburg. So how much is his work going to fall on a sympathetic ear . Youre telling me, you want to challenge us, grant, who just captured vicksburg, who just cut the confederacy in half. Youre in check on that guy. And so lou wallace lets the matter matter drop. He is promoted to the administrative command of the middle department, which is headquartered in baltimore. It was largely a political appointee to watch over the city of baltimore and even that angered Henry Halleck. He said it was a little better than murder to give wallace commands like this. He wrote angrily to his wife, susan about all of these battles were about to happen in 1864, and he was sidelined in baltimore. And he said soon be heard. The trumpet and the shout of the captain and the clash of the spear. And i will not be there. He was a kind of guy who liked action, liked battle, like the marshal air. But hes in baltimore, headquarters of the utah hotel, which no longer stands but was about three and a half blocks away from where the Baltimore Orioles play today. Right. And thats where john finds him on july 2nd, 1864. And john garrett says, i got this bridge. Im worried. And lew wallace basically says, say no more, because here is lew wallaces chance for action. A man who was watching action looking for action, and now almost gift wrapped. Here it is, the railroad and the river is not in technically administrative command. Its outside of his boundary. Is that going to stop him now . So on july 5th, 1864, with one staff officer lew wallace makes his way west out of baltimore out of the camden yard station and makes his way to the Monocacy River. And then he realizes i may have bit off a little bit more than i could chew, just a little bit, because lew wallace has, 1500 men under his command, most of them are a 100 day emergency militia men who have been formed. The ohio guard have been sent to baltimore as well as them some potomac, holmberg aide units are sent to guard the river here. The problem with that is its kind of like the island of misfit toys. Everybody who was basically too politically cancerous, has been sent to the middle department. Wallaces second in command is gone into rest is tyler tylers enemy, Andrew Humphreys, who was the chief of staff in the army, the potomac. Right. Tyler got into a tiff with humphreys because of the battles, fredericksburg and chancellorsville and was ultimately court martialed. So now political enemy is the chief of staff. So is he going to have a very high ranking position . So the island of misfit toys, a general on the wrong side of grant, a general on the wrong side of Andrew Humphreys in about 1500 guys. Thats what wallace has to rely on to defend railroad bridge. And to their credit, they try what they can in. The early days of july, they start to build fort vacations, they build block houses, they get a 24 pounder howitzer into position to guard the railroad. And thats where they are on july 6th and seventh when jubal early vanguard starts to come down off the South Mountain passes Railroad Junction is here. This is a photograph taken in the 1850s. The river is off to the right of this photograph. This shows the early actions on july 6th and seventh. What comes to be known as the battle of west frederick. Its a little bit more of a glamorous title than it deserves. Its a lot. A whole lot of shooting, a whole lot of noise and not a whole lot else. But as more and more and more confederates come down off the mountainside and William Wallace can see this dust being kicked up off the South Mountain and could talk to the mountain. He realizes his 1500, 100 day militia are not to be able to do anything. And so he starts to send and dispatches back to washington, d. C. And thats actually the first notice. Henry halleck has that hes there. He doesnt ask to go. He just says, by the way, im at monocacy if you want to send some help, thatd be much appreciated. And its actually. Wallace first word of warning, that kind of wakes up the canton of Henry Halleck, you see, realizes that this might actually be a problem as these 15,000 confederates come down off the mountainside. And thats what spurs halleck to action. Halleck sends orders to grant who sends orders to mead . Who sends orders to six Corps Commander harris. Youre right to. Send one division from the defenses of petersburg to secure the baltimore railroad. Its ultimately James Ricketts division, third division, sixth army corps, who have been through the absolute wringer. Theyve lost numerous commanders of the wilderness. Theyve been theyve been everywhere. So this whole Division Numbers about 3500 soldiers as it and thats what Henry Halleck thinks will suffice to guard this railroad. These soldiers love it because theyre out of the trenches. They happen to a nice little boat ride. They come down the Potomac River. Theyre in the time of their life. And then theyre told where theyre going and all of a sudden that enthusiasm goes right out the window. So ricketts men will arrive at the monocacy junction july 8th into the Early Morning hours of july ninth, 1864, and wallace decides to do is retreat back across the Monocacy River. He uses the monocacy to his advantage. There are Three Bridges over the Monocacy River on your maps. Right. Youll see them dispositions. Two in the middle, the railroad bridge, the wooden cross, the wooden Covered Bridge. And then further to the north is the stone bridge, which covers Baltimore Pike into the city of baltimore the shawnee called the Monocacy River of many bends. It curls and it bends and it bends back again. And so what wallace hopes to do is use the river to limit the places the confederates can cross. He knows the confederates have to cross the river somewhere somehow. So he those bridges are going to be at a premium with the arrival of ricketts his force. Lou wallace on the morning of july 9th, just shy of 6000 soldiers, he has seven cannon six rifled guns from the baltimore light artillery a 24 pounder howitzer coming him ah 15,000 confederates with 45 cannon and he has to make a stand. He writes the night of july 8th. I am falling back across monocacy the enemy is within 55 miles of georgetown. Here we go. Right. We are out of time. The morning of july 9th, 1864. Lou has no hope or intention of winning the battle. Its about to happen. Everything is the name of the game of buying time. Hopefully, if they can fight for an hour or two or three or four, they can buy time for more reinforcements to be sent to washington. Because the problem is cities like baltimore, washington have been stripped of their fortifications. So you hear all about how heavily the city is. All these forts and redoubts and all of that, how useful is a fort if theres nobody in the fort . And so to make up for losses of the Overland Campaign regiments been transferred to grants or grants command, theyd been given rifles and told the infantry. Now, so all of these men who have been trained on the heavy are given muskets, told, hey, go that way. So all these forts are all but empty in the city of washington. Theres fear was so high they were training war clerks, people in the pensions offices on the unloading of nine times. Heres a musket. How it works. Hopefully get it theyre getting in the invalid reserve corps. Soldiers who have been wounded elsewhere have been assigned to light duty. Theyre taking part in the fortifications. Thats the city of washington on july 9th, 1864, and 55 miles away at monocacy. You have this battle beginning. Wallace splits his force. He puts tyler, the 1500 militia basically at the stone bridge. And with the bulk ricketts men he plans on guarding the two the two larger bridges over Monocacy River. Lets see here the battle starts around 9 00 in the morning with heavy artillery bombardments. Remember they got 35 cannon theyre starting to on limber and they open fire near where is today the National Park Service Visitor center. Thats where the first shots of the battle are fired. And these these confederate cannon shells down into ricketts men, and they cause horrific casualties and thats how the battle starts. For wallace to start respond to these threats. He is aided im just going to say it by the incompetence of his foe, jubal early, who you think of as lees battle man and a good commander. And he is. But on the morning of july 1864, early is not with his army. He is not providing front line command leadership. He is in the town of frederick haggling with town leaders for 200,000. So those ransoms a year earlier. Yeah, theyre just continuing those early was incensed by the fact, though, they pay ransom. The town of middletown, frederick, middletown, maryland, its supposed to be 200,000. And the calvary officer who demanded that ransom drop to zero accidental lee in the dispatch so 200,000 became 20,000. So in that officer wrote up to early and said heres your 20 grand early said where is the rest of it . And so on the morning of july 9th, early himself says, well, i cant do anything, you know, best the way to do it yourself. He stays in frederick and he demands what town leaders. His headquarters is across the street from the town hall. He never walks over to the town hall. Its this kind of comical they send a dispatch, your obedient servant, jubal early town leader, send it back. Respectfully, no. And it just goes back and forth with couriers across the street for hours, because if youre the town leaders and you can hear the battles start, why would you spend the money . Some hail mary attempt happens and the union army wins. The battle of monocacy. And so mayor william cole delays all day and they delay and they delay ultimately early gets his ransom he gets his 200,000 but for the time being there is no military leadership at the front get all these confederates and they go i dont know where you told what to do. No. Where you told what to do. No. So they just kind of mill around, make a lot of noise. And wallace takes that happily. Hes not going to counterattack. Hes just going to say, you know what, you take your time do what you have to do. The second of our bridges, this is the Covered Bridge i was telling you about. Almost 300 union skirmishes were sent across the river as a holding force. Lieutenant george davis of the 10th vermont ultimately takes command of these skirmishes. And so the fighting begins with these skirmishes guarding the Covered Bridge. Davis is an experienced veteran his soldiers are experienced veterans. The problem is when confederates do start to attack, gets gun shy and orders. This bridge burned but he doesnt get davis men across the bridge before he does that. And so well come back to these guys and what their experience is like. The battle starts with them in the hollows and in the depressions fighting off these attacks. Fighting then shifts to the north, the stone bridge and tylers national guardsmen, who do a wonderful we dont really we being the capitol historian we dont really know what confederates were trying to do at the stone bridge. This is a photograph of the bridge taken on the 20th century. We dont know that because the two confederates in charge of those attacks, steven ramsgate and robert rhodes, two confederates who are killed later in 1864. So they never write memoirs. They never write reports. They never write dispatches. So we dont really know what they were trying to. Rhodes deploys his his battalions of sharpshooters commanded by a man named eugene blackford. And they will spend the day pick pot shotting with these Union Soldiers and the Ohio National guard are again more than happy to just let the confederates do their thing. The fighting is heavy. Theres a quote here by an aide to general who says they couldnt even put their heads above hillside because the sharpshooters are plunking in rounds. But all told, we dont really have a battle yet. We just have a really loud skirmish. Theres a lot of noise, theres a lot of smoke, but no one is really making that Decisive Movement to make a difference on this battlefield. And thats music to wallaces ears. You want to take your time. Im not going to. You do your thing right. The decisive part of the battle starts to spin its wheels when John Mclaughlin brigade of mounted infantry crossed, the Monocacy River, at a place called the worthington mckinney fort mclaughlin thinks, that he has nobody in front of him but some of these militia units right. And so he tells his guys, get off the horses, were just going to advance on foot and were going to push these militia guys aside. Its going to take us 5 minutes and well have that story before. All right, mclaugins men come up to the worthington, get off their horses and advance as if they were infantry. Theyre not advancing towards militia. Theyre advancing towards James Ricketts of the army, the potomac a guy, again, guys who have everywhere under the sun ricketts his men take up a position next to a garden orchard. They put their rifles up against the fence rails and they wait and as these confederates sweep down the hillside, ricketts his men experienced, trained intentionally allow the confederates to get within 100 yards and then they open fire and the whole ranks of confederates shot down. And theyre in their spaces. Mcclellans men retreat back and theyll try again. In the middle of all the fighting, only because scott mentioned the 17th virginia earlier. Ill mention them now, the 17th virginia is advancing their. Lieutenant colonels, a man named william tavener. Tavener cant see over the gun smoke. So how do you see . He calls for a volunteer here and going to do a human trapeze effect. Tavener is going to climb on this guys shoulders and try to stand up above the gunsmoke. If youre a union soldier, who do you shoot at . Then . Tavener and his volunteer are both killed in a matter of seconds in the front yard of the worthington house. Worthington house, right remains a landmark on the battlefield today. The red house there and in the basement is a six year old named Glenn Worthington, who appears and to the left of that, hes watching the fighting through boarded up windows. Father had boarded up and. Almost 70 years later, Glenn Worthington had who had grown up to become a wellrespected judge in frederick wrote one of the first books about the battle called fighting for time. And he uses his childhood memories to relate all of this. The ironic thing is that the Worthington Family started the war off in baltimore, and his father, john, thought with the riots in baltimore and this, that and the other, it was too dangerous of a city. So going to move to a quiet place. So they buy the house here in the spring of 1862. They move and then the Antietam Campaign happens. Then the Gettysburg Campaign happens and now the battle of monocacy happens all within really just a few miles of their homestead. So mclaughlins are retreating back and glenns mother says it means death to them. Either way, because these confederates are getting hit by musket tree to their front. And now other officers are hitting the soldiers on the backs with their swords, trying to get them refocused refocused. Thats how we get from 9 00 in the morning to about 1 00 in the afternoon. A whole lot of time is has passed, but not a lot has happened because the confederates lack that voice at the front rickets as men are doing just fine on their own and then problems start to climb. The bridges burned, talked about that union army has a 24 pounder howitzer. They load it incorrectly. New soldiers knew what the job. You know how the powder goes first and then the cannonball. Yeah, they do it. The earths. And so these soldiers in battle for the first time, they put the cannonball first and then go, oh, i never know how to get that out. And no one really knew. So the 24 hour four pounder howitzers sat quiet through most of the battle because it was loaded improperly. So bridges on fire cannon is loaded incorrectly and now weve got real problems because reports back to confederate infantry, i found a ford, i found a crossing, but not before he launches another. This photograph was taken in the 20th century. It shows the landscape today. The worthington house is in the upper right hand corner of modern day to 70 route to 70 runs right through the middle of this image, which is part of the problem of preservation at monocacy. I have to assume mclaughlins men looked carefully both sides before they crossed and so as these attacks continue right again records this men are able to repel the attack. And so maclaughlin realizes about 230 hes not going to be able to push these Union Soldiers back without help. Im pretty sure a subtitle of this conference can just be called John B Gordon does things, because im pretty sure hes been mentioned every single time about 230, 3 00 in the afternoon, John B Gordons division at the field. Gordons men cross the Monocacy River and they are peeved, i guess is the word ill use. They had engaged at Harpers Ferry and they had been told you get to sit this one out. Our mclaughlins men will take the front, it will be no problem. And so they had been told, you can sit this one out and you can just sit down. And now theyre told, just kidding, we need you to fight. And so his crossed the river in a tiff and they form up for their assault. Gordons men are as tangible. A reminder of the cost of the Overland Campaign as you can after the bloodshed of spotsylvania courthouse, the Second Army Corps was reorganized and they were kind of amalgamated together in gordons division, he commands the remnants of individual infantry regiment, 30 of them pepper strength infantry regiment is a thousand guys, right . On july 9th, 1864, he commands the remnants of third infantry regiment, and he barely breaks 3000 soldiers. So the infantry regiments are averaging about 100 men each. And what gordon decides to do is attack ricketts. His front in echelon, which is a french term for staggered assaults from righto left. And so that begins around 330 in the afternoon. Clement evanss georgia brigade steps off towards whs called the thomas farm. So from the worthington farm to the thomas farm,vanss men will be by themselves for about 15 minutes. And the idea behind an excellent tack is to draw in the enemy and then be able to fight them or, flank them with other ghting units comingut of the field later. Problem is for minutes evans is managed by themselves. So whos getting shot at . So casualties will be extremely high. Evans brigade. These georgians. Clement evans is on the left. So i had a photo of him earlier. He gets hit in the chest. If i say the word the house wife or a soldiers housewife. People know what im talking about. Its a kit of sewing needles and not to get too graphic, but the sewing needles explode mode. When this musket ball hits him. And when gordon wrote his memoirs literally years later, he said that evans was still picking needles out of his chest from the combat on right there is James Van Valkenburg of the of evans georgia brigade, who had fought extremely well the wilderness had helped capture the majority of the seventh pennsylvania reserves on the first day of the battle of the wilderness. Hes killed at monocacy. And so gordons his men are being just absolutely ripped to pieces. Colonel john lamar, the 61st georgia, hes killed. And so this this fighting attack will ultimately succeed, but is just tearing into these Union Soldiers. Up next is zebulon yorks louisiana brigade. I dont have as many main references dez does earlier, but zebulon york is from maine, which is interestingly enough. Right. Hes a maine born, moved to louisiana, got into a very wealthy plantation family and thus fights for the confederacy after him comes william terrys virginians. That is the remainder of the stonewall brigade. So this attack and the fighting on the on the thomas farm. Right. 90 minutes of fighting in the union army records. This man is specifically start to fall back. This is a keith rocco portrait fighting at thomas farm lasts 90 minutes from about 330 to 5 00 in the evening on july 9th, 1864. And when we talk about 1864, everyone has in their mind entrenchment and digging in and rifle pits, not here. Theres no time and. So this fighting on the thomas farm is a stand up, knock down brawl between two of the most experienced fighting units. Either army has to offer in these 90 minutes of combat, therell be one casualty every 5 seconds. Right. The majority of the battles casualties come in this field. Casualties are not just restricted to. The confederates. Right. Weve got some union casualties. The ninth new york heavy artillery suffers the most losses of any Union Regiment at the battle of monocacy their Commanding Officer is William Seward jr. Hes the secretary states son. His horse is killed beneath him. It rolls over his ankle and breaks his foot. Right. So hes off the battlefield. Sims stoltz of the 14th new jersey. I include him because the 14th new jersey loses five Commanding Officers and five regimental color bearers. And the regimental historian says in the time it takes to tell it, he says, the flag bearer was killed, fell down, second flag was picked up. Hes killed in the thomas farm fields. And what eventually ends up happening as these 35 union or confederate cannon start to tell on the union battle line, theyve been pushed up to the front and they start to inflate, fire their the union positions. So if you if you are a union soldier, youve got no choice but to flee. And so the union battle does begin to start buckle and break. Ironically enough, the last bridge to fall is the one held by the least experienced soldiers. The Ohio National guard and the potomac home brigade are the last Union Regiments to fall back off the field. I know it looks like antietam, but this is a sketch in the 1890s of the stone stone bridge at monocacy. Tylers men hold off long enough for ricketts, his men, to retreat behind him. And then tyler pulls out and the growing dusk. So weve got our two bridges, right . Weve the burnt Covered Bridge. Weve the stone bridge. Thats our last. Our last bridge. What about george davis and his merry band of skirmishes . We come back to the bridge that started it all the only way across the river is the Iron Railroad bridge, the bridge that john garrett was concerned about, the bridge that starts, the battle becomes their lifeline george davis, his men have to quite literally hopscotch over the railroad ties. Its about 45 feet up and i always enjoy this story. Glenn worthington tells us that there was a wooden board posted at the end of it and painted letters. No pedestrian use. And they just start to hopscotch across the river. George davis ultimately gets the medal of honor for successfully getting men off the battlefield. But it came at a cost. Almost a third of his skirmish tours are killed wounded or captured in this endeavor right. So by about 630 battles over july 9th, 1864, its about over the last couple of hours, there have been about 2200 combined casualties, about 1200 union and about a thousand confederate. The problem for jubal early, who does arrive on the battlefield towards the tail end of it, the problem for jubal early is that his men are casualties are all killed and wounded. He doesnt suffer any prisoners. And why thats a problem as that is a major percentage of your fighting force. You only have 15,000 men to march on washington and you lose a thousand of them. Youre fighting capabilities are being diminished and the night of july 9th into the morning of july 10th, its early. His response, ability to police the battlefield, take care of the wounded them to hospitals and things like this. Early second in command is john c breckinridge, who makes his headquarters at the worthington farm. As i showed you earlier, John Worthington loses mind because he was a breckinridge supporter. Hes hes so in thrall. See him. Breckinridge has to politely excused himself out of the conversation because John Worthington was for lack of a better word, fanning all over. Right. Its so good to see you. And i got in and breckinridge was just, you know, i need to do other things by on july 10th, early starts to make his move towards washington. The march continues until july 11th. Temperatures are in the high nineties. Men are starting to fall out not from battle disease but from heat exhaustion. So hes losing even more men comes up to the defenses of washington on the evening of july 11th. Fighting continues on 12th as three days gained by the stand. Obnoxiously, that is time for the rest of the sixth army corps. The 19th army corps to go into the defenses of whington. Thomas hyde, who left a wonderful acunt of his service in the sixth army corps, says he sees civilian ants who were never more excited to see soldiers than on july 12th, as theyre literally coming to the Steamboat Landing and theyre hopping off the off the ships and theyre double clicking through the streets of washington. And abraham lincolns there. And here a classic quip. He you cant be late if you want to get early. Right. And so these so these Union Soldiers double hook them themselves. So the city defenses and start to occupy these forts most famously fort stevens outside of washington, d. C. What today on Georgia Avenue the battle of fort stevens takes place on july 12th. Jubal early sees them following through into the fort and he sees them through his spy glasses. And he sees the very distinctive greek cross of the sixth army corps. And hes reported to have said, them, we see them everywhere we go. Right. So the sixth corps is just everywhere early. Is that night he has a council of war with his commanders. He makes a decision to retreat back out of. Washington he blames his supported officers for the failure to take washington. I think more than a fair share of blame sits on early shoulders himself, but he ultimately retreats back across the Potomac River on july 13th and july 14th, 1864, union army pursues. And thats how we get into the campaigns of 1864 as an epilog pg and august 1864, there is a conference of war at the thomas farm on the monocacy battlefield. U. S. Grant was there. David hunter there, Bill Sheridan was there. And thats where the plan was hatched for the following fall campaign, sheridans victories for third winchester and fishers hill cedar creek were put into movement at the thomas farm, a place that was fought over so heavily on. July 19, 1864. Lou wallace wanted a monument dedicated on the battlefield, wanted to be a stone obelisk. And one of the inscription to say, these men died to save the capital and. They did save it. Monuments not there. But i think the testament is there. And my last concluding remarks im going to give to a guy named isaac bradwell who fought in the 31st georgia, one of the last surviving veterans of the battle doesnt die well until the 20th century. And he advocate cuts from an to be turned into a National Park. He lives long enough to see the monocacy National Battlefield park created in 1933. Right. So he says by all means, let the government make this place a memorial park. Okay, so that is a conclusion. Thanks for your time. And i think weve got time for questions. So were going to have a microphone and then ill take the questions questions. Can you talk a bit about what happened . The early cavalry since they werent there . Sure. So the question was about earleys calvary and his calvary is all over the place. Hes has calvary contingent under the command of Bradley Johnson and Harry Gilmore and on morning of july 9th, 1864, they were sent away earleys army for a wild goose chase of an affair to liberate the prisoner of war camp. At Point Lookout. And the idea is these confederate calvary men would ride into the fort or the camp liberate the prisoners. Confederate navy would sail up and bring them all back to petersburg. And the time line was unrealistic. They were supposed to ride from frederick all the way down to Point Lookout hundreds of miles in about two days, liberate the prison, meet with the navy, and sail back. So they are gone and so early, lost his eyes and ears. The troubling thing. Excuse me. Trouble thing is that Bradley Johnson was from frederick. He knew the river. He knew the crossings, but he sent away. And so early loses his eyes and ears because of the Point Lookout rate, which was Robert E Lees idea. It was his idea to send them so, so he got a dispatch from lee junior robert ely junior saying, send these guys away to Point Lookout. So theyre out of the picture completely. Anybody else have questions how forward they get outside . So the question was how far did the confederate calvary get to to Point Lookout, the environs, baltimore one of my favorite accounts is that the confederates again, its july 4th or the proximity july 4th. And so some of the confederate officers and men captured, for lack of a better word, an ice cream truck, a wagon of ice cream and a confederate soldier explains what can only be to me brain freeze. He doesnt call it brain freeze, but he says he he dove into this ice cream so quickly his mind hurt and had a headache. Hes describing brain freeze right. So they get distracted by these union supply convoys. William b franklin was a Union General who was responding to the threat. He got captured by confederate soldiers who got distracted by the spoils of war. And so franklin escaped in the middle of the night. He just waited for them to fall asleep and he was out. And so they did not accomplish nearly as what they wanted to. But they get near baltimore and then they realize its a bridge too far right. Im sorry. They get caught. They get caught. Yeah. Yeah. The idea is to link back up in washington. Yeah. So what to the money early. Got. Yeah. Good question. It doesnt go to the confederacy. So no one really knows what happened to the money. Right. The question was what happened in the money. No. Really knows. Right. He never forwards it to richmond, never a correspondence. So where is right. 200,000 is a lot of money. Where it. Yes. He had a grand old time. Yeah its interesting that the ransom was paid by five banks. Five Frederick Banks put up the money and they charge the city interest on the payback. And so it until the 1950s that the city paid back the five the five banks. So took almost 100 years to pay off this ransom, right . Yeah. Any other questions if you have questions you want to ask on a more informal basis, ill be around today and tomorrow. Finally, if youd like. But thank you all again for your time. This is a war in which women hold responsible military positions on an equal footing with men submitting to the same discipline, earning the same pay in some theaters of war. Sharing the dangers of front line, fighting. But it is not only in the field of military operations that are pulling their weight. They are working on the Assembly Lines in munitions factories, helping to produce the enormous bulk of material that, we and our allies must have to fight the war in the sprawling aircraft factories on the west coast. Teams of women blush, the rivets that hold together the aluminum skin on the wing of a b24 or. This is like punching holes, a tennis, scouring powder instead of cutting out dresses. This woman stamps out the patterns of airplane parts hot plastic glass is lifted out of the processing that and molded into shatterproof windows for fighter planes and bombers and curved sections from the cage in the nose of a flying fortress. Instead of baking cakes. This woman is cooking gears to reduce the tension in the gears after use. Women can down an 1100 horsepower motor, put it together again and make it per a woman. Gives directions to the future pilot who is cooped up inside elite trainer learning the principles of blind flying. And the ubiquitous jeep is on every battlefield of the world. Guadalcanal to dutch harbor women have clamped instrument dials to the dashboards of of them. One woman guides a machine that turns out thousands of cartridge cases a day in peacetime. These would be lipstick cases. Women who used to make their own clothes are now stitching silk and nylon parachutes. Every team is the most important one and must pass the rigid examination before it is accepted. If a parachute is not satisfactory, there isnt a chance for the soldier to exchange it for a new one. The best scope of the war has created a tremendous for all medical supplies. A womans dexterous hands move the chamber of a hypodermic needle. In hundreds of the united shipyards. Husky women, the same jobs as men. Tough, rugged work that they toss off like veterans. In. Here are some of the reasons why theyre doing these job. I have two sons in the army now. Im the army, too, in a way. I wanted to bring my dad home soon. Hes in greenland because my husbands in the. And i want to do a job that means more than working in a department store. We do want women in department stores, other civilian jobs. But we need them in war plans to women who have had no industrial experience. Our train bar, the United States Employment Service or sent by them to factories that teach future workers individual consultation determines what kind work the applicant is best suited. Would you like to work a factory . I dont know anything about machine. Can you drive a car . A bicycle . Can you repeat burnt out fuze . Yes, i can do that. Then you can be trained for a job and. The training wont cost you a cent with the strides that have been made in industrial methods. There is practically no limit to the types of work that women can do in. Classrooms. They learn to be inspectors by studying with enlarged models of precision instruments. With micrometer on the vernier gauge, they can measure accuracy to. The one 10,000 of an inch. Experience has proved that women are especially well adapted. The drawing of blueprints in one experimental aircraft factory. The entire drafting room is staffed by women. They are taking to welding as though the welding rod were a needle and the metal a length of cloth to be sewn. After a short apprenticeship. A woman can operate this Braille Press as easily as a juice extractor in her own kitchen and a lathe will hold no more terrors for her than an electric washing machine. But it is not only heavy industry that needs women. They are wanted in hundreds of essential civilian services that must be kept functioning. They have taken over routine jobs at nonmilitary airports. Railroads are carrying an unprecedented load of troops, war materials and civilian. Women help to keep the irreplaceable Rolling Stock in good running order. They are collecting fares and driving busses and. A boys of today are girls. Office buildings are using girls to the elevators. Many communities already have women on milk delivery routes. They handle man sized tractors on the vast of the middle west. And. And more than man sized mule team. Now, men are worried. My wife worked people think i can support her. Oh, i dont mind my wife working. Who is going to run my home . Its okay now. But what about after the war . The women will have all the jobs. Some men asked these questions during the last war. This is what happened then. Women wanted to take an active part in the war as they do today. Nurses saw duty at base hospitals with a drying off of many men to the front. Hey, inevitable labor shortage. The old prejudice against women in heavy industry was broken by the demand for more manpower. And women found work not only in nursing but in factories, Railroad Yards and on the farm. Youll manette the vanguard of our waves. This old newsreel shows them being reviewed by the secretary, the navy, josephus daniels, and the assistant secretary, Franklin Delano roosevelt. Those were the true glamor girls of the last war and remembered with affection and appreciation for the work performed on the world. Then as now was in peril. Women are needed again before the end. The year 2,400,000 more must be enrolled in war work, which means not only in the army, the navy, the marines, but in the factories, on the farm, in various civilian occupations. Now filled by men who are being called to the colors, every woman who can possibly is wanted. Their country is calling them