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Peace rules the day, where reason rules the mind. -- William Collins |
Williamsport
Other Names: Hagerstown, Falling Waters Location: Washington County Campaign: Gettysburg Campaign (June-August 1863) Date(s): July 6-16, 1863 Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. George G. Meade [US]; Gen. Robert E. Lee [CS] Forces Engaged: Divisions Estimated Casualties: 1,730 total Description: During the night of July 4-5, Lee's battered army began its retreat from Gettysburg, moving southwest on the Fairfield Road toward Hagerstown and Williamsport, screened by Stuart?s cavalry. The Union infantry followed cautiously the next day, converging on Middletown, Maryland. On July 7, Imboden (CS) stopped Buford?s Union cavalry from occupying Williamsport and destroying Confederate trains. Kilpatrick?s cavalry division drove two Confederate cavalry brigades through Hagerstown before being forced to retire by the arrival of the rest of Stuart?s command. Lee?s infantry reached the rain-swollen Potomac River but could not cross, the pontoon bridge having been destroyed by a cavalry raid. On July 11, Lee entrenched a line, protecting the river crossings at Williamsport and waited for Meade?s army to advance. July 12, Meade reached the vicinity and probed the Confederate line. July 13, skirmishing was heavy along the lines as Meade positioned his forces for an attack. In the meantime, the river fell enough to allow the construction of a new bridge, and Lee?s army began crossing the river after dark on the 13th. On the morning of the 14th, Kilpatrick?s and Buford?s cavalry divisions attacked the rearguard division of Henry Heth still on the north bank, taking more than 500 prisoners. Confederate Brig. Gen. James Pettigrew was mortally wounded in the fight. On July 16, David McM. Gregg?s cavalry approached Shepherdstown where Fitzhugh Lee?s and J.R. Chambliss?s brigades, supported by M.J. Ferguson?s, held the Potomac River fords against the Union infantry. Fitzhugh Lee and Chambliss attacked Gregg, who held out against several attacks and sorties, fighting sporadically until nightfall when he withdrew. Result(s): Inconclusive |
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This Day in History
1865:
Confederate General Joseph Johnston officially surrenders his army to General William T. Sherman at Durham Station, North Carolina.
1865: John Wilkes Booth is killed when Union soldiers track him down to a Virginia farm 12 days after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. 1865: Joseph E. Johnston surrenders the Army of Tennessee to Sherman. 1937: The ancient Basque town of Guernica in northern Spain is bombed by German planes. 1952: Armistice negotiations are resumed. 1971: The U.S. command in Saigon announces that the U.S. force level in Vietnam is 281,400 men, the lowest since July 1966. 1972: President Nixon, despite the ongoing communist offensive, announces that another 20,000 U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Vietnam in May and June, reducing authorized troop strength to 49,000. |