1,760 3,000 Date 7 August 1864 | 42 488 | |
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Similar American Civil War, Battle of Rutherford's Farm, Battle of Folck's Mill, Battle of Cool Spring, Second Battle of Kernstown | ||
Stephen smith on the battle of moorefield
The Battle of Moorefield was a cavalry battle in the American Civil War, which took place on August 7, 1864. The fighting occurred along the South Branch of the Potomac River, north of Moorefield, West Virginia, in Hardy County. Historians group this battle with Early's Washington Raid and operations against the B&O Railroad, and it was the last major battle in the region before General Philip Sheridan took command of Union troops in the Shenandoah Valley. This Union triumph was the third of three major victories (Battle of Droop Mountain, Battle of Rutherford's Farm, and the Battle of Moorefield) for Brigadier General William W. Averell, who had some successes when operating on his own, but did not work well under direct supervision.
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On July 30, Confederate cavalry commanded by Brigadier General John McCausland burned most of the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and fled west. McCausland was pursued by cavalry led by General Averell. McCausland's troops, with fresh horses, were able to escape the Union cavalry and threaten more towns. After re-crossing the Potomac, they camped between the West Virginia towns of Moorefield and Romney—closer to Moorefield. Their camps were along both sides of the South Branch of the Potomac River, in an area better suited for horse grazing than defense. Johnson's Brigade was on the north side of the river, while McCausland's Brigade was on the south side. As they settled to rest their horses, Averell's force was still 60 miles (97 km) miles away in Hancock. Averell had been forced to rest his horses, but was ordered to continue the pursuit a few days later.
Using an advance guard disguised as Confederate soldiers, Averell's cavalry caught up with McCausland during the night of August 6. On the early morning of August 7, Averell attacked the sleeping Confederates. Over 400 men were either killed or captured (some escaped), while the Union force lost less than 50. Averell's victory inflicted permanent damage on the Confederate cavalry, and it was never again the dominant force it once was in the Shenandoah Valley.
Battle of moorefield
Background
During the first half of July 1864, a Confederate army led by General Jubal A. Early had threatened the federal capital, Washington, D.C., by approaching from Maryland. Early defeated Union General Lew Wallace near Frederick, Maryland in the Battle of Monocacy, but was stopped in northwest Washington in the Battle of Fort Stevens. Early retreated back to the Shenandoah Valley, and Union leadership was uncertain if he would attack Washington again, attack the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, or move south to assist General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
On July 24, Early won a resounding Confederate victory near Winchester, Virginia at the Second Battle of Kernstown. Union troops, in some cases panic stricken, retreated to the north side of the Potomac River. General Early followed his Kernstown victory with an attack on northern territory. He dispatched two brigades of cavalry under General John McCausland and General Bradley Johnson to conduct raids in Pennsylvania. McCausland was the force's commander and led the first brigade, while Johnson led the second brigade. Their purpose was to burn northern towns unless they received a ransom. Their first two targets were Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and Cumberland, Maryland.
On July 29, McCausland's cavalry force crossed the Potomac River west of Williamsport, Maryland with the assistance of diversionary crossings at other locations. Panic spread throughout the region as McCausland moved toward Chambersburg. The Union troops nearest to McCausland belonged to General William W. Averell, who was stationed in Hagerstown, Maryland, and had troops guarding nearby fords along the river. Averell had only 1,260 men and two pieces of artillery in his command. (His force was later increased to 1,760 on August 4 with the detachment of cavalry from another division.) Averell's communications were cut around noon.
After Early's excursion north of Washington a few weeks earlier, Averell was under pressure to make sure that Washington and Baltimore were not attacked. As the Confederates moved north, Averell mistakenly assumed they would turn east to attack Baltimore and moved his force to repel such a maneuver. In doing so he allowed the Confederates to raid and burn Chambersburg virtually unopposed on July 30. After burning Chambersburg, McCausland moved west and rested his horses. Later that day, Averell arrived in Chambersburg, and then continued to pursue McCausland. His actions may have prevented the burning of Hancock in Maryland, and McConnellsburg, and Bedford in Pennsylvania. In Hancock, Averell's men skirmished with McCausland's rear guard. McCausland had been able to secure fresh horses, and escaped. Averell's horses were exhausted, and he was forced to pause in his pursuit of McCausland in Hancock. He could not secure fresh horses, since any fresh horses in the area had been taken by McCausland.
On August 3, Averell received an order to pursue McCausland and attack "wherever found. On August 4, the Confederate cavalry continued with their second objective, which was disrupting traffic on the B&O Railroad. They attempted to raid New Creek (present day Keyser, West Virginia). The raid proved to be unsuccessful as the small Union garrison used topography to its advantage, emplacing fortified artillery atop the mountains that surrounded the New Creek Valley. After aborting the raid the Confederates fell back towards Moorefield and made camp. Having been operating virtually unopposed since he left Virginia, McCausland felt he was in no imminent danger and carelessly set up his camp with his two brigades separated by the South Branch Potomac River.
While the Confederates attempted to raid New Creek, Averell's force crossed the Potomac at Hancock, Maryland, and headed for Springfield, West Virginia. Upon arriving on August 6, they learned of the Confederate raid and subsequent withdrawal to Moorefield. Averell determined not to let the Confederates escape him a second time and departed for Romney the following day, sending his scouts ahead to reconnoiter the Confederate position. By 6 pm that night his scouts met up with Averell at Mill Creek halfway between Romney and Moorefield. Because he was outnumbered nearly 2 to 1, Averell planned a surprise attack on the Confederates by launching a night raid. The Federals marched from Mill Creek at 1 am on August 7.
Battle
At around 3 am the Union vanguard led by Captain Thomas Kerr encountered and captured the first Confederate pickets north of Moorefield. After the pickets were sent to the rear, Averell rode up and prepared for his attack, placing Major Thomas Gibson in the center along the Moorefield road. In a surprise attack at dawn on August 6, 1864, Averell captured over 400 Confederates. Two columns under Col. William Powell formed on the flanks of Gibson. Kerr again led the vanguard. With his line formed Averell ordered the attack. Gibson's column immediately smashed into the Bradley Johnson camp. Most of Johnson's men were asleep and woke up only in time to be taken prisoner or rush off in full retreat. The commotion of Johnson's retreating men was enough to awake the men in McCausland's camp on the other side of the river who were able to form a line and meet Gibson's advance at the river. Averell had anticipated meeting resistance at the river and thus sent his two flanking columns to cross up and down stream respectively of Gibson's crossing. The right and left columns crossed and poured into the flanks of the hastily formed Confederate line causing it to break into retreat. The pursuing Federals encountered Brigadier. General William Jackson's cavalry on the Winchester Pike east of Moorefield. Jackson tried to bring his guns up to fire on the Federals, but because the routed Confederates were so interspersed among them he could not get a shot off before they were overrun and captured. This action, maintaining surprise and momentum, reflects tactics learned by Union commanders from encounters with Confederate Major General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's forces.
Aftermath
The official reports show that Averell captured 38 officers and 377 enlisted men in addition to killing at least 13 and wounding 60. The Confederate losses to capture might have been higher, but due to the speed of the advance many Confederates initially captured were able to escape as they were sent to the rear. The victory cost Averell 11 killed, including 2 officers, 18 wounded, and 13 captured. Those captured were likely stragglers rounded up by John Hanson McNeill's partisan command, which was operating in the area. The devastating loss crippled the Confederate cavalry in the Valley. For the duration of the war in the Valley they would no longer have the dominance they previously enjoyed throughout the war.