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519:'s cavalry. As the Federal attack came into sight the confederate infantry and artillery opened up and Ranson's cavalry rode around to Wharton's left cutting off the Federal escape route. The presence of strong infantry force caused the Federals to flee, but because Ranson had cut off their main route back to Hillsboro, they abandoned the captured wagons that they had not yet taken back to Hillsboro, attempting to light fire to them before the fled. In their hurry to flee, the Federals left their artillery behind. Meanwhile, Ramseur's infantry approached the Crossroads from Leesburg and encountered Tibbits decoy force, which was quickly dispatched by the cavaliers.
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main force a mile west through a woods, using a small ridge to screen himself from the
Confederates. Tibbits deployed his men and artillery on the crest of the ridge and at 2 p.m. began his attack, ordering the artillery to fire and his men to charge. The shock of the attack caused the small infantry guard accompanying the wagon train to flee without a fight. The attacking Federals then caused the Confederate teamsters to stampede the Wagon trains, and Tibbits turned his charge to the east allowing him to round up the wagons fleeing his decoy force attacking along the Berlin Pike.
547:. The two Union commands, now in communication with each other set out to rendezvous at Heaton's Crossroads. As the Crook set out from Hillsboro he ordered Duffié to take his cavalry on a westerly route to serve as a screen against a possible Confederate attack. The route Duffié selected took the Federals right through Woodgrove. At 9 p.m., in the twilight after sunset, Duffié's cavalry entered Woodgrove, catching Johnson's cavalry completely by surprise, due to poor picket posting. Most of the Confederates fled immediately, many leaving their horses behind, except the
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briefly skirmished again with
Imboden's Cavalry. While Wright was crossing the river, General Duffié dispatched several cavalry patrols from Hillsboro to locate the Confederate column. On patrol encountered Confederate Cavalry east of Purcellville and drove them back on the main body and in doing so located Early's wagon train. The patrol broke off and returned to Hillsboro to report the reconnaissance.
551:, who formed a line, with half of the company dismounted as skirmishers and attacked Duffié's Cavalry, enabling their comrades to make an escape. The fight was fierce but short and by the time Duffié brought up his artillery all of the Confederates including the 8th had fled, regrouping at present day
488:
crossing at
Edwards Ferry. Wright's forces briefly skirmished with Rodes and Ramseur's Cavalry, who quickly withdrew in the face of superior numbers. Though the crossing was not disputed, Wright spent the rest of the day getting his army across the river and was only at Leesburg by days end, where he
497:
George Wells to
Waterford to engage Johnson and the 21st New York with the 1st West Virginia Light Artillery under Col. William B. Tibbits to attack the wagon train. Wells for his part drove off the remaining Confederates at Waterford, though Johnson's main force had already left, and then stayed to
563:
The
Federal cavalry was successful in capturing 37 wagons, burning 43 and capturing 54 prisoners at the expense of several artillery pieces and at least 18 casualties. Because the two Federal armies could not effectively communicate they were unable to hinder Early's withdrawal and missed the best
506:
Tibbits, meanwhile, arrived a mile north of Heaton's
Crossroads on the Berlin pike and caught sight of the Confederate column, which to his delight was without cavalry protection. Tibbits left a small force there as a decoy, telling them to wait for the artillery signal to attack and then took his
492:
As the
Confederates made their way across the Loudoun Valley, Johnson's cavalry stopped at Waterford to water their horses, assuming the army was in safe territory and not in imminent danger. This delay allowed the main army to advance beyond its right flank screen. Around noon, Duffié's patrols
522:
Upon returning to
Hillsboro, Lt. William Josyln of the 21st New York determined to retrieve the abandoned artillery and received permission from Gen. Duffié to do so. Accompanied by 18 troopers, Josyln arrived at Heaton's Crossroads to discover the guns had already been taken away by the
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opportunity they had to date to do so. The
Confederates, for their part, gained little from the day besides their passage across the Blue Ridge and a few pieces of artillery which was counterbalanced by Johnson being twice embarrassed, once at Waterford and again at Woodgrove.
510:
The attack quickly lost coherence as the force fanned out among the fleeing wagons and as troopers left to escort captured wagons back to
Hillsboro. The attack, however, did not go unnoticed among the Confederate leadership. Gen. Breckenridge ordered Brig. Gen.
208:
428:, Wright determined to cross the Potomac the following morning and ensnare Early in the Federal pincers. Wright, however, could not easily communicate with Crook as the telegraph wires between his position and Harpers Ferry had been cut by
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reported back to him, alerting him of the presence of the Confederate wagon train as well as of Johnson's force at Waterford. General Crook immediately dispatched the 15th New York Cavalry under
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531:'s gang, dressed in Federal uniforms, who they took to be friendly soldiers. After gaining the confidence of the troopers the Rangers killed the 18 enlisted men and took Josyln prisoner.
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As the day drew to a close, the last of Early's force except Johnson, who went into camp at Woodgrove southwest of Hillsboro and now acting as a rearguard, crossed the Blue Ridge and
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as well as several divisions of "100-days" troops recruited to defend Washington. On the afternoon of July 15, Wright arrived in Poolesville and learned of the arrival of the
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The morning of July 16, with the Federals closing in, General Early broke camp at Leesburg and set out for the Shenandoah Valley by way of
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via the Snickers Gap and Leesburg Pike. While his main army and wagon trains used that route to withdrawal, cavalry under Brig. Gen.
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Later that morning, Wright began his crossing at Conrad's Ferry, with a small force under Maj. Gen.
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was to lead cavalry, and a column of POWs and cattle captured Maryland, on a southerly route across
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Confederates. They also encountered a small detachment of Confederate partisans, either from
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was ordered to take a more northerly route and protect the armies right flank and Brig. Gen.
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marched behind the wagons and Brig. Gen. John D. Imboden's cavalry served as the rearguard.
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to deploy his infantry and artillery on a ridge west of the town along with Brig. Gen.
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A small force of infantry and cavalry from the Army of West Virginia, under Brig. Gen.
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Nearly a full day after Early set out towards Virginia, Union forces under Maj. Gen.
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424:. Seeing that he could pin Early between himself and the force under Crook in the
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had crossed into Loudoun that morning by way of Berlin (present day
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receive the accolades of the unionist town's thankful citizens.
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and protect the armies left flank. The infantry of Generals
366:. The Confederates withdrew along the Georgetown Pike into
374:. On the July 14 they reached Conrad's Ferry (present day
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Battles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War
378:) and crossed making camp at Big Springs just north of
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set out in pursuit. Under his command was the entire
416:), briefly skirmished with Confederate cavalry near
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577:. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007.
449:Confederate withdrawal and Union reconnaissance
164:
962:Inconclusive battles of the American Civil War
868:Ball's Bluff Battlefield and National Cemetery
967:Battles of the American Civil War in Virginia
604:
202:
575:Shenandoah Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign
222:and operations against the B&O Railroad
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331:. The action was tactically inconclusive.
209:
195:
294:skirmish that took place between Federal
942:Loudoun County in the American Civil War
620:Loudoun County in the American Civil War
354:decided to withdraw his army across the
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873:Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
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190:
457:which lay some 20 miles across the
319:on July 16, 1864, near present-day
13:
784:43rd Battalion of Virginia Cavalry
779:35th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry
177:Location of the battle in Virginia
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1:
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125:Confederate States of America
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436:a few days prior during his
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724:Action at Mount Zion Church
368:Montgomery County, Maryland
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760:George's Schoolhouse Raid
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729:Battle of Loudoun Heights
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952:Valley campaigns of 1864
329:Valley Campaigns of 1864
113:United States of America
51:Loudoun County, Virginia
709:Skirmish at Miskel Farm
694:Affair at Glenmore Farm
644:Battle of Harpers Ferry
288:Purcellville Wagon Raid
137:Col. William B. Tibbits
634:Battle of Ball's Bluff
479:Stephen Dodson Ramseur
438:raid on Point of Rocks
341:Battle of Fort Stevens
321:Purcellville, Virginia
131:Commanders and leaders
794:8th Virginia Infantry
639:Battle of Dranesville
543:and made camp around
399:Army of West Virginia
789:7th Virginia Cavalry
659:Battle of Upperville
654:Battle of Middleburg
549:8th Virginia Cavalry
317:John C. Breckinridge
286:, also known as the
174:class=notpageimage|
142:John C. Breckinridge
918:39.1357°N 77.6919°W
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734:Heaton's Crossroads
689:Battle of Mile Hill
284:Heaton's Crossroads
245:Heaton's Crossroads
72:39.1357°N 77.6919°W
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21:Heaton's Crossroads
684:Fight at Waterford
573:Patchan, Scott C.
463:Bradley T. Johnson
380:Leesburg, Virginia
362:and return to the
292:American Civil War
146:Bradley T. Johnson
28:American Civil War
923:39.1357; -77.6919
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825:Robert H. Chilton
583:978-0-8032-3754-4
364:Shenandoah Valley
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255:Rutherford's Farm
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77:39.1357; -77.6919
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972:July 1864 events
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739:Harmony Skirmish
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840:Elijah V. White
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719:2nd Dranesville
714:Blackleys Grove
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649:Battle of Aldie
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525:Mosby's Rangers
513:Gabriel Wharton
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475:Robert E. Rodes
467:John McCausland
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420:and retired to
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426:Loudoun Valley
393:, part of the
387:Horatio Wright
352:Jubal A. Early
347:, Confederate
343:on July 12 in
339:Following the
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529:John Mobberly
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403:Harpers Ferry
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41:July 16, 1864
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821:Confederate
775:Confederate
755:Burning Raid
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455:Snickers Gap
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410:George Crook
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265:Folck's Mill
260:Kernstown II
244:
240:Fort Stevens
218:Early's Raid
100:Belligerents
91:Inconclusive
26:Part of the
921: /
830:John Janney
471:Ashby's Gap
372:Poolesville
307:Confederate
250:Cool Spring
75: /
936:Categories
909:77°41′31″W
906:39°08′09″N
883:Fort Evans
677:Skirmishes
568:References
553:Round Hill
545:Berryville
502:Crossroads
486:Edward Ord
335:Background
300:Brig. Gen.
270:Moorefield
63:77°41′31″W
60:39°08′09″N
559:Aftermath
535:Woodgrove
422:Hillsboro
418:Waterford
414:Brunswick
395:XIX Corps
314:Maj. Gen.
290:, was an
391:VI Corps
370:towards
360:Virginia
349:Lt. Gen.
310:infantry
235:Monocacy
46:Location
627:Battles
434:Rangers
296:cavalry
846:Union
815:People
800:Union
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444:Battle
312:under
298:under
88:Result
861:Sites
769:Units
748:Raids
358:into
579:ISBN
495:Col.
477:and
305:and
38:Date
527:or
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323:in
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