Battle of Monocacy

The Battle of Monocacy was one of the most important battles of the American Civil War.^[1] It was fought near Frederick, Maryland on July 9, 1864.^[1] A Confederate army commanded by Jubal Early was marching eastward towards Washington, D.C., to capture the city.^[2] A small Union army commanded by Lew Wallace fought the Confederates along the Monocacy River. The battle took most of the day to fight. The Confederates finally made Wallace's force retreat about 4:30 p.m.^[1] However, the delay kept the Confederates from reaching Washington until General Grant's soldiers reached the city.^[3] The Battle of Monocacy is sometimes called "the battle that saved Washington".^[2]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Steven Bernstein, The Confederacy's Last Northern Offensive: Jubal Early, the Army of the Valley and the Raid on Washington (Jefferson : McFarland & Company, Publishers, 2010), p. 41
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "The Civil War Battle that Saved Washington, D.C." National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. June 15, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
3. ↑ William M. Ferraro, 'A Struggle for Respect: Lew Wallace's Relationships with Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman After Shiloh', Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 104, No. 2 (June 2008), p. 134