Monocacy: The Battle That Saved Washington

by Benjamin Franklin Cooling III

At Monocacy, Maryland on July 9, 1864, the decisive battle of Robert E. Lee's 1864 offensive against Washington D.C. occurred. There the Union's Lew Wallace fatally delayed Jubal Early's onrushing army and saved Washington from the threat of capture in an election year. Literally a struggle to gain time, Monocacy was one of the most important battles of the war, declared Abraham Lincoln's Register [sic] of the Treasury, Lucius E. Chittenden. Confederate Brigadier General John B. Gordon remembered it as among the hardest fought contests of the war. Monocacy is a story rich in drama and irony. Sent to defend a crucial railroad bridge, Union forces fought gallantly for that highway to Washington, embroiling Early's veterans in a bloodbath along the Monocacy River. Early lost a crucial day in the heat and drought of mid-summer, a delay that perhaps cost the Confederacy a chance to change the course of history.

Genres: American Civil War, Civil War Eastern Theater, Military History, Civil War

335 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1996

About the author

Alternate names:
B. Franklin Cooling
Benjamin F. Cooling

Benjamin Franklin Cooling III served as Chief Historian and Research Director with the Department of Energy and as a historian with the Army, Air Force, and National Park Service, and elsewhere. He has taught at numerous universities and is currently a Professor of History at the National Defense University in Washington DC. Cooling has authored or edited 16 books on the Civil War and modern warfare and has written several hundred articles, essays and reviews on aspects of military, naval and other history.

Reviews

[Brian Miracle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compared to other Civil War battles, Monocacy isn’t well known by many people. There also aren’t many books on the battle. This book provides a good account of the battle, as well as the events preceding and succeeding it. The book starts with a description of the initial phases of Confederate General Jubal Early’s Maryland invasion in the summer of 1864. The author describes the race to mobilize troops to get between Early’s troops and Washington, D.C. This race placed forces under Union General Lew Wallace (also known as the author of Ben Hur) at the railroad and road junction across the Monocacy River.

Two of the book’s chapters cover the battle itself. Wallace’s goal was to delay Early on his race to Washington. Wallace’s troops held off repeated attacks before they had to retreat late in the day.

The remaining chapters cover Wallace’s retreat and Early’s eventual retreat from Washington. Cooling uses testimony from contemporary sources to demonstrate that Monocacy was the battle that saved Washington. The book has many photographs that show the battlefield and has 16 maps covering the battle and other aspects of Early’s campaign. This is a good account of the battle of Monocacy, written by a respected Civil War historian.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does a fine job covering the battle itself and explaining its effects on both the campaign and the war. Just a few small criticisms. The maps covering the battle were clumped together. Also, while the appendix about the Ohio hundred day regiments was interesting, it doesn't really help with understanding the battle itself.