Stonewall Jackson at Harpers Ferry

Harpers Ferry, located in what is now West Virginia, was a central strategic point. It was at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers and had a rail bridge for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Its reputation in the American Civil War proceeded the conflict itself with John Brown’s raid in 1859. Harpers Ferry was a powerful weapons arsenal as well. Its significance made it a place worth defending and a prize worth taking.

A Stonewall Comes Calling

The Federal Army suffered a major brain drain at the start of the American Civil War. Highly talented officers such as Robert E. Lee, Albert Sidney Johnston, and Joseph Johnston resigned from their commissions to join the Confederacy. Meanwhile, the United States Army had the leftovers, one of which was Colonel Dixon Stansbury Miles.

Colonel Miles was a career military officer who served in the Indian wars and the Mexican-American War. He spent most of his pre-Civil War years fighting Indians out West on the frontier. He was recalled to Washington, D. C. at the outbreak of the Civil War and commanded two brigades.

We are not going to say that Miles was a total flop, but he was not the best Federal Army commander in 1861. An example was his conduct at the First Battle of Bull Run. He was accused of being drunk during that engagement, and a court of inquiry validated that. As a result, he was on a leave of absence for eight months and then assigned to defend the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He was given command of the U. S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, and it was anticipated that he would see little action. But unfortunately, the action came looking for him.

Confederate Major General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson made his reputation in the Shenandoah Valley. He would be allowed to polish his image at the start of the Antietam Campaign. Harpers Ferry was close to the supply lines of the Army of Northern Virginia that was marching toward Maryland. Robert E. Lee assigned Jackson the task of taking Harpers Ferry. It was not going to be an easy assignment.

Impressive Natural Defenses

Harpers Ferry was blessed with natural defenses. The town was surrounded on three sides by high ground. Bolivar Heights, Maryland Heights, and Loudoun Heights would make the town’s defense easy.

In addition, Miles commanded a force of approximately 14,000 men. Combined with the natural protection, those troops made Harpers Ferry a tough nut to crack. It would take an audacious opponent to attempt its capture. Audacity was one of Stonewall Jackson’s primary virtues.

Jackson approached Harpers Ferry with three columns coming from separate directions. He led the largest force and would attack Bolivar Heights. Next, the column under Major General Lafayette McLaws was assigned to take Maryland Heights, and the third column under Brigadier General John G Walker would go after Loudoun Heights. All three columns were in the vicinity of Harpers Ferry by September 12, 1862.

Poor Strategy

Miles had a garrison of largely inexperienced troops, and he assigned them to defensive positions where the rookies were intermingled with experienced soldiers. The primary Federal defenses were located on Bolivar Heights.

The Federal commander made several strategic errors. He did not believe Loudoun Heights was critical and had no men positioned. Maryland Heights had heavy artillery, but those cannons were not intended to hold the Heights. Moreover, the men he assigned to Maryland Heights under the command of Colonel Thomas H. Ford lacked combat skills and had been in uniform for less than a month.

Walker was unopposed in his assault on Loudoun Heights and could position a battery of artillery on it. McLaws ordered his men forward on September 13 and was able to drive the Federal defenders off of Maryland Heights. It allowed McLaws to commence shelling Harpers Ferry on September 14. Stonewall Jackson covered 51 miles in less than two days and positioned artillery on the summit of Maryland Heights.

Jackson eventually had 50 guns on Maryland Heights and Loudoun Heights. He was thus able to effectively shell Federal troops on Bolivar Heights.

Meanwhile, Miles sent for reinforcements. Some of his men were able to make it to the headquarters of George B. McClellan at Frederick, Maryland. McClellan sent back a message telling Miles that there was a relief force on the way and to hold out to the last extremity.

Unfortunately, by the morning of September 15, the Confederates had control of almost all the higher ground and were shelling Harpers Ferry. The Federal position had become increasingly hopeless, and the green troops could not mount an effective defense. When the Confederates placed artillery on Bolivar Heights, continued Federal resistance became pointless.

Military Booty

Colonel Miles decided to surrender Harpers Ferry on September 15, but he was not present at the ceremony. He was mortally wounded by an exploding shell and died on September 16. Brigadier General Julius White, who outranked Miles but was not the commanding officer at Harpers Ferry, formally surrendered Harpers Ferry to Jackson.

The surrender of Harpers Ferry was the largest surrender of Federal troops during the war. Only in the fall of Bataan in World War II did a larger number of United States troops surrender. The capture of Harpers Ferry was a military bonanza, to put it mildly.

12,636 Federal soldiers surrendered. The military ordnance captured was substantial, and it included the following:
13,000 small arms
200 wagons
73 artillery pieces.
The artillery loot was the most impressive. The fall of Harpers Ferry gave the Confederacy.
one 50-pounder Parrott rifle
six M1841 24 howitzers
four 20-pounder Parrott rifles
eight M1841 12-pounder field guns
four 12-pounder Napoleons
six M1841 six-pounder field guns
two 10-pounder Dahlgren guns
ten three-inch Ordinance rifles
six 3-inch James rifles.

The cost for all of this was less than 300 Confederate casualties.

Commission of Inquiry

Dixon Stansbury Miles was killed in the line of duty. He was lucky in a macabre way because his death spared him further embarrassment. A commission was appointed to investigate what happened at Harpers Ferry, and blame was tossed around everywhere.

Colonel Ford was blamed for his defense of Maryland Heights and disqualified from any future command. General John E. Wool was formally censured for placing Miles in command, and even George B McClellan was criticized because he could not relieve the garrison in time. However, the commission hesitated in censoring Colonel Miles because he was dead and could not defend himself.

But the commission noted the incompetence of the colonel. In their opinion, Dixon Stansbury Miles showed:

“..incapacity, amounting to almost imbecility for the shameful surrender of this important post.”

That is a sad indictment of a man who had spent his entire adult life as a soldier in the service of his country. It was, however, an accurate description of his command of a very strategic post.

Final Thoughts

Stonewall Jackson is recognized as one of the premier Confederate generals in the American Civil War. Nevertheless, he received assistance from the other side. A problem that plagued the Federal forces in the Eastern Theater during the first half of the Civil War was the incompetence of many commanders. They were either the prewar Army’s residue or had no military background. Jackson was able to capitalize on those deficiencies again and again.

The lack of balance exemplifies how luck plays into military success. Jackson was fortunate to deal with commanders such as Colonel Miles. It might have been entirely different had he been forced to deal with Western generals such as Grant, Rosecrans, or Sheridan.