The timeline of the battle as told through the markers on the battlefield-

2:00PM- After skirmishing with a growing Confederate force in the vicinity of the Jackson house since early morning, and having received no orders from Colonel Edward Baker, Colonel Charles Devens withdrew the 15th MA to the bluff. The 8th VA cautiously followed and deployed at the top of the slope along the line of today’s parking lot facing the bluff. After personally supervising the deployment of additional boats from approximately 10:00AM – 2:00PM Colonel Baker finally crossed the river, arriving on the field about the same time that Devens returned to the bluff.

2:00PM – 3:00 PM- Colonel Baker deployed his growing force in a formation which, from the bluff, appeared to be a backwards capital “L.” The 15th MA was on sloping ground in the woods to the north or Union right, though some men were deployed further north to protect the rear of that line. Elements of the 20th MA, 1st CA, and 42nd NY, plus two mountain howitzers from the 2nd NY State Militia, were deployed along the top of the bluff facing inland. A third artillery piece, a James rifle from Battery B, 1st RI Light Artillery, was later deployed near today’s cemetery.

3:00PM – 5:00PM- After conferring with several of his officers, all of whom noted the high ground near today’s parking lot as the key to the field, Colonel Baker sent two of his California companies forward under Captain John Markoe to determine the position of the Confederates. These troops engaged part of the 8th VA on the slope leading up to the parking lot. After a brief but vicious fight, both sides pulled back. Low on ammunition from the morning skirmishing, and needing to reorganize the regiment, which was in some disarray, Colonel Eppa Hutton then withdrew to a field near the Jackson house, leaving only some previously detached companies of the 17th and 18th MS and Lt. Col. Walter Jenifer’s dismounted Virginia cavalrymen to oppose the Union force.

Colonel Erasmus Burt’s 18th MS was the next Confederate unit to arrive and deployed as the Virginians had done, and the 17th MS later would do, at the top of the slope. Seeing the Union troops arrayed along the bluff but failing to detect the Massachusetts men concealed in the woods on his left, Colonel Burt ordered his men forward, inadvertently marching them between the arms of the Union “L” and into a deadly crossfire. In the open field, the Mississippians were hit by volleys from front and flank and suffered heavy casualties, including Colonel Burt, who was mortally wounded. More than half of the 18th MS’s 85 casualties that day occurred from that initial volley. Lt. Col. Thomas Griffin took command, withdrew to the parking lot area, and deployed the companies into two battalions. One of these worked around the Union left along the deep ravine while the second connected to Jenifer’s dismounted cavalry and the Mississippi infantry companies on their left.

4:30-5:00PM: The Union commander on the field, Colonel (and U.S. Senator) Edward D. Baker was killed, not at the current Baker stone but probably around 75-100 yards inland from that point. He would become the only U.S. Senator to die in combat. Approximately 20 Federals successfully engaged in a brief struggle over his body with about an equal number of Confederates. He was taken to Harrison’s Island shortly afterward and then to Poolesville that evening. Initially, Colonel William R. Lee of the 20th MA (the Harvard Regiment) assumed command and assembled a line near the bluff, which he hoped would buy time to remove the wounded and to cover the withdrawal of the Union force. He sent a portion of that assembled line forward under Major Paul J. Revere to retrieve the abandoned mountain howitzers, but this attempt failed due to heavy Confederate fire.

5:00-5:30PM: After a conference among the regimental commanders, it was determined that Colonel Milton Cogswell of the 42nd NY (Tammany Regiment) was the senior officer. He assumed overall command and summoned the 15th MA from its position in the woods on the Union right. The Confederates soon occupied the position vacated by the Massachusetts men. Cogswell then began forming a column with the intention of breaking out and fighting his way to Edwards Ferry in order to link up with the Federals then deployed at that location. His New Yorkers were placed in front as the tip of the spear pointed up the slope toward today’s parking lot from which he hoped to get into the open fields now occupied by the Potomac Crossing subdivision and then to Edwards Ferry.

As Cogswell organized his breakout attempt, a rider, later identified by the 8th VA’s Colonel Eppa Hunton as Lt. Charles B. Wildman of Colonel Evan’s staff, appeared north of the Union force in the area just abandoned by the 15th MA. Wildman waved his hat and yelled something unintelligible at the Federals. He may have believed that the Tammanies, still in their pre-war gray militia uniforms, were Confederates or they may have believed that he was one of their officers. In any event, the 42nd NY surged toward him and was soon followed by some of the men of the 15th MA. These were promptly halted by Colonel Devens who had received no orders to advance. The Tammanies were repulsed, and confusion reigned. Realizing that his breakout had failed and that his force was nearing physical and psychological collapse, Cogswell reluctantly ordered a retreat to the boats.

5:30-6:00 PM: Captain William F. Bartlett, commanding Company I of the 20th MA, decided to take one more crack at the Confederates before he was forced to retreat. He organized the remainder of his own company, and a portion of another, about 60 men in all, to attack the enemy’s line. Moving forward, he ran into Confederates emerging from the woods, most likely the 8th VA, Company D of the 13th MS, and perhaps some dismounted Virginia cavalrymen. The stronger Confederate force drove Barlett back to the bluff. Still lacking ammunition, the Virginians continued their advance as a bayonet charge, overrunning the abandoned mountain howitzers, and then withdrawing to their former position. Curiously, they did not take the howitzers with them when they withdrew, a failure which later caused a sharp disagreement with the Mississippians over which unit had captured those pieces.

Colonel Winfield Scott Featherston of the 17th MS was in the process of forming his newly arrived regiment for his own attack when he observed the 8th VA’s attack and subsequent withdrawal. He soon ordered his own men (about 700 troops) forward, supported by elements of the 18th MS on both flanks. This climactic advance finally broke the Federal line and turned Cogwell’s retreat into a rout. Two additional companies of the Tammany regiment, the last Federals to arrive, briefly stemmed the Confederate tide but soon were overwhelmed. Colonel Featherston’s men captured the James rifle and claimed one of the mountain howitzers as well. The Confederates then deployed along the bluff and fired down on the panic-stricken Union troops on the floodplain and in the river. Cogswell was slightly wounded and captured while leading a group of his New Yorkers trying to drive Confederate troops away from the mouth of the ravine along the riverbank on the Confederate right. Darkness finally ended the fighting.

Dusk-Midnight: Colonel Devens, who could not swim, was assisted across the river by some of his men and escaped capture. Colonel Lee, Major Revere, and his surgeon brother, Edward Revere were captured near Smarts Mill, just over a mile upriver from the site of the retreat. Captain Bartlett used a skiff to organize the escape of some 80 men to Harrison’s Island. A total of 161 Union troops were officially listed as “missing” and were presumed to have drowned in the river.

Around midnight, Private Elijah V. White, a Confederate cavalryman on leave in Leesburg when the sound of battle spurred him to offer his services to Colonel Evans, organized some 50 volunteers from the 8th VA and proceeded onto the floodplain where he convinced over 300 exhausted and dispirited Union soldiers to surrender.

Casualty figures are conflicting but it has been estimated that the Union had 200-264 men killed and 529 were reported as captured by Colonel Evans. The Confederates suffered about 300 casualties of which most were wounded and about 45 were killed.

The Ball’s Bluff Interpretive Trail

Stop 1- Introduction (Parking Lot)

Stop 2- The 8th VA- 39.1315333, -77.5300167

Stop 3- Jenifer’s Cavalry- 39.1333333, -77.5298167

Stop 4- The 15th MA- 39.1329333, -77.5292500

Ball’s Bluff National Cemetery

New Marker shown below

Stop 5- Union Artillery- 39.1328500, -77.5271167

The Overlook

Stop 6- The 20th MA- 39.1323167, -77.5271833

Stop 7- the 1st CA- 39.1316833, -77.5272833

Stop 8- The 42nd NY- 39.1311000, -77.5275833

Stop 9- The 18th MS- 39.1305500, -77.5278500

Stop 10- The 17th MS- 39.1299833, -77.5289000

The above are sites inside the Ball’s Bluff Battlefield Park. This was the site of the events that occurred from 2:00 PM to the end of the day in this post. The three skirmishes and the Jackson house described in the prelude post all occurred outside the park. The broken dashed line is the old Ball’s Bluff Road (a gravel road or path now). The large circle is a field in which skirmishing occurred and the small circle is the Jackson house (shown in the prelude to the battle post) about a hundred yards off the gravel road.

Next- Ball’s Bluff- the Aftermath

Source

A Little Short of Boats The Battles of Balls Bluff and Edwards Ferry October 21-22, 1861 by James A. Morgan III.

Ball’s Bluff A Small Battle and It’s Long Shadow by Byron Farwell.

Corralled Along the Potomac by Rod Soodalter. America’s Civil War November 2016.

A Table Full of Civilians by James A. Morgan III. Civil War Times June 2006.