Ball’s Bluff was a small battle with less than 2000 troops from each side actually engaged in combat on October 21, 1861, but it would have major consequences for the Union war effort and some of the people involved.

The battle took place less than 30 miles from Washington, D.C. As Union soldiers fled in panic down the bluff there were not enough boats to transport them across the river. Many jumped into the Potomac and attempted to swim to Harrison’s Island and drowned in the process. Those dead bodies floated down the river and washed ashore in the nation’s capitol.

The defeats at Bull Run, Wilson’s Creek and Ball’s Bluff along with the death of Senator Baker led Congress to establish the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. It was originally made up of four Senate and four House members. They were Benjamin Wade, Zachariah Chandler, Andrew Johnson, Joseph Wright, George Julian, John Covode, Daniel Gooch and Moses Odell. Five of the eight were so called “Radical Republicans” who were unhappy with the way Lincoln and McClellan were prosecuting the war. They felt the war should be about abolishing slavery and punishing the south, whereas Lincoln’s focus was on preserving the Union. So much the better if they could find a scapegoat for the death of one of their colleagues, Senator Edward Baker.

On November 24th two slaves from Maryland escaped to the camp of the 20th MA. At that time it was administration policy to return escaped slaves from Maryland to their owners, Lincoln was trying to stop Maryland from joining the Confederacy, and as per the policy General Stone returned the slaves. A few days later an officer from the 20th MA (either Lt. John W. LeBarnes or Lt. Norwood P. Hallowell) wrote to Massachusetts governor Andrews to complain. About this time General Stone also returned two slaves, Jack and Bob McCoy, both had left Ball’s Bluff with the Union army, to VA and their families at their request. Governor Andrews then wrote to Secretary of War Simon Cameron demanding that he use his official powers to prevent slaves from being returned and enlisted the support of Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner.

In the meantime the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was constituted and held its first meeting on December 10th. On December 19th Sumner took the Senate floor and criticized Stone. Stone makes the mistake of calling Sumner a “well known coward”. From this point forward Sumner makes it his mission to destroy Stone’s career and he has a powerful ally in the process, the most influential member of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, Benjamin Wade.

Between December 27, 1861 and February 27, 1862, the committee examined 39 witnesses regarding the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, few of whom were there and two that had personal grudges against Stone. Stone was interviewed but never told he was the subject of the inquiry. He was thought to have colluded with the Confederates to engineer the Union defeat at Ball’s Bluff, which was completely untrue. The committee’s questions focused on attempting to accuse him of improper and frequent communications with the Confederates, of not reinforcing Baker, and of returning runaway slaves to their owners, the latter was required by Maryland and Federal law.

On January 27 after members of the committee met with Secretary of War Stanton, it issued an arrest warrant and Stone was subsequently arrested on February 8th. Brigadier General George Sykes was required to arrest his own commanding officer. The following morning Stone was escorted to prison at Fort Lafayette in New York harbor by Lt. Daingerfield Porter of the 3rd U.S. Infantry. Confusion regarding who was to pay for the train tickets to New York lead to General Stone lending Porter the money to buy them.

No charges were ever filed against Stone nor did he stand trial. He was placed in solitary confinement at Fort Lafayette, a prison usually reserved for Confederate POWs, located on Hendrick’s Reef just offshore from Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn. His physicians protested to Stanton, who transferred him to the military prison at Fort Hamilton. There Stone was allowed to exercise, and his health improved. He stayed at Fort Lafayette for 50 days and would spend another 139 in Fort Hamilton.

During this time Senator James McDougall of California introduced legislation requiring that for officers in the military that are arrested official charges must be filed within eight days of arrest, and they must be brought to trial within thirty days. The legislation was retroactive and applied to all those currently incarcerated as well. It was passed by Congress and signed into law by Lincoln on July 17, 1862. Stanton then waited thirty days before releasing Stone on August 16, 1862. Stone subsequently served in Louisiana and as Brigadier General in the Fifth Corps. He resigned from the Army in September 1864 after an episode of typhoid fever.

After the Civil War ended, Stone was recommended for a position in the Egyptian Army by William T. Sherman, the Commanding General of the U.S. Army. From 1870 to 1883 he served as chief of staff and aide-de-camp for the Kedive Ismail Pasha and his successor, his son Tewfik. While there his exploits were followed closely in the U.S. press.

He returned to the United States and in 1884 and accepted a position as the Chief Engineer on the Statue of Liberty project. He supervised the construction of the foundation, pedestal and reassembly of the statue after its arrival from France. On October 28, 1886, Stone served as the grand martial of the dedication parade. A few months later he developed pneumonia and died at his home in New York City and is buried at West Point.

Ironically, Charles Pomeroy Stone, a man who had been imprisoned on an island in New York harbor without being charged or given a fair trial, was a major figure in the construction of the Statue of Liberty, long considered a bastion of liberty, on a different island in the very same harbor.

Sources

The Extraordinary Life of Charles Pomeroy Stone: Soldier, Surveyor, Pasha, Engineer by Blaine Lamb.

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.

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