Determined to Stand and Fight

The Battle of Monocacy, July 9, 1864

Ryan Quint

• Publisher: Savas Beatie
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781611213478
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

In early July 1864, a quickly patched together force of outnumbered Union soldiers under the command of Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace prepared for a last-ditch defense along the banks of the Monocacy River. Behind them, barely fifty miles away, lay the capital of the United States, open to attack. Facing Wallace’s men were Lt. Gen. Jubal Early’s Confederates. In just under a month, they had cleared the Shenandoah Valley of Union soldiers and crossed the Potomac River, invading the north for the third time in the war. The veterans in Early’s force could almost imagine their flags flying above the White House. A Confederate victory near Washington could be all the pro-peace platforms in the north needed to defeat Abraham Lincoln in the upcoming election.Then came Monocacy. Over the course of the day, Union and Confederate soldiers attacked and counter-attacked, filling the fields just south of Frederick, Maryland, with the dead and wounded. By the end of the day, Wallace’s men fell into retreat, but they had done their job: they had slowed Jubal Early. The fighting at Monocacy soon became known as the “Battle that Saved Washington.”Determined to Stand and Fight by Ryan T. Quint tells the story of that pivotal day and an even more pivotal campaign that went right to the gates of Washington, D.C. Readers can enjoy the narrative and then easily follow along on a nine-stop driving tour around the battlefield and into the streets of historic Frederick. Another fascinating title from the award-winning Emerging Civil War Series.About the Author: Ryan Quint graduated from the University of Mary Washington, and is a seasonal park historian at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.

Table of contents

• Table of contents
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword by Ted Alexander
• Prologue
• Chapter One: The Shenandoah Valley
• Chapter Two: The March North
• Chapter Three: Lew Wallace
• Chapter Four: Sigel Delays at Harpers Ferry
• Chapter Five: First Contact
• Chapter Six: The Battle’s First Shots
• Chapter Seven: McCausland’s First Attack
• Chapter Eight: McCausland’s Second Attack
• Chapter Nine: Gordon’s Attack
• Chapter Ten: The Federal Retreat
• Chapter Eleven: Fort Stevens
• Chapter Twelve: Conclusion
• Appendix A: The Civilians’ Experience at the Battle of Monocacy
• Appendix B: The Ransom of Frederick
• Appendix C: Medical Care and the Battle of Monocacy
• Appendix D: “Utterly Impossible for Man or Horse to Accomplish”: The Johnson-Gilmor Raid
• Appendix E: McCausland’s Raid and the Burning of Chambersburg
• Appendix F: The Literary Legacy of Lew Wallace
• Touring the Battlefield
• Order of Battle
• Suggested Reading
• About the Author