Maryland Heights Fortifications, Part 6

Given the previous posts describing the geographic locations, I’ll discuss the events surrounding the Heights with respect to the fortifications.

The first mentions of fortifications on Maryland Heights from the Official Records, to no surprise, date from the time of Gen. Thomas Jackson’s May 1861 occupation of Harpers Ferry. Federal dispatches indicate some blockhouses were built on the Heights. A June 25 survey by Captain John Newton, U.S. Engineers calculated a detachment of two thousand men could stockade the Heights over ten days. Later when Harpers Ferry was occupied, Gen. Nathaniel Banks took that suggestion to practice.

“we planted batteries on the plateau opposite the town, and another on the summit of the Maryland Heights, to which there are good mountain roads. These Will make the town of Harper’s Ferry and the Loudoun Heights, on the south of the Shenandoah, absolutely untenable to the enemy, whether in large or small force. ” [Report of General Banks, July 29, 1861, O.R., Series I, Volume 2 , Chapter IX, page 767]

The positions were manned by two guns of Battery A, 1st Rhode Island Artillery during a brief engagement on October 16, 1861. These were credited with silencing Confederate artillery on Loudoun Heights by Captain George Whitman, Co H, 3rd Wisconsin. No details were offered however regarding the specific battery location or composition.

The next major event on the Heights, however, can be linked to one of the fortifications. With Jackson’s victory at the First Winchester, reinforcements arrived at Harpers Ferry. On May 26, 1862, a battery of Dahlgren guns under Lieutenant Daniels, U.S. Navy arrived and was posted “2,000 feet above the level of the sea” according to Gen. Rufus Saxton (thus placing the guns firmly in thin air?). The battery must have been placed rapidly and manned effectively. J.W. Garrett, president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad passed a dispatch to Secretary of War Stanton on May 28 indicating, “The big gun planted on Maryland Heights has been throwing shell on Loudoun Mountain this morning. A white flag has just been run up on Loudoun Heights.” [O.R., Series I, Volume XII/3, page 267]. Other reports from the action indicate the battery was also quite effective against Confederates on Bolivar Heights.

The largest battle involving the Heights, of course, was the Siege of Harpers Ferry, September 13-15, 1862. I’ll avoid recounting all the details of the action, but highlight General Lafayette McLaws’ official report. McLaws reports some breastworks along the ridge, but no major works. He mentions shells from the Naval Battery falling over the crest landing in Pleasant Valley, to the east of the Heights. Three heavy guns, most likely the Dahlgrens, were found spiked after the Federal withdrawal. Federal reports indicate seven guns were on the Heights and spiked, but two 12-pdr guns and two 12-pdr howitzers included in the tally were recovered later. Interestingly given the discussion of the Naval Battery plans in earlier posts, the Dahlgrens were listed as X-inch on the official tally from the O.R.s. McLaws placed two guns on the Heights after the Federal withdrawal, one of which was a 3-in rifle from the Pulaski (GA) Battery (Read’s).

Next Installment – The Federal build up after Antietam and activity during the Gettysburg Campaign.