Battle of Harpers Ferry – September 12–15, 1862

In October 1909 Union veteran Edward Ripley argued that the Union’s defeat at the Battle of Harpers Ferry (September 15-17, 1862) was a “tragedy:”

“It is not too exaggerated a term to use where 12,000 brave and patriotic Americans, only too willing to serve their country, were bound hand and foot by an incompetent commander and, in spite of indignant protest, handed over to the enemy.”

After General Robert E. Lee invaded Maryland, he sent General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson to capture the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Col. Dixon S. Miles ordered his forces to retreat into the town in response to Jackson’s attack, which Col. Dixon S. Miles’s response. After the war Union General Julius White argued that “[Col. Miles] had lost all confidence in his ability” and explained that the high ground around Harpers Ferry was critical to defense: “Harper’s Ferry is not defensible by a force inferior to that attacking it, unless the surrounding heights be well fortified, and each of them held by a force sufficient to maintain itself unsupported by others.”
Teachers can learn more about this battle from a short essay and related maps on the National Parks Service website. This site, which also focuses on John Brown’s attack in October 1859, also has a virtual tour and a collection of over 300 images (not all are related to the battle). Anyone planning a visit should check out the detailed information in the “Self Guided” and “Ranger Guided” sections of “Plan a Field Trip” page. Other resources are available from the Library of Congress, including historic maps, photographs, and illustrations by Alfred Waud. In addition, Cornell University’s Making of America has two articles written after the war by Confederate generals John Imboden and John Walker. Union General Julius White, whose article is referenced above, wrote it in response to these Confederate officers’ accounts, which he considered “incomplete.”