Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 3.

[343] for the concentration of his forces, so as to cover the Baltimore and Ohio railway crossing, and the chief highways leading to the menaced cities.¹ On the evening of the 6th, all of his effective men that could be spared from watching the railways leading into Baltimore from the north, which the Confederates were evidently trying to seize, were gathered at the appointed rendezvous, under Tyler.² That night,

July 6, 1864.

Wallace ordered Colonel Clendennin to go out toward Middletown with four hundred men, in search of positive information concerning the Confederates. He marched at daylight,

July 7.

with a section of Alexanders' artillery, and at that village he encountered a thousand horseman, under Bradley Johnson, who pushed him steadily back toward Frederick by threatening his flanks. Gilpin's regiment, with one gun, and the mounted infantry, were sent to help Clendennin; and late in the afternoon there was a sharp fight in front of Frederick with artillery and small-arms. At six o'clock Gilpin charged the Confederates, and drove them back to the mountains.

Meanwhile, General Grant, aware of the peril that threatened the Capital, ordered the Sixth Corps to Washington. The advance division, under General Ricketts, arrived there late on the 6th,

July.

and were sent to Baltimore that night, with orders to push on to the Monocacy River as quickly as possible. Informed of the fact that veterans were coming, Wallace ordered Tyler to Frederick; and when, at dawn on the 8th, a portion of Ricketts's (First) brigade, under Colonel Henry, reached the Monocacy, they, too, were sent to join Tyler. At that time the wildest rumors filled the air of the force and position of the Confederates. Wallace was soon satisfied that the defense of Frederick was a secondary consideration, for news reached him that the invaders were pressing toward the Washington turnpike in heavy column, and were threatening his line of retreat. Impressed with the belief that Washington City was their chief objective, and knowing it to be without sufficient troops to defend it against the reported strength ,of the invaders, Wallace determined to throw his little army across their path, and, if possible, keep them at bay until succor should reach the Capital. So he withdrew his troops from Frederick to his chosen position on the Monocacy, where he found a greater portion of Ricketts's division.

Early on the morning of the 9th, Wallace made dispositions for battle. His right, under Tyler, covered the railway and the Baltimore pike, and Ricketts held the Washington pike, on the left, where the main attack was expected. Each had three guns. Colonel Brown, with his command and the mounted infantry, held a stone bridge of the Baltimore pike, on Tyler's