142 



ARMY OPERATIONS. 



erate force of Gen. Jackson, which had been 

 ordered to Williamsport and thence to Har- 

 per's Ferry, commenced an attack on Maryland 

 Height3. As early as the 15th of August Col. 

 Miles, then in command, received orders from 

 Gen. Wool, commanding the department, to 

 fortify Maryland Heights, which is considered 

 to be the key of the position. He,however, dis- 

 obeyed the orders, and did nothing to improve 

 its defences. On the 5th of September Col. 

 Thomas H. Ford took command of the force 

 stationed on the heights, and, apprehending an 

 attack from the Confederate army, sent a re- 

 quisition to Col. Miles for reinforcements and 

 for tools necessary to erect defensive works. 

 He receive;! reinforcements, but not the tools ; 

 and with a few borrowed axes constructed a 

 slight breastwork of trees near the crest of the 

 hill on the same day upon which the advance 

 of Gen. Jackson appeared. The forces at Har- 

 per's Ferry had been increased that day to 

 about thirteen thousand men, of whom twenty- 

 five hundred were cavalry, by the arrival of 

 Gen. Julius "White with the garrison from 

 Martinsburg. Gen. White, although entitled to 

 the command, waived his right in favor of Col. 

 Miles. The only position fortified by Col. 

 Miles was Bolivar Heights behind the town of 

 Harper's Ferry. This is commanded by Mary- 

 land Heights and by London Heights situated 

 on the Virginia side of the Potomac and on the 

 right bank of the Shenandoah. 



The attack of the Confederate force was re- 

 newed, on the morning of the 18th, on the 

 forces stationed on Maryland Heights, and they 

 were driven behind the breastwork. This 

 was soon after attacked, and the enemy were 

 repulsed. Subsequently, through the precipi- 

 tate flight of a portion of the troops and the 

 premature retreat of the remainder, in conse- 

 quence of a mistake of orders, the heights were 

 about midday entirely abandoned. Col. Miles, 

 who had visited the position early in the morn- 

 ing, left Col. Ford with permission to exercise 

 his discretion in determining whether to hold 

 or abandon the heights. Subsequently Col. 

 Miles sent to him the following order. 



HAKPER'S FEEKT, Sept. 13, 1862. 

 Col. Ford, Commandina Maryland Heights : 



Since I returned to this side, on close inspection I 

 find your position more defensible than it appears 

 when at your station, covered as it is at all points by 

 the cannon of Camp Hill. You will hold on, and can 

 hold on until the cows' tails drop off. 



Yours, D. S. MILES, Col. 21st Infantry. 



The answer of Col. Ford to this order, as 

 stated by Col. Miles, did not indicate that he had 

 the slightest intention of giving up the heights. 



Col. Ford, after the events above mentioned, 

 disobeyed this order of Col. Miles, abandoned 

 the position, and withdrew his forces across the 

 river. It was only necessary, after this dis- 

 graceful retreat, for the enemy to plant their 

 batteries and the position of Harper's Ferry 

 must surely fall. The heights were not, how- 

 ever, immediately occupied by the enemy, and 



on the next morning a detachment of the 

 39th volunteers, sent there by Col. D'Utassy, 

 returned with four field pieces and a wagon, 

 load of ammunition. On the 13th the Con- 

 federate force began to establish batteries on 

 Loudon Heights, and on the next day opened 

 fire from those heights and also from Maryland 

 Heights. On the night of the 13th, Col. Miles 

 sent a despatch to Gen. McClellan that the posi- 

 tion could not be held forty-eight hours longer 

 without reinforcements. This was the night 

 before the battle of feouth Mountain. On the 

 night of the 14th, the cavalry force under Col. 

 Davis cut their way through the enemy's lines 

 and reached Greencastle, Penn., in safety on 

 the next morning, having captured by the 

 way an ammunition train belonging to the 

 corps of the Confederate general Longstreet. 

 Early in the morning of the 15th Col. Miles 

 surrendered. At that time Gen. McClellan's 

 left wing was in Pleasant Valley, within 

 five miles of him. It has been stated that 

 the ammunition for the batteries was nearly 

 exhausted, and for this reason the place be- 

 came no longer tenable. The enemy, not per- 

 ceiving the white flag that had been raised, 

 continued their fire some time afterward, by 

 which Col. Miles was mortally wounded by the 

 fragment of a shell. The principal fighting took 

 place on Saturday ; there was very little on Sun- 

 day, and none worthy of mention on Monday, 

 when "the surrender took place. The military 

 mistake was in abandoning Maryland Heights. 

 No enemy could have occupied the village, or 

 disturbed the railroad or pontoon bridges so 

 long as they were held. Provisions and forage 

 for a siege of four or five days could have been 

 readily transferred to the heights by a road 

 made some months previous. There are abun- 

 dant springs of good and cool water gushing 

 out from its rocky and wooded sides. When 

 these and the other heights came into the pos- 

 session of the enemy, surrender or destruction 

 were the only alternatives to Col. Miles. If 

 his entire force had been transferred to Mary- 

 land Heights, the Confederate force present 

 could not for many days have taken Harper's 

 Ferry. By the terms arranged for the surrender, 

 the officers were allowed to go on parole with 

 side arms and private property, and the privates 

 with everything except equipments and guns. 

 The forces which surrendered were as follows : 



The following guns were surrendered: 12 



