The Second Battle of Funkstown, Maryland

During the day of July 9^th, at Middletown, General George Meade issued orders for his army to cross the SouthMountain range located along the South Mountain Battlefield and concentrate in the valley. The First, Sixth and Eleventh Corps would march through Turner’s Gap. The Third and Fifth Corps would march through Fox’s Gap. The Second and Twelfth Corps would march through Crampton’s Gap. That evening Meade would establish his headquarters near the Devil’s Backbone, located along the Antietam Creek.

Confederate General JEB Stuart positioned himself east of Funkstown, and was attacked early in the evening by Union General John Buford’s Union Cavalry. General Stuart was pushed back toward Funkstown. This would set the stage for the Second Battle of Funkstown.

As July 10^th, 1863 dawned, the air was very humid and hot. A light drizzle would fall upon the rich fields of agricultural produce. Shortly after dawn, General Stuart was alerted of a large Union force working its way toward Funkstown, via the National Road. This Union force was that of General John Buford and his cavalry division. General Buford dismounted his cavalry near Boonsboro. Following behind General Buford was General Judson Kilpatrick’s Cavalry Division and the Union Sixth Corps, under the command of General John Sedgwick.

Funkstown is located east of the Antietam Creek and is where the National Road and the Baltimore Road intersect. To the east of Funkstown, were several farms, open fields and wooded areas, as well as a ridge. Funkstown is also just to the southeast of Hagerstown. For Stuart, he would have to contest this Union force to buy Confederate General Robert E. Lee time to complete his defenses of Hagerstown and Williamsport.

Examining the layout of his cavalry, General Stuart quickly realized that he needed reinforcements. Colonel Vincent Witcher and his 34^th Virginia Cavalry Battalion were dismounted across the National Road, and were supported by Captain Roger Chew’s Battery. Positioned along the Baltimore Road was artillery support from Manley’s Battery A of North Carolina Artillery, which arrived after the fighting had begun. As the rest of Stuart’s force deployed, he would eventually have General Grumble Jones and General Fitzhugh Lee on the left, and Colonel Milton Furguson, Colonel John Chambliss, and General Beverly Robertson’s brigades of cavalry on the right, forming a crescent shaped defense. General Jones held the extreme left, occupying the open areas along Beaver Creek Road. Needing additional support to plug in the gaps, Stuart sent word for infantry support.   

Upon arriving near Funkstown, General John Buford deployed his division near Stover’s Woods. General Wesley Merritt’s Brigade was deployed on the right with Devin’s and Gamble’s brigades in reserve. Buford’s artillery deployed Lieutenants Calef’s and Graham’s Batteries behind Merritt on the National Road. At around eight in the morning, the Battle of Funkstown began as Merritt’s troopers moved out and the Union batteries opened. Merritt’s dismounted troopers moved forward along the high ravine with Gamble’s troops to his left, along the National Road. Devin’s troopers were moving to the left of the National Road and east of the Antietam Creek.

The fighting in the fields south and east of Funkstown were very hot as the morning wore on.  Troopers of Fitz Lee’s brigade skirmished with Merritt’s brigade and soon the Union artillery forced them back. Chew’s Battery limbered and redeployed closer to Funkstown. At one point during the battle, General Buford felt a tug on his uniform coat. As he inspected his garment, he saw several holes in it made from Confederate bullets.

Earlier in the morning, General Stuart had sent a courier seeking infantry support and by one o’clock in the afternoon the courier had found General George T. Anderson and his Georgia brigade. Colonel William White was commanding the brigade, and was under orders to guard the stone arch bridge that spanned the Antietam Creek. He also had a regiment on detach duty, his own 7^th Georgia Infantry, and told the courier that he was under orders by General Law. Colonel White and the courier rode across the bridge to find Stuart. After a brief discussion, Colonel White rode back to bring up the Georgia Brigade. Moving behind White’s Georgians was Paul Semmes’ Brigade, under the command of Colonel Goode Bryan. General Kershaw’s South Carolina Brigade was moved to the stone bridge, where the Georgia Brigade was in position and held in reserve.

Under heavy artillery fire, General Fitzhugh Lee ordered Colonel White to bring his men up and deploy. White’s Georgia boys found the landscape difficult. Obstructions such as stonewalls, wooden fences, and farm buildings had but stalled his advancing line. To make matters worse, they were receiving heavy fire from the dismounted cavalry troopers and their artillery. Colonel Bryan deployed to the left of White.

Buford’s men had fought all morning, and by the mid afternoon were running low on ammunition. Needing reinforcements, General Buford rode to find General Albion Howe’s Second Division of Sedgwick’s Corps. General Howe told Buford he was under orders not to engage in an all out battle with the enemy. General Howe began communications with General Sedgewick, and finally obtained permission to send out reinforcements to Buford. General Howe ordered Colonel Lewis Grant and his Vermont Brigade to take up position where Buford’s men were located.

At a little past three in the afternoon, the Vermont Brigade arrived, and began to deploy skirmishers. The 5^th and 6^th Vermont Infantry were ordered to a wooded crest that was occupied by portions of Buford’s troopers. Seeing the Confederate infantry moving toward the crest, the Vermonters managed to beat the Confederates from taking the ground. Soon the 5^th Vermont, holding the left closest to the National Road, and the 6^thVermont, holding the right close to the Baltimore Pike, extended their skirmish line almost two miles.

Due to the skirmish line stretching so far with so few men, a gap soon opened on the left flank of the 5^th Vermont Infantry, near the Antietam Creek. Two companies of the 2^nd Vermont Infantry were ordered to fill the gap, while the rest of their regiment was held in reserve. The 3^rd and 4^th Vermont Infantry regiments were ordered to support the 3^rd New York Battery under Captain William Harn.

Soon the Confederate artillery began shelling the Union line. Thinking that an infantry attack would soon follow, Colonel Grant ordered the 3^rd Vermont Infantry forward, to the right of the 6^th Vermont, becoming the extreme right of Vermont’s skirmish line. The 4^th Vermont Infantry was ordered to be positioned between the left of the 6^th Vermont Infantry and the right of the 5^th Vermont Infantry. Eight companies of the 2^nd Vermont Infantry were held in support of the 3^rd New York Battery.

Soon the Confederate infantry began to move forward against the Union line. The Confederate infantry had to move across open fields, and the stone walls proved to be deadly for them, forcing them to stop, climb over, and then reform their lines. A member of the 59^thGeorgia recalled his position “Was on high ground, with not so much as a twig to protect it from the murderous fire in the front and the heavy converging fire from the right.”

The Vermonters did not yield one inch of ground and forced the Confederate infantry back after a fierce contest. The Confederate infantry reformed their battle line and began to move forward. One regiment was sent across the Antietam Creek to threaten the Union left flank.

Seeing this, Colonel Grant ordered the remaining companies of the 2^nd Vermont Infantry forward, extending the Vermonter’s skirmish line even further. The Confederate advance was repulsed. The fighting was so intense at Funkstown that at one point the Vermonters had gone through their ammunition and more had to be brought up by stretchers to re-supply them.

After the battle, many of the Vermonters wrote letters telling about their ordeal. One Union soldier wrote “Mr. Johhny Rebs thought he was going to crush our thin picket line but the whistling minnies from our accurate rifles came most too thick and close for their courage to stand. With a few more Vermonters we could have annihilated the whole crew.” Colonel Grant stated “As the center of the enemies lines went back in confusion, some of our men jumped upon a fence, and, tauntingly calling them cowards, told them to come back, that there was nothing there but militia.” Taunting the Confederates would prove deadly as nine Federal soldiers fell dead, and 59 fell wounded.

Funkstown was also one of the only battles, since the closing of the Battle of Gettysburg, where infantry fought against infantry. The Vermonters had won the day, however the fighting that took place during the day bought the Confederate army more time. Many soldiers of the Sixth Corps saw the Vermonters fight, and saw first hand their display of gallantry.

The town of Funkstown lost the most. Much of the rich agriculture and produce was destroyed by the battle. The town itself became a vast hospital, and several homes were hit by the destructive Union artillery. The Union casualties for the Battle of Funkstown were as follows:  Buford’s Division lost 99 troopers in the fight; the Vermonters lost 97 men. The Confederates had lost about 183 men, with more than half of that number from Stuart’s cavalry.

As night fell the Vermonters began to dig in.  Private Cutler recalled “We dug holes out with our bayonets and piled dirt up in front of us to cover ourselves, for we expected as soon as daylight came they would commence to pop away at us but they did not so we got up and walked around in sight of them and their batteries.” 

Resources:

United States War Department.  War of the Rebellion, A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.  Volume 128.  WashingtonD.C. 1880-1901.

North and South Vol. 2, No. 6, August 1999. 

Brown, Kent Masterson. Lee, Logistics and the Pennsylvania Campaign. Retreat from Gettysburg. University of North Carolina Press, 2005.

Moore, Robert H., II. The Chew’s Ashby Shoemaker’s Lynchburg, and the Newton Artillery. H.E. Howard, Lynchburg, Va.1995.

Schildt, John W.  Roads from Gettysburg.  Burd Street Press, 1979

Wittenberg, Eric J., Petruzzi, J. David., Nugent, Mike. One Continuous Fight, The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, July4-14, 1863. Savas Beatie, New York and California, 2008

Zeller, Paul G. The Second Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 1861-1865, McFarland and Company, North Carolina, 2009.

Emmitsburg, a Town Divided

In the year leading up to the Civil War, Emmitsburg was already a divided town, politically speaking. During the 1860 presidential elections, Emmitsburg’s political views supported the Southern Democratic Party giving John C. Breckinridge 323 votes, more than half the population of Emmitsburg during the time of the Civil War. Although many Emmitsburg citizens supported the Southern Democrats, their views were mostly devoted to the Union.

Shortly after the bombardment of Fort Sumter, Maryland citizens were faced with a decision to determine if Maryland was to remain loyal to the Union or secede with the newly formed Confederacy. The strong southern feeling prevailing in Baltimore culminated in a violent outbreak on April 19, 1861, when the 6th Massachusetts Regiment marching on their way to Washington was obstructed by a mob. After the riot, a number of citizens opposed to secession left Baltimore for their safety.

The Commissioner of the Land Office William Seabrook, a Frederick native, remembers, “Only a few weeks after the exhibition of mob sympathy with secession in Baltimore, a notable meeting of prominent citizens was held in the auditorium of the Maryland Institute, in that city, to give expression to their views in relation to the action of the Government in resorting to war for the preservation of the Union. Every section of the State was represented and the great hall of the institute was crowded with a body of as representative citizens as ever assembled in Maryland.” Emmitsburg resident Doctor Andrew Annan was among those who attended this meeting and gave Emmitsburg’s support to the preservation of the Union.

Although this vote didn’t include the southern viewpoint of Emmitsburg, the history of Mount Saint Mary’s College records that the citizens who lived in and around Emmitsburg were very evenly divided during the outbreak of the Civil War. Doctor Thomas C. Moore recalled, “A company of volunteers marched off openly one day to strike for the Union cause; whilst others discovered they had important business demanding immediate attention down in the direction of Dixie’s land. The latter went off without the aid of brass bands; and if any tears were shed at parting they rolled in secret. But the feeling of bitterness on both sides was doubtless more intense than could be found farther either way from the line. Border States are always more exposed to the vicissitudes of war, and the hatred begotten of daily intercourse between citizens is deeper and more lasting than among enlisted soldiers.”

Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary did not escape the divided loyalties. It had a good many Southern students who had proclaimed their allegiance to the newly formed Confederate States of America. Dr. John McCaffrey was the college’s President and a strong supporter of the Confederate States. In a letter written on October 4, 1861, from Archbishop John Purcell to Doctor McCaffrey, he stated his opinions about the Confederate Cause. John McCloskey was the college’s Vice-President and a strong supporter of the Union. Although a Union man, he still placed the practices of Mount Saint Mary’s first and treated every Southern student with respect.

The faculty of Mount Saint Mary’s College was just as divided, but the College itself for the most part was a pleasant place no matter what side the students and faculty chose. Daniel Beltzhoover, a professor of mathematics, was an 1847 graduate of West Point and served in the wars in Florida and also Mexico. Before the Civil War, he commanded a company of Zouave Mountain Cadets and drilled them thoroughly on Eardin’s and Casey’s tactics. Beltzhoover helped to organize Watson’s Artillery, named after A. C. Watson. According to the Story of the Mountain, at least thirty Mountaineers (Mount Saint Mary’s Students) also served in the ranks of Watson’s Artillery.

With more trouble anticipated during the late election since Maryland was a border state and loyalties were truly divided, the Secretary of War and Commanding General Williams sent troops for the protection of Union men at the polls in November of 1861. Major Stone who was the provost-marshal for the areas of Woodsboro, Myersville, Wolfsville, Emmitsburg, Mechanicstown, and Wolf’s Tavern sent troops of infantry and cavalry out in protection of pro-Union men voting, however, no armed men went near the polls, and no serious disturbance occurred in this part of the state. This would be the first time that the Emmitsburg area would escape the disturbances of the Civil War.

April 11th, 1913 Emmitsburg Chronicle

 Gettysburg Great Camp 

Plans for July 1-4 

To commemorate 50^th anniversary of battle 

Reunion of war veterans 

To explain the plans for the great reunion of Civil War veterans at Gettysburg from July 1 to July 4 to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the battle there, the chairman of the Battle of Gettysburg Commission, Col. Shoemaker, has sent a circular letter to the 40,000 veterans who have been invited to attend the celebration. 

The state of Pennsylvania well provide all the entertainment at Gettysburg for the veterans, and that state and the national government, by appropriations of $150,000 each, will maintain a great camp around the battlefield, equipped with all the possible conveniences for the comfort of the old soldiers. 

The camp will be established on a field, which embraces some 280 acres. The camp will be in the vicinity of the high water monument on the battlefield of Gettysburg. It lies to the south west of the town and includes part of the track covered in the first day’s fight. There’ll be 5,000 tents, intended to accommodate 12 men each, but only eight veterans will be assigned to each tent. 

Each veteran will be supplied with a separate cot, blanket, and mess kit. The mess kit will become his property. Each tent will be furnished with water buckets and candles. Towels, soap, and toilet articles will be provided by the veterans themselves. 

Meals will be served to them at tables adjoining the kitchen at the end of each company street. The veterans will be restricted to hand baggage. To aid in prompt delivery, all mail and telegrams must be plainly addressed to the individual veteran, with the additional delegation of “Maine delegation,” or “Mississippi delegation,” or whatever state delegation he may be with. 

The control of the grounds and camp and the movement of troops and marching bodies will be in charge of the Secretary of War, under such officers as he may detail for that purpose. 

 Each state through its representative must advise the Battle of Gettysburg Commission how many veterans it will send, and the state’s delegation will be assigned to a section of the camp with sufficient tents for its veterans. The subdivision of tents will be left to each state representative. 

 To avoid, as far as possible, congestion on the roads at Gettysburg, the camp will be ready for the reception of the old soldiers on June 29. Supper will be the first meal served that day. The camp will continue open on through the celebration until July 6, when the last meals served will be breakfast. 

Under acts by the Pennsylvania Assembly and Congress, only veterans of the Civil War will be provided with food, shelter and entertainment within the camp around the battlefield. Women and children accompanying the veterans cannot be taking care of within the camp. Veterans, therefore, are advised that they should not bring any members of the family, for whom they will have to obtain food and quarters outside the camp without first making arrangements for them. 

Before a veteran is admitted to the camp he must produce credentials such as honorable discharge, pension certificate or certificate of service from either the governor of the state in which he enlisted; or if a veteran of the regular army, from the United States War Department; or if a  former sailor or member of the Marine Corp, from the United States Navy Department, or certificate of  identification from the commander of a post of the Grand Army Republic, or from a commander of the United Confederate Veterans. 

It will be left to each Commonwealth, State and territory to discriminate in the issuance of free transportation.   The state of Pennsylvania will furnish free transportation to only her own veterans or the veterans now living in her borders. 

The Truck Line Passenger Association, with a territory embracing Gettysburg, has granted a round-trip excursion rate good from the time of starting, June 25, to the time of returning to the original point, July 15; a 20 day ticket good only on the same route going and coming, at a rate of two cents a mile. The railroads at Gettysburg, for lack of space would not put any cars there on site tracks.

 The program for the four days exercises and entertainment has not been perfected in detail, but the tentative suggestions are: 

July 1, Veterans Day – appropriate exercises under the joint direction of the Pennsylvania Commission and the Commanders in Chief of the Grand Army Republic and the United Confederate Veterans. 

 July 2, Military Day – under the direction of the chief of staff of the United States Army. Special attachments of each arm of the regular servers to participate as directed. 

July 3, Civic Day – Under the direction of the Gov. of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, presiding, and participating in by the governors of several states. Orations, sermon, and music. 

 July 4, National Day-the Chief Justice of the United States presiding, noon speech by the President the United States. High noon, President to lay at cornerstone of a great Peace Memorial. Evening, fireworks. 

 A great tent to see between 10,000 and 15,000 veterans will be erected immediately adjoining the camp, and therein will occur the exercises; except the military parade and fireworks, and there, also, save for the hour set apart for the exercises, the veterans may hold reunions. The tent will be subdivided into separate enclosures. 

 All veterans of the Civil War, North and South, are urged to wear their army, corps, division, brigade, and society badges, as a means of identification to their comrades in like commands in the expectations that will assist in imparting information as to when and where are different organizations, meet, and in bringing together comrades who would otherwise, by reason of lapse of time, fail to recognize each other.