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Battle of Hoke's Run

(Redirected from Battle of Falling Waters (1861))
Not to be confused with Battle of Williamsport.

The Battle of Hoke's Run, also known as the Battle of Falling Waters or Battle of Hainesville, took place on July 2, 1861, in Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia) as part of the Manassas campaign of the American Civil War.[1] Notable as an early engagement of Confederate Colonel Thomas J. Jackson and his Brigade of Virginia Volunteers, nineteen days before their famous nickname would originate, this brief skirmish was hailed by both sides as a stern lesson to the other.[2] Acting precisely upon the orders of a superior officer[3] about how to operate in the face of superior numbers, Jackson's forces resisted General Robert Patterson's Union forces briefly and then slowly retreated over several miles.

Battle of Hoke's Run
Part of the American Civil War

Colonel John C. Starkweather with his Wisconsin regiment
DateJuly 2, 1861
Location
Berkeley County, West Virginia
39°32′42″N 77°54′23″W / 39.5450°N 77.9063°W / 39.5450; -77.9063
Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States United States (Union) Confederate States of America CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Robert Patterson Stonewall Jackson
Units involved
Army of the Shenandoah Jackson's Brigade
Strength
8,000
(2 brigades)		 4,000
(1 brigade)
Casualties and losses
23 91

Opposing forces

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Union order of battle

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The Department of Pennsylvania represented the Union Army at the Battle of Hoke's Run during the outset of the American Civil War. Although the entire force crossed the Potomac River into Virginia, the First and Sixth Brigades were primarily engaged.[4]

Military rank

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Other abbreviations

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Department of Pennsylvania

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Further information: Department of Pennsylvania (American Civil War)

MG Robert Patterson

Division Brigade Regiments and Others

First Division[5]
     BG George Cadwallader

1st Brigade[6]


   Col George H. Thomas

3rd Brigade[7]


  BG Alpheus S. Williams

4th Brigade[8]


  Col Dixon S. Miles (until June 17)
  Col. J. C. Longenecker

Second Division[9]
     MG William H. Keim

2nd Brigade[10]


  BG G. C. Wynkoop

5th Brigade[11]


  BG J. S. Negley

  • 14th Pennsylvania: Col John W. Johnston
  • 15th Pennsylvania: Col Richard A. Oakford
  • 24th Pennsylvania: Col Joshua T. Owen
6th Brigade[12]


  Col. J. J. Abercrombie

Third Division[13]
     MG Charles W. Sandford

7th Brigade[14]


   Col Charles P. Stone

8th Brigade


   Col C. Schwarzwaelder
   Col Daniel Butterfield

  • 5th New York State Militia: Col C. Schwarzwaelder
  • 12th New York State Militia: Col Daniel Butterfield
  • 19th New York: Col John S. Clarke
  • 28th New York: Col Dudley Donnelly

Unattached

Confederate order of battle

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The following Confederate Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Hoke's Run.

Military rank

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Army of the Shenandoah

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BG Joseph E. Johnston

Brigade Regiments and Others
First Brigade


Col Thomas J. Jackson

Cavalry

Battle

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Map of Hoke's Run Battlefield core and study areas by the American Battlefield Protection Program

On July 2, Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson's division crossed the Potomac River near Williamsport, Maryland and marched on the main road to Martinsburg. Near Hoke's Run, the Union brigades of Cols. John J. Abercrombie and George H. Thomas encountered regiments of Col. Thomas J. Jackson's Confederate brigade, driving them back slowly. Jackson accomplished his orders to delay the Federal advance, withdrawing before Patterson's larger force.[1]

Casualties

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Estimates of casualties sustained during the battle vary. The National Park Service quotes Union as 23 and Confederate as 91 (without differentiating types of casualties).[1] Kennedy cites 75 Union deaths and 25 Confederate deaths.[15] In his Official Report, Major-General Robert Patterson states the number of Confederate deaths as "over sixty"[16] but does not describe Union casualties. One Confederate battle flag was captured by the First Wisconsin, but the surrendering Confederate regiment is not identified.[17]
After the time for propagandizing the casualty figures ended, the following Union regiments precisely reported the sacrifices of their comrades-in-arms:

  • First Wisconsin Infantry: 1 killed, 5 wounded, 1 captured.[18]
  • Eleventh Pennsylvania Infantry: 1 killed, 10 wounded, none captured.[19]
  • Fifteenth Pennsylvania Infantry: 1 wounded, 35 captured (six of whom died in Confederate prisons within nine months).[20]

In addition to the above, "The Official Records of the Union and Confederates Armies, 1861-1865" and "History of Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5" state the following casualties:

  • 2nd US cavalry: 2 captured
  • 14th Pennsylvania: 12 Captured (the 1st Virginia Cavalry took 47 prisoners from the company A, 14th and company I, 15th Pennsylvania)
  • McMullen's Rangers: 1 killed and 1 wounded (from the Sunbury American)

Total casualties for Union force: 3 killed, 17 wounded, and 50 captured

For the Confederacy:

  • 1st Virginia Cavalry: 2 killed and 1 wounded
  • 2nd Virginia Infantry: no record/report (casualties unknown)
  • 5th Virginia Infantry 9 killed and 11 wounded

Total casualties for Confederate force (incomplete): 11 killed, 12 wounded

Aftermath

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On July 3, Patterson occupied Martinsburg, but made no further aggressive moves until July 15, when he marched to Bunker Hill. Instead of moving on Winchester, however, Patterson turned east to Charles Town and then withdrew to Harpers Ferry.[1]

Patterson's retrograde movement took pressure off Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley and allowed Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's Army of the Shenandoah to march to support Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard at Manassas Junction.[1] Following the stunning Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, the Union commander at Hoke's Run, Robert Patterson, was assigned popular blame without participating while the Confederate commander at Hoke's Run was assigned glory for his actions during the first major battle of the war.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Battle Summary". National Park Service. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  2. ^ High, Mike. "The C&O Canal Companion". Johns Hopkins University. Archived from the original on 19 January 2006. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  3. ^ Johnston, General Joseph E. "Official Report, Manassas Campaign". Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  4. ^ "CWSAC Report Update and Resurvey: Individual Battlefield Profiles" (PDF). National Park Service. p. 40. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  5. ^ "U.S. Army-Department of PA-1st Division". Civil War in the East. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  6. ^ Bates, Samuel P. (1869). History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5. Vol. I. Harrisburg, PA: B. Singerly, State Printer. p. 58.
  7. ^ Bates, Samuel P. (1869). History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5. Vol. I. Harrisburg, PA: B. Singerly, State Printer. p. 68.
  8. ^ Bates, Samuel P. (1869). History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5. Vol. I. Harrisburg, PA: B. Singerly, State Printer. p. 87.
  9. ^ "U.S. Army-Department of PA-2nd Division". Civil War in the East. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  10. ^ Bates, Samuel P. (1869). History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5. Vol. I. Harrisburg, PA: B. Singerly, State Printer. p. 32.
  11. ^ Bates, Samuel P. (1869). History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5. Vol. I. Harrisburg, PA: B. Singerly, State Printer. p. 134.
  12. ^ Bates, Samuel P. (1869). History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5. Vol. I. Harrisburg, PA: B. Singerly, State Printer. p. 107.
  13. ^ "U.S. Army-Department of PA-3rd Division". Civil War in the East. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  14. ^ Bates, Samuel P. (1869). History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5. Vol. I. Harrisburg, PA: B. Singerly, State Printer. pp. 107, 227.
  15. ^ Kennedy, Francis H. (1998). The Civil War Battlefield Guide, 2nd ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. pp. 11. ISBN 0-395-74012-6.
  16. ^ Robert Patterson, Major-General (1865). Narrative of the Campaign in the Valley of the Shenandoah in 1861. Philadelphia: John Campbell. pp. 49.
  17. ^ "Captured Confederate Flags". Wisconsin's Civil War Battle Flags. Wisconsin Veterans Museum. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  18. ^ "1st Wisconsin Infantry and Their Flag". Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  19. ^ Civil War in the East. "11th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment". Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  20. ^ Bates, Samuel P. (1869). History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-6; Vol I. Harrisburg, PA: B. Singerly, State Printer. p. 143.

References

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