150 YEARS AGO TODAY September 13th fell on a Tuesday back in 1864. About a half mile below Brucetown the Opequon Creek divides the two counties of Frederick County and Clarke County, Virginia. Today to travel between the two counties we only need to cross the creek over a large concrete bridge that was constructed during the first decade of the 20th century. However, the 19th century traveler would have crossed the Opequon Creek about 150 yards below the bridge. The banks of the Opequon at that point have a low, gentle slope that would have accommodated 19th century transportation. The water is at its lowest level there because of the slightly elevated limestone bedrock substrate that crosses the creek at that point. The area was known locally as Locke’s Ford, named for the family of Josiah and Rebecca Locke whose log style farm house still stands in Clarke County on the south side of the creek. On the north side of Lockes Ford in Frederick County there is a ridgeline that runs roughly northeast to southwest and divides the village of Brucetown from the ford. The slope of the ridge is quite steep and wooded and overlooks the Opequon. Beyond the woods are large rolling open fields bordered by broken stands of timber. It was along this ridge that Confederate General John B. Gordon chose to deploy his line of infantry. According to the Journal of Jubal Early’s Topographical Engineer, Captain Jed Hotchkiss: On the 13th of September Lieutenant General Jubal Early was present and personally directed Joseph Carpenters battery (the Alleghany Artillery), with its four guns below Brucetown to dislodge a large body of Yankees near Wades Depot. CARPENTER was a former V.M.I. artillery student of General Stonewall Jackson. It was on orders from Jackson that the Carpenter’s unit had been converted from infantry to artillery in 1862 and although initially known as the Alleghany Artillery, the battery was more often referred to as Carpenter’s Battery. At the time of the conversation the artillery battery, consisted of four iron 6-pound guns produced from the foundry of the Tredegar Works in Richmond, Virginia. By 1864 the battery had acquired two 12-pound Napoleon cannons and two 3-inch ordnance rifled pieces (which were probably captured Union pieces). Unfortunately for Carpenter’s men on September 13th the Union force probing the area came supported by a six-gun battery of rifled field pieces and they were well positioned on high ground near Wadesville. In the ensuing artillery duel Federal artillerymen severely punished the Confederate artillery position. In less than thirty minutes the Federal guns had knocked out two of Carpenters pieces. One of Carpenter’s Napoleons was hit squarely in the muzzle by a solid shot, flaring it out like a trumpet. Another of his guns became disabled when an incoming shell shattered its axle. A third gun went out of commission, when a cap shell became lodged in it. In less than one hour the battery lost killed and wounded a dozen of its members, and seventeen of its horses. This left the battery with one piece (commanded by Gunner William M. McAllister) to contend with the Federals six-gun battery. In time Carpenter was forced to abandon the field with only two horses to a limber and caisson. Southern General John B. Gordons Confederate infantrymen apparently found the affair less trying than Carpenters gunners, but at one point Federal Colonel Charles Lowell deployed part of his own Second Massachusetts cavalry against Gordon’s left. Lowell’s force succeeded in capturing a lieutenant and ten enlisted men before being driven back. With orders from General Philip Sheridan not to bring on a major engagement, General Horatio Wright, who was superintending the affairs broke off the fight and ordered his infantry to withdrawal, leaving dismounted cavalrymen behind to cover his departure. General Wright and his men returned safely to their camps by dusk, suffering light casualties having two men killed and eighteen wounded.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 23:03:39 +0000
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