Monocacy, Battle of, Md., 1864

The Battle of Monocacy (also known as Monocacy Junction) was fought on July 9, 1864, about 6 miles (9.7 km) from Frederick, Maryland, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early defeated Union forces under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace. The battle was part of Early's raid through the Shenandoah Valley and into Maryland in an attempt to divert Union forces from their siege of Gen. Robert E. Lee's army at Petersburg, Virginia. The battle was the northernmost Confederate victory of the war. Afterward, the Union troops retreated to Baltimore, Maryland, and the Confederates continued toward Washington. But because the battle had delayed Early's march for a day, Union reinforcements had time to get to the Union capital before the Confederates. Early launched an attack on Washington on July 12 at the Battle of Fort Stevens, but the Confederates were unsuccessful and retreated to Virginia.