June 15, 1863
---Siege of Vicksburg, Day 24
---Siege of Port Hudson, Day 19
---Second Battle of Winchester – Day 3: As the day breaks, Ewell is ready to spring
his trap. Milroy has withdrawn most of
his Federal troops into the several forts and fortified strong points around
Winchester. However, after realizing
that they are surrounded, and after conferring with his officers, Milroy
decides that they should abandon Winchester, leaving his artillery behind.
 |
| Maj. Gen. Robert Milroy, USA |
His troops assemble quietly and simply walk
out of the city without a shot being fired, on the road to Martinsburg, through
the gap left open between Early’s and Johnson’s advanced units. At Stephenson’s depot, just north of town, Johnson’s
Confederates attack the head of Milroy’s escaping column, as regiment after
regiment in gray are added to the line as they come up, in addition to nearly
30 guns placed. The Federals rally and counterattack,
but the attacks are not coordinated. The
Rebels again advance, Nicholls and his Louisiana Brigade break up the Yankee
line before them, followed by the Stonewall Brigade striking on the far
northern Federal flank, and cutting the escape route of the Valley Pike. The Union units begin to dissolve at this
point, and some regiments surrender outright.
The entire Union force scatters, some even escaping southeast, through
Manassas Gap. In addition to bagging 23
cannon, the Rebels capture over 4,000 prisoners, having inflicted nearly 500
Federal casualties. As bits and pieces
of Milroy’s command straggle into Harper’s Ferry, there are no more than 1,200
which escaped the Southern trap. Milroy is
relieved of command, and placed under arrest.
This has been an overwhelming Confederate
Victory.
Losses: Killed Wounded Captured/Missing Total
Union 95 348 4,000 4,443
Confederate
47 293 3 343
---Jenkins’s cavalry brigade, assigned to Ewell’s corps, is
with Rodes’ division (who were not engaged at Winchester). Gen. Rodes sends Jenkins posting north over
the Potomac to dash forward and secure Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. By late tonight, Jenkins’ troops reach Chambersburg. Also, some of Rodes’ infantry crosses the
Potomac. The invasion has begun.
---In Virginia, Gen. Robert E. Lee starts the rest of his
army on the march, as Longstreet’s I Corps begins its march from Culpeper, with
Hood’s division in front.
---Several northern states respond to Pres. Lincoln’s call
for 100,000 militia to help repel the expected Rebel invasion. Maj. Gen. Darius Couch is to be given command
of the militia units, east of the Susquehanna River.
---Gov. Thomas Curtin of Pennsylvania issues this public
proclamation in impassioned rhetoric, calling upon all citizens to take up arms:
I now appeal to all the citizens of
Pennsylvania who love liberty and are mindful of the history and traditions of
their revolutionary fathers, and who feel that it is a sacred duty to guard and
maintain the free institutions of our country, who hate treason and its
abettors, and who are willing to defend their homes and their firesides, and do
invoke them to rise in their might, and rush to the rescue in this hour
imminent peril. The issue is one of preservation or destruction. It invokes
considerations paramount to all matters of mere expediency; and all questions
of local interest, all ties, social and political, all impulses of a personal
and partisan character, sink by comparison into insignificance. It is now to be
determined by deeds, and not by words alone, who are for us and who are against
us. That it is the purpose of the enemy to invade our borders with all the
strength he can command is now apparent. Our only dependence rests upon the
determined action of the citizens of our free Commonwealth. I now, therefore,
call upon the people of Pennsylvania capable of bearing arms to enroll
themselves in military organizations, and to encourage all others to give aid
and assistance to the efforts which will be put forth for the protection of the
State and the salvation of our common country.
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