Battle of Ball's Bluff

Battle of Ball's Bluff
Part of the American Civil War
Depiction of Ball's Bluff by Alfred W. Thompson
Date October 21, 1861 Location Loudoun County, Virginia 39°07′42″N 77°31′40″W / 39.1282°N 77.5277°W / 39.1282; -77.5277 Result Confederate victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	Confederate States (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Charles Pomeroy Stone Edward Dickinson Baker †	Nathan G. Evans
Strength
1,720	1,709
Casualties and losses
921–1,002 total[1][i]	155 (36 killed; 117 wounded; 2 captured)[2][3]

The Battle of Ball's Bluff (also known as the Battle of Leesburg or Battle of Harrison's Island) was an early battle of the American Civil War fought in Loudoun County, Virginia, on October 21, 1861, in which Union Army forces under Major General George B. McClellan suffered a humiliating defeat.

The operation was planned as a minor reconnaissance across the Potomac to establish whether the Confederates were occupying the strategically important position of Leesburg.^[4][ii] A false report of an unguarded Confederate camp encouraged Brigadier General Charles Pomeroy Stone to order a raid, which resulted in a clash with enemy forces. A prominent U.S. Senator in uniform, and dear friend of the Lincoln family, Colonel Edward Baker, tried to reinforce the Union troops, but failed to ensure that there were enough boats for the river crossings, which were then delayed. Baker was killed,^[5] and a newly arrived Confederate unit routed the rest of Stone's expedition.

The Union losses, although modest by later standards, alarmed Congress, which set up the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, a body which would provoke years of bitter political infighting.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-roman> tags or {{efn-lr}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-roman}} template or {{notelist-lr}} template (see the help page).