Officers Killed or Mortally Wounded: 0
Officers Died of Disease, Accidents, etc.: 0
Enlisted Men Killed or Mortally Wounded: 2
Enlisted Men Died of Disease, Accidents, etc.: 124
(Source: Fox, Regimental Losses)
MARYLAND
NINTH INFANTRY
(Six Months)
Ninth Infantry. - Col., Benjamin L. Simpson; Lieut.-Col.,
Thomas Cloudsley; Maj., Royal W. Church. This regiment was or-
ganized under the call of June 15, 1863, for emergency troops
to repel the Confederate forces then invading Maryland and
Pennsylvania, and was mustered into the United States service
for a period of six months. It consisted of nine companies,
eight of which were raised in the city of Baltimore and the
other in Baltimore county. On July 6, 1863, before the organi-
zation was completed, the regiment left Baltimore and joined
Gen. French's division, which drove the Confederates from Mary-
land heights, after which it crossed the Potomac and occupied
Loudoun heights. Companies A, B and C were later engaged in
guarding the Baltimore & Ohio railroad and in doing guard duty
at Harper's Ferry, and about the middle of August the remainder
of the regiment was ordered to occupy Charlestown, W. Va.,
where it was attacked on Oct. 18 by the Confederates under Gen.
Imboden. Although the 9th made a gallant stand it was overpow-
ered by superior numbers and captured. Of the prisoners not
more than one-half ever returned to their homes, the others dy-
ing in Southern prisons. Companies A, B and C remained on duty
in Virginia until the expiration of their term of enlistment,
and were mustered out at Baltimore on Feb. 24, 1864.
Source: The Union Army, vol. 2
************************************************************************
Report of Col. Benjamin L. Simpson, Ninth Maryland Infantry.
CHARLESTOWN, W. VA.,
October 18, 1863.
SIR: I have the honor to report to you that at ten minutes past 5
o'clock this morning the enemy commenced driving in my pickets.
I immediately started a messenger to headquarters to notify you of
the fact that I was surrounded by a force reported to number 2,000
men, with six pieces of artillery.
I at once mustered my force and occupied the court-house, my
number being some 300 men. The enemy sent in a flag of truce demanding
an unconditional surrender of the forces at Charleston. I
replied that if they wanted Charlestown to come and take it. I sent
out a cavalry force to feel the enemy, and they found the place
surrounded by the rebels, with artillery on the north and south sides
and a heavy cavalry and infantry force on the Harper's Ferry pike,
masked in the woods. The enemy sent in another flag of truce to
notify the women and children to leave the town. Before the bearer
could turn around to find out the time allowed, they began shelling
us from their battery on the north side of the town. After remaining
some time, and finding that every shot took effect upon the
court-house, I ordered the officers to form their men in column in
the street, but with all my efforts and the officers assisting me, it
was impossible to do it. The men broke and ran in every direction.
The enemy also opened the battery on the south side of the town.
I lost 4 wagons, 2 ambulances, and all the Government stores
I had on hand. My loss in men will, I think, amount to 250 in
killed, wounded, and missing.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
B. L. SIMPSON,
Colonel, Commanding Ninth Maryland Regiment.
Lieut. SAML. F. WOODS,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.
Source: Official Records
PAGE 489-48 OPERATIONS IN N. C., VA., W. VA., MD., AND PA. [CHAP. XLI.
[Series I. Vol. 29. Part I, Reports. Serial No. 48.]
************************************************************************************
Review by Judge-Advocate-General Joseph Holt, U. S. Army, of the
proceedings of a court of inquiry, convened by Brig. Gen. Benjamin
F. Kelley, commanding the Department of West Virginia,
the request of Col. Benjamin L. Simpson, Ninth Maryland
Infantry, to investigate the circumstances attending the surprise and
capture of Charlestown, W. Va., October 18, 1863.
* * * * * * *
OPINION OF THE COURT.
The undersigned have obtained all the evidence in this case which
has been attainable. They have carefully considered and compared
it, and in obedience to the order convening them respectfully express
their opinion to be:
That the surprise and capture of the greater part of the forces
under the command of Col. Benjamin L. Simpson, Ninth Maryland
Infantry, at Charlestown, Va., on the morning of the 18th day
of October ultimo, were inevitable, because of the peculiar location
of the place, which, surrounded by an open country for several miles
on all sides, and approachable by a large number of roads from all
directions, was easy to be flanked and surrounded, and because
of the superior force by which it was attacked and of the inferior
force for its defense. The rebel attacking force was 2,000 men, with
six pieces of artillery. The defending force, under the command
of Colonel Simpson, consisted of 375 infantry and 75 or 80
cavalry. Although the pickets of Colonel Simpson were posted not so
far out as at first view might seem to have been desirable, yet when
the smallness of his force and the circuit of his picket lines, extending
as they were established 3 miles, are taken into account, it is not
perceived how he can be justly held blamable for not extending them
farther. The proof shows that General Lockwood when in
command directed one of the posts to be drawn in from what he considered
its too great exposure. That they were driven in simultaneously
and rapidly was due to the location of Charlestown, and the
fact that the enemy had availed of it to post his forces around it on
all sides during the darkness of the night of the 17th, and so to be
ready for attack on each picket post at the same moment, which it
may well be inferred had been previously fixed on. Colonel Simpson's
infantry force consisted of part of the Ninth Maryland Volunteers,
which had been in the service but two months and had not been under
fire before. The exposure to an artillery fire as described in the
testimony, whilst the enemy approached their position by cross and by
streets, keeping concealed from view and refusing fair combat, was
well calculated to demoralize new troops. Still a very painful feature
of the affair was the disorganized condition of the men from the time
they left the yard of the court-house to the time of their capture. In
such a case the undersigned are of opinion that the field and line
officers should have enforced the orders given to form column and
line respectively, and should have maintained military order and
decorum and consequent efficiency, by such use of their side-arms
upon their own men as might have been necessary to accomplish these
results. In such case the worst enemies to the whole theory and spirit
of the Army Regulations are those men who refuse from any cause
compliance with the first paragraph of the first article of those
regulations, and such enemies should be met and subdued by all the
means at command of their officers. The undersigned are not aware
that the course of action indicated has been recognized as a general
rule governing officers under like circumstances, and they cannot
therefore feel justified in censuring Colonel Simpson or his officers
for having failed to pursue a course consonant with their opinions
but not demanded by a generally recognized rule, whilst they think
it unfortunate that it did not occur to them to resort to it. They
entertain no doubt, however, that whatever might have been the
action of Colonel Simpson and his officers in this respect, the result
would have been the same. The capture was inevitable, from the
superior force of the enemy and its success in having selected its
positions without hindrance, because of the facilities before alluded
to. All the facts and circumstances considered together, the undersigned
think that no blame can justly be attached to Colonel Simpson
on account of the surprise and capture of Charlestown, Va., on
the 18th October last.
There is a feature of this transaction which the undersigned
think ought not to be passed without notice. It is a clearly established
fact that the rebel forces, commanded by General Imboden,
did, on the occasion referred to, shell Charlestown whilst it was
occupied by women and children without allowing time for their
possible removal from the localities shelled. And it is notorious that
the population of Charlestown is composed, almost wholly, of active,
or warmly sympathizing, co-laborers and friends of General Imboden
in the work of rebellion. And this was done by a general with
a force of 2,000 men and six pieces of artillery attacking a force of
450 men with not one piece of artillery. It is irresistibly inferable
that the object of the rebel commander was the capture of the
force, so greatly inferior to his own, before that force could
receive re-enforcements to put it on an equality with his, and so have
opportunity for a fair, equal, and manly fight; and that, to the
accomplishment of this object, he did not hesitate to sacrifice the safety
of the women and children of the--by him and them--claimed Southern
Confederacy. In fact, within a short period after the
accomplishment of this feat, the entire force of General Imboden retreated
rapidly before the charge of Major Cole's battalion of about 300 men,
which had come up to Colonel Simpson's relief; and before that
battalion and one regiment of infantry (the Thirty-fourth Massachusetts)
and one battery of artillery (Miner's), which shortly after came
up, all under command of Col. George D. Wells, commanding First
Brigade, and numbering less than 700 men all told, he continued
industriously. His retreat, with his 2,000 men and six pieces of artillery,
for more than 9 miles, and until the pursuing force was
recalled.
The loss of Colonel Simpson's regiment at Charlestown was 2 men
killed, 2 officers and 7 men wounded, 16 officers and 340 men
captured; 4 wagons, 2 ambulances, and 20 horses, together with some
arms, and the ammunition on the persons of the men, about 60
rounds each.
There was but a small quantity of quartermaster's or other stores
on hand.
WM. P. MAULSBY,
Col. 1st Maryland P. H. B. Vols., President Court of Inquiry.
FRANK A. ROLFE,
Major First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery.
W. B. CURTIS,
Major Twelfth Regiment West Virginia Volunteer Infantry.
[Indorsement.]
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
Cumberland, Md., December 22, 1863.
The within proceedings of a court of inquiry convened at Harper's
Ferry, Va., to inquire into the facts and circumstances connected
with the surprise and capture, on the 18th day of October last at
Charlestown, Va., of the forces under the command of Col.
Benjamin L. Simpson, Ninth Maryland Volunteers, are respectfully
forwarded for the consideration of the honorable Secretary of War.
After a careful perusal of the testimony adduced, I cannot concur
in the opinion expressed by the Court that no blame can justly be
attached to Colonel Simpson on account of the surprise and capture of
Charlestown, or that the capture was inevitable. I am of the opinion
that Colonel Simpson was derelict in suffering his command to
be surprised, and that he could and should have maintained himself
in his position until he could have been relieved by the forces at
Harper's Ferry, which were started to his assistance as soon as the
cannonading of the enemy was heard at that place. I therefore
respectfully recommend that Col. Benjamin L. Simpson, Ninth
Maryland Volunteer Infantry, be dismissed from the service of the United
States.
B. F. KELLEY,
Brigadier-General.
REVIEW.
JUDGE-ADVOCATE-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
January 23, 1864.
The within is a record* of the proceedings of a court of inquiry
convened at Harper's Ferry on the 13th of November at the request
of Colonel Simpson, of the Ninth Maryland Volunteers, to investigate
the facts and circumstances connected with the surprise and
capture of Charlestown and the forces occupying it on the 18th of
October, and to give an opinion in the case.
From the evidence adduced the following facts appear:
The village of Charlestown is built upon uneven ground,
surrounded by wooded hills and valleys. There are eight roads leading
to it from different directions, all connected by another, which at
some distance from the town completely encircles it. On the 20th
of August Colonel Simpson was ordered by his brigade commander
to proceed with the forces under him from Loudoun Heights and
encamp in the woods on the east side of the village. After his
arrival he received orders and instructions, some written, some
verbal, all of which do not appear in evidence from the fact that
some of the originals and the books in which they were copied have
been lost or captured. The general tenor or substance of all these
material to the case in question were presented for the consideration
of the Court. Up to the date of the capture they appear to
have been carried out promptly as far as practicable, and the result
communicated by Colonel Simpson to his brigade and division
commanders.
Colonel Simpson's command consisted of portions of seven
companies of the Ninth Maryland Volunteers, amounting to about 356
men and a cavalry force of about 80 men.
__________
* Filed in the office of the Judge-Advocate-General U. S. Army.
His instructions from his brigade commander were that the holding
of Charlestown itself was of no more importance than as though
it was an open plain, but to be vigilant in scouting the country,
watching the movements of the enemy in his front, to engage and
whip any force that came within his reach that was not too strong
for him, and if attacked by superior numbers to retire. From
about the middle of September there appears to have been a force of
rebels in that vicinity, which for some time were believed to be
small, under the command of Major White. About the 1st of
October it was rumored that an advance of a part of Lee's army in
that direction might be expected, and that unusual vigilance was
necessary. On the 7th of October he was informed by Colonel
Wells, commanding brigade, that Imboden was said to be preparing
to make a raid on the railroad between Martinsburg and Harper's
Ferry.
On the 13th of October he was directed to send a scouting party to
Berryville, and one, consisting of 10 men, to follow the summit of
Blue Ridge toward Front Royal. On the same day he informed
Colonel Wells that he sent a force to Berryville, which drove in the
enemy's pickets (supposed to be of White's battalion), but being too
small to make an attack, returned; and that they could hear of no
force approaching up the valley; and that the scout ordered to Blue
Ridge had returned, being unable to proceed on that road; and he
asked if they should endeavor to go forward by any other route.
On the 14th it also appears that he had his wagons packed, and all
preparations made to fall back to Harper's Ferry, but received an
order from General Sullivan to wait till he was attacked. During
the day he sent word to Colonel Wells that he had scouted every
road leading from Charlestown, had found a force at Berryville,
supposed to be White's, and a small force at Smithfield, but had
gained no information of any heavy force in the valley. That he
was informed that it was the intention to annoy his pickets that
night; therefore he had increased their numbers, and would advance
his posts on some of the roads, and have a company of men under
arms to re-enforce any point that might be attacked. On the 15th
he was informed by Colonel Wells that it was reported in Harper's
Ferry that Imboden was at Berryville with "something of a force,"
and that a part of it was being sent around between Charlestown
and the river, and that the matter should be looked into. Colonel
Wells closed his communication by saying that the alarm about an
approach up the valley seemed to have been without foundation,
and that Colonel Simpson could resume the even tenor of his way
at Charlestown the same as before. On the same day Colonel Wells
further informed him that he had sent a detachment of cavalry on
the road from Martinsburg to Winchester and Berryville, with
orders to convey any information they might obtain to Charlestown.
On the 17th Colonel Simpson informed Colonel Wells that a
detachment of cavalry came into Charlestown the night before, being
unable to reach Berryville on account of White's occupation of it.
That an officer of Cole's battalion had arrived, having been wounded
in a skirmish, and that he represented that no other force was in the
valley but Imboden's; and further that he had captured one of
White's men, who informed him that White's battalion, consisting
of 150 cavalry and 80 dismounted as infantry, had been at Berryville,
had reconnoitered the position at Charlestown, and had found it too
strong for them; and that White had moved away, and Imboden
was 8 miles above Winchester with 800 men. At half past 5 o'clock
on the morning of the 18th, it appears that the enemy simultaneously
attacked and drove in the pickets on the different roads about
Charlestown, and planted one battery north and one south of the
town, and sent (under a flag of truce) a demand for a surrender.
This being promptly refused, another flag of truce was immediately
sent with directions to remove the women and children from the
vicinity of the court-house and jail. A few minutes after this
message had been given to the officer who was ordered out to meet the
bearer of it, the shelling commenced. It is shown that when the
alarm was given by the attack on the picket Colonel Simpson posted
his men in the court-house, the jail, and another building, making
loop-holes for muskets. The enemy's batteries were so planted
behind buildings at a distance of two or three hundred yards that
their fire was very effective, while the cannoneers were completely
protected from the musketry of Colonel Simpson's force. The first
shot fired struck the court-house, and several others followed killing
and wounding several men and an officer. Colonel Simpson then
ordered the men to evacuate the buildings and form column by
company in the street, and ordered all the cavalry force, about 80 men,
under Lieutenant Moon, to reconnoiter the roads and find the weak
points of the enemy. This officer led his men out on the road leading to
Harper's Ferry, and finding the enemy ordered a charge, which would
seem to have been improper, and resulted in the killing or capture of
all but the lieutenant and 17 men. These returned and reported
the fact. Colonel Simpson had meantime learned the force of the
enemy and the number of pieces of artillery, and his men, who had
been organized but two months and had never been in action before,
became panic stricken and could not be kept in line, broke in
confusion, destroyed their arms, and were very soon all in the possession
of the enemy. Colonel Simpson is stated to have been remarkably
cool, and at the head of the column. assisted by his officers, by
commands and threats endeavored to rally his men that an orderly
retreat might be effected. After several attempts being unsuccessful,
the men having scattered in all directions, he with what officers were
mounted struck off through the fields and escaped. The opinion
expressed by the Court was, that under the circumstances Colonel
Simpson should not be held blamable. They state the grounds of
their opinion very elaborately, as will be seen on pages 49 to 54 of the
record, to which attention is invited. General Kelley forwards the
record, stating that he does not concur in the opinion of the Court,
but believes that Colonel Simpson was derelict in allowing himself
to be surprised, and that he should have maintained himself in his
position until the re-enforcements reached him which started from
Harper's Ferry as soon as the cannonading of the enemy was heard.
He therefore recommends that Colonel Simpson be dismissed the
service. This recommendation is not concurred in. After a disaster
of this kind has occurred, it is much less difficult for a military
commander to review the details, and remark what should or what
should not have been done, than for a subordinate to have anticipated
the strength, position, and design of the enemy, and to
successfully have met or withstood their attack. General Kelley
simply expressed the opinion that Colonel Simpson was derelict, and
should have maintained his position until relieved. If he had made
any suggestions or stated any facts which were not presented to the
Court for their consideration, or which seem to have been
overlooked, the proper course would be to direct a trial by court-martial,
rather than to order a summary dismissal in the face of a favorable
opinion expressed by a board of competent officers. It is believed
that all the facts in this case were fully inquired into and a just
decision arrived at, and no further action seems to be called for.
J. HOLT,
Judge-Advocate-General.
[Indorsement.]
WAR DEPARTMENT,
[March 22, 1864.]
Respectfully referred to the Adjutant-General.
Finding of Court of Inquiry in the case of Colonel Simpson is
approved. This officer will be released and ordered to duty if under
arrest.*
By order of the Secretary of War:
ED. R. S. CANBY,
Brigadier-General and Assistant Adjutant-General.
Source: Offical Records
PAGE 1010-48 OPERATIONS IN N. C., VA., W. VA., MD., AND PA. [CHAP. XLI.
[Series I. Vol. 29. Part I, Reports. Serial No. 48.]