07/10/2026
In July 1864, Confederate forces commanded by Lt. General Jubal Early crossed the Potomac into Maryland in an attempt to take Washington, D.C. Some 3,200 Union troops, commanded by Major General Lew Wallace, would meet the Confederates near the B&O Railroad’s Monocacy Junction just east of Frederick, Maryland.
Outmanned and outgunned by the Confederates, the Union troops were forced to retreat. Although the Confederates would win the day at Monocacy, Wallace severely delayed the Confederate approach, enabling Union commanders to send more reinforcements to bolster the defense of Washington. The stalwart defense of the Monocacy Junction by Wallace’s troops would later be regarded as “the battle that saved Washington.”
On July 10, 1864, retreating Union soldiers marched down the Frederick Turnpike to Ellicott's Mills. They mustered at the Ellicott’s Mills Railroad Station where 30 car trains would take them onto Baltimore. After relocating to Baltimore, Major General Wallace sent a message by telegraph to Brig. Gen. James B. Ricketts at Ellicott’s Mills warning that the telegraph operator at Ellicott's Mills had abandoned his post, Wallace warned that “Everything depends upon my being able to keep open instant communication with you." Wallace ordered Ricketts to locate the operator, compel him to return to duty or place him under arrest, threatening to "put him in irons" until he cooperated.
Image: Telegraph sent by Lew Wallace on July 10, 1864, Official Records of the War of the Rebellion
