Battle Begins

Battle Begins. Monocacy National Battlefield. , About 8 o'clock a dash was made by the enemy under cover of artillery fire, to drive us from out position, hoping to gain the pike, and proceed on their way to Washington. , Private Daniel B. Freeman, Company G, 10th Vermont Infantry, On the morning of July 9, 1864, Confederate skirmishers, followed by General Ramseur's division of 2,000 men, marched down the Georgetown Pike toward the Monocacy River. Waiting for them at Monocacy Junction was a Union detachment of 275 men commanded by Lieutenant Davis. A Union force of about 3,300, made up of veterans of the 3rd Division, VI Corps, Army of the Potomac, was positioned on the heights across the river while another 3,000 troops guarded fords and the Baltimore Pike. As hard as the Confederates fought, the Union maintained its strong hold on the junction, forcing Early to find another location to cross the river.