Lew Wallace at Monocacy: The Ben-Hur Author's Defeat That Saved a Day

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In July 1864, with Ulysses S. Grant's armies concentrated around Petersburg, Jubal Early led 14,000 to 16,000 Confederate veterans into Maryland toward Washington. The only force in the way belonged to Major General Lew Wallace, blamed by Grant for arriving late at Shiloh and exiled to an administrative command in Baltimore with about 2,300 hundred-days men. Warned by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad president John W. Garrett, Wallace moved to Monocacy Junction near Frederick without orders and was joined by James B. Ricketts' Sixth Corps veterans, bringing his force to about 6,800.

On July 9 Wallace defended a six-mile stretch of river at the iron railroad bridge, the Georgetown Pike bridge, the stone bridge and nearby fords. Captured Union soldiers claimed the whole Sixth Corps was present, slowing Early, and Ricketts' infantry, hidden behind a fence between the Worthington and Thomas farms, broke John McCausland's cavalry. John B. Gordon's afternoon assault forced a retreat around 5 p.m., but the delay cost Early a full day, and Sixth Corps reinforcements reached Fort Stevens before he could attack.

Wallace had a single 24-pound howitzer to cover the line.
Union troops repulsed five separate charges before their right flank gave way.
Union losses were about 1,300, while Early lost between 700 and 1,000.
Grant relieved Wallace after the defeat, then reinstated him once the timeline became clear.
In his memoirs Grant wrote that the defeat brought a greater benefit than many victories, and Wallace later wrote Ben-Hur.

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