Combat· American Civil War
Gunpowder River Railroad Bridge Defense
A sharp defensive action during Jubal Early's raid on Washington.
As Early's Confederates swept into Maryland in July 1864 and his cavalry struck at the rail lines around Baltimore, the railroad bridge over the Gunpowder River, a vital link between Baltimore and the north, was threatened. Confederate horsemen sent a string of burning freight cars rolling onto the wooden bridge, badly damaging it. A company of Marines under Captain James Forney, part of a naval brigade formed at the Philadelphia yard, was rushed to the scene, and when the Confederates came on again, Forney's Marines helped repel the second attack and protected the structure while it was repaired. By mid-July the line was nearly restored and the raiders had withdrawn, and the Marines were ordered back to Philadelphia. No Marine casualties are recorded. The defense was a small but useful part of the effort that kept the Union's communications open during Early's raid.
Podcast episodes on American Civil War
Record no. 400