As the head of the B&O railroad he had a lot at risk as Jubal Early came rolling like a juggernaut down (up) the valley and into Western Maryland. Engines, rolling stock, rails, stores, and always vulnerable telegraph lines, were the direct concern of Garrett. He was arguably* the first to sound the alarm to Washington that Early was coming with an army that was, by his estimate, 30,000-men strong.
Hunter, Halleck's man in the Valley, became less and less communicative as the crucial days of early July sped on, leaving Halleck, Grant, and Lincoln pretty much in the dark regarding the nature of the threat posed by Early...Grant was even unaware that Early had taken over for Ewell, so poor was the communication. Here I pause...
Those who have followed this blog with regularity back in the old days may remember that I am not one of those armchair generals who is quick to criticize Civil War generals for their lack of clairvoyance when it came to figuring out the size and intentions of the opposing force. I have always cautioned myself with the personal credo that even the worst Civil War general, on his worst day, did a much better job than I could do on my best day...except, of course, for Colonel Dixon S. Miles...your sullen teenage daughter could have done a better job than Dixon S. Miles even while simultaneously texting her friends about what a nerd you are. But that is a different story.
My point is, that accurate communication was very difficult even under the best of circumstances in the Civil War, and with most of the army down in the Petersburg/Richmond theater, the other regional departments were vastly understrength, leaving effective reconnaissance always at a great handicap. Add to that the vulnerability of telegraph lines to raiders and partisans. In short, it was the rule, rather than the exception, that opposing generals were often blind to the intentions and strength of their opponents.
Garrett filled much of that void. His trains provided an effective, and fairly rapid, means of communications from the Valley to Frederick, Baltimore, and Washington. Garrett sounded the initial alarm, and partnered early with Lew Wallace helping to rush available manpower and material to that beleaguered general has he prepared to meet Early's much larger army.
Ironically, Garrett started out with southern sympathies, even referring to the B&O as "The Southern Line." However his commercial instincts quickly took over when he realized that the Federals were going to be his greatest source of revenue, while at the same time, the Confederates would pose the greatest threat to his livelihood.
Fortunately, the histories of the Battle of Monocacy seem universally to give this man his due...
the "other guy" who saved Washington.
Typing this from my desk in Washington DC...
Ranger Mannie
*"arguably" is the favorite weasel-word of the historian. I use it a lot.
No comments:
Post a Comment