Battle of Ball's Bluff

An account of the small raid on a suspected Confederate camp near Leesburg, Virginia, on 20 October 1861, which turned into a Union military disaster. The author relied principally on contemporary after-action reports and on the sworn testimony of participants called before the congressional Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War investigating the Union defeats at First Bull Run and Ball's Bluff. Although not in a class with Antietam and Gettysburg or other great Civil War clashes with respect to size or consequences, the Battle of Ball's Bluff nevertheless provides important lessons in small-unit actions, leadership, tactical planning, and the role of courage and military professionalism under fire.