The Battle of Hoke's Run, also known as the Battle of Falling Waters or Battle of Hainesville, took place on July 2, 1861, in Berkeley County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

(now

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

) as part of the

Manassas campaign The Bull Run campaign, also known as the Manassas campaign, was a series of military engagements in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War in 1861. Background Military and political situation The Confederate forces in northern Vi ...

of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Notable as an early engagement of Confederate Colonel Thomas J. Jackson and his Brigade of Virginia Volunteers, nineteen days before their famous nickname would originate, this brief skirmish was hailed by both sides as a stern lesson to the other. Acting precisely upon the orders of a superior officer about how to operate in the face of superior numbers, Jackson's forces resisted General Robert Patterson's Union forces briefly and then slowly retreated over several miles.

Opposing forces

Union order of battle

The

Department of Pennsylvania The Department of Pennsylvania (or General Patterson's Army) was a large military unit in the Union army at the outset of the American Civil War. Established on April 27, 1861, its territory consisted of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and all of Maryland ...

represented the Union Army at the Battle of Hoke's Run during the outset of the

. Although the entire force crossed the Potomac River into Virginia, the First and Sixth Brigades were primarily engaged.

Military rank

* MG = Major General * BG = Brigadier General * Col =

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

* Ltc = Lieutenant Colonel * Maj =

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

* Cpt =

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Other abbreviations

* w = wounded * mw =

mortally wounded : A mortal wound is an injury that will ultimately lead to a person's death. ''Mortal'' refers to the mortality of a human: whether they are going to live or die."mortal_adjective." Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. 2018. Oxford University ...

* k = killed * c = captured

Department of Pennsylvania

Robert Patterson Robert Patterson (January 12, 1792 – August 7, 1881) was an Irish-born American military officer who served in the United States Army during the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the commander of the Pennsy ...

Confederate order of battle

The following Confederate Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Hoke's Run.

Military rank

* BG = Brigadier General * Col =

* Ltc = Lieutenant Colonel * Cpt =

Army of the Shenandoah

Joseph E. Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was an American military officer who served in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and the Seminole Wars. After Virginia declared secession from ...

Battle

On July 2, Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson's division crossed the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

near Williamsport,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and marched on the main road to Martinsburg. Near Hoke's Run, the Union brigades of Cols. John J. Abercrombie and George H. Thomas encountered regiments of Col. Thomas J. Jackson's

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

brigade, driving them back slowly. Jackson accomplished his orders to delay the Federal advance, withdrawing before Patterson's larger force.

Casualties

Estimates of casualties sustained during the battle vary. The National Park Service quotes Union as 23 and Confederate as 91 (without differentiating types of casualties). Kennedy cites 75 Union deaths and 25 Confederate deaths. In his Official Report, Major-General Robert Patterson states the number of Confederate deaths as "over sixty" but does not describe Union casualties. One Confederate battle flag was captured by the First Wisconsin, but the surrendering Confederate regiment is not identified.
After the time for propagandizing the casualty figures ended, the following Union regiments precisely reported the sacrifices of their comrades-in-arms: :*First Wisconsin Infantry: 1 killed, 5 wounded, 1 captured. :*Eleventh Pennsylvania Infantry: 1 killed, 10 wounded, none captured. :*Fifteenth Pennsylvania Infantry: 1 wounded, 35 captured (six of whom died in Confederate prisons within nine months). In addition to the above, "The Official Records of the Union and Confederates Armies, 1861-1865" and "History of Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5" state the following casualties: :*2nd US cavalry: 2 captured :*14th Pennsylvania: 12 Captured (the 1st Virginia Cavalry took 47 prisoners from the company A, 14th and company I, 15th Pennsylvania) :*McMullen's Rangers: 1 killed and 1 wounded (from the Sunbury American) Total casualties for Union force: 3 killed, 17 wounded, and 50 captured For the Confederacy: :*1st Virginia Cavalry: 2 killed and 1 wounded :*2nd Virginia Infantry: no record/report (casualties unknown) :*5th Virginia Infantry 9 killed and 11 wounded Total casualties for Confederate force (incomplete): 11 killed, 12 wounded

Aftermath

On July 3, Patterson occupied Martinsburg, but made no further aggressive moves until July 15, when he marched to Bunker Hill. Instead of moving on

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, however, Patterson turned east to Charles Town and then withdrew to

Harpers Ferry Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 269 at the 2020 United States census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac River, Potomac and Shenandoah River, Shenandoah Rivers in the ...

. Patterson's retrograde movement took pressure off Confederate forces in the

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the east ...

and allowed Brig. Gen.

's Army of the Shenandoah to march to support Brig. Gen.

P.G.T. Beauregard Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard (May 28, 1818 – February 20, 1893) was an American military officer known as being the Confederate general who started the American Civil War at the battle of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Today, he is comm ...

Manassas Junction Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Prince William County, although the two are separate jurisdi ...

. Following the stunning Union defeat at the

First Battle of Bull Run The First Battle of Bull Run, called the Battle of First Manassas
. by Confederate States ...

on July 21, the Union commander at Hoke's Run, Robert Patterson, was assigned popular blame without participating while the Confederate commander at Hoke's Run was assigned glory for his actions during the first major battle of the war.

Notes

References

CWSAC Report Update and Resurvey: Individual Battlefield Profiles
* Gimbel, Gary. "The End of Innocence: The Battle of Falling Waters", in ''Blue & Gray'', Volume XXII, issue 4 (Fall 2005). ISSN 0741-2207.

External links

Battle of Falling Waters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoke's Run, Battle Of 1861 in the American Civil War 1861 in Virginia Manassas campaign Battles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War Union victories of the American Civil War Berkeley County, West Virginia, in the American Civil War Battles of the American Civil War in West Virginia July 1861