The Battle of Manassas Gap, July 23, 1863: Meade's Missed Chance to Cut Off Lee

After the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's battered but resilient army retreated across the Potomac into Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Union General George G. Meade's army crossed farther east and marched south along the east side of the Blue Ridge. In late July 1863, Meade saw a chance to cut off Lee's retreat near Front Royal — leading to the Battle of Manassas Gap, also called Wapping Heights, on July 23.

The Confederates hold the gap

As Lee's depleted army marched south through Front Royal into the Luray Valley, Confederate forces guarded the Blue Ridge gaps to keep Meade away. On July 23, on Meade's orders, General William H. French — new commander of the 3rd Corps, replacing the badly wounded General Daniel Sickles — sent his 2nd Division, now under General Henry Prince, into Manassas Gap. In the lead was the Excelsior Brigade of New Yorkers, commanded by General Francis B. Spinola.

Holding the gap was Colonel E. J. Walker's Georgia brigade, formerly General Ambrose Wright's. Around 9 a.m., as the New Yorkers advanced, Walker placed his men on the high ground on both sides of the gap, through which ran the Manassas Gap Railroad.

Delay

Finding the gap defended, French didn't press. Captain C. H. Andrews of the 3rd Georgia later wrote that the enemy appeared in force in the valley about 11 a.m. — but French waited several hours before testing the line, letting more of Lee's army slip south. Andrews called for help that didn't arrive in time, and after hard fighting the Union advance pushed back the left and center of his line.

By 4 p.m., with the gap in Union hands, French hesitated again, nearly an hour, before ordering Spinola forward.

The charge

Spinola rode in front of his men, shouting "Now boys of the Excelsior Brigade, give them hell!" The New Yorkers charged with a yell and swarmed over the Confederate earthworks with the bayonet. Andrews recalled that his men resisted to the limit, until their ammunition ran out and they had to take cartridges from the killed and wounded.

Pursuing the Georgians, Spinola's men hit a second line, held by General Edward O'Neal's Alabamians of General Robert Rodes's division. There Spinola was wounded, and the attack faltered. The 72nd New York's report said the first and second heights were carried under severe fire, and the exhausted men were ordered to hold.

The Confederates slip away

Prince brought up the rest of his division, but darkness ended the fighting. The Union troops readied to attack again in the morning — and found no one there. After dark, on General Ewell's orders, the Confederates marched through Front Royal, crossed the Shenandoah River, pulled up their pontoon bridges, and continued into the Luray Valley as planned.

A lost opportunity

Meade's attempt failed, mainly because of the tentativeness of Generals French and Prince. Confederate casualties were about 170; Union losses probably about 130. On July 24, Meade withdrew from Manassas Gap and resumed his march south to the Rappahannock. Lee continued south through the Luray Valley, then east through several Blue Ridge gaps — and the war went on for nearly two more years.

Sources

Based on "Battle of Manassas Gap (Wapping Heights)," National Park Service, Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park, quoting Captain C. H. Andrews (3rd Georgia), Private James Dean and an officer of the 72nd New York, and the 72nd New York's report; a work of the United States government in the public domain.