Harpers Ferry Main • Tour the Battlefield > Bolivar Heights
The Confederate Victory wayside marker is on the east side of the Union Battle Line Loop about 200 yards south of the trailhead on Bolivar Heights in Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. It is across the trail from the A Union Predicament wayside marker. A copy of the marker is also at the Visitor Center.
Looking north along the east side of the Union Battle Line Loop Trail on Bolivar Heights. The Confederate Victory and A Union Predicament wayside markers can be seen in the middle of the photo beyond the cannon.
From the marker:
Confederate Victory
“The Rebels were all around us and our only refuge was the open canopy of heaven.”
Sgt. Charles E. Smith
32nd Ohio Infantry
September 14, 1862
Thousands of Federal soldiers huddled in ravines on Bolivar Heights to escape the Confederate shells of September 14, 1862. By evening, the Federals were demoralized. Pvt. Louis B. Hull of the 60th Ohio Infantry wrote in his diary at sunset: “All seem to think that we will have to surrender or be cut to pieces.”
By 8:00 a.m. on September 15, the situation had worsened for the surrounded and outnumbered Federals. During the night, Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill’s division of 3,000 Confederates had turned the Federal left flank on the south end of Bolivar Heights. With Union artillery ammunition exhausted, the situation appeared hopeless.
About 9:00 a.m., Col. Dixon S. Miles, Union commander, decided to surrender his forces. Moments later, a Confederate shell fragment wounded the Colonel. He died the next day, leaving many unanswered questions about the Federal disaster at Harpers Ferry.
An unconditional surrender accepted by Stonewall Jackson from Union Brig. Gen. Julius White on School House Ridge finished the siege. The Confederates captured 73 cannon, 13,000 small arms, 200 wagons and 12,500 prisoners – the largest surrender of U.S. forces until Bataan during World War II.
From the caption below the drawing on the right:
Jackson reviewed the captured Federal garrison on Bolivar Heights on the afternoon of September 15. On Union soldier recalled: “There we were on the hill, our arms stacked before us, and waiting. Soon the celebrated ‘Stonewall’ Jackson rode along our lines with his staff. He rode a cream colored horse and was plainly dressed in … a grey dingy suit.”Another soldier shouted, “Boys, he’s not much for looks, but if we’d had him we wouldn’t have been caught in this trap!”
Location of The Confederate Victory wayside marker
The marker is on the east side of the Union Battle Line Loop about 200 yards south of the trailhead on Bolivar Heights in Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. The trailhead is west of Harpers Ferry at the intersection of Whitman Avenue and Prospect Avenue. (39°19’20.5″N 77°45’42.1″W)