Harpers Ferry Main • Tour the Battlefield • Timeline
| 1859 | |
| October 16-18 |
John Brown’s RaidThe raiders took hostages and halted rail traffic through the town. Local militia surrounded them in the Fire Engine House (“Brown’s Fort”) but they continued to resist until United States Marines commanded by Colonel Robert E. Lee and Lieutenant J.E.B. Stuart attacked the fort, freed the hostages and killed or captured all the raiders. |
| December 16 | John Brown and four other raiders were hung in nearby Charles Town. |
| 1861 | |
| April 17 |
Burning of the ArsenalVirginia passed the Ordnance of Secession. Lieutenant Roger Jones, United States Army, commanded 50 U.S. regulars and 15 volunteers. Faced with an attack by 360 Virginia militia from Charles Town, he set fire to the Armory and Arsenal buildings and retreated across the Potomac. |
| April 28 | Colonel Thomas J. Jackson took command at Harpers Ferry, which had become a gathering point for Virginia militia. |
| May-June | All weapons, tools and machinery were removed from the Armory. Tools and Machinery were sent to Richmond, Virginia or Fayetteville, North Carolina. |
| June 14 |
The town is evacuatedThe Baltimore & Ohio Railroad bridge over the Potomac and the remaining Armory buildings were burned before Confederates evacuated the town. The Engine House (“John Brown’s Fort”) survived the destruction. |
| June 28 | Confederates burn the Shenandoah River Bridge and Hall’s Rifle Works. |
| July 21 | Federal troops occupy Harpers Ferry. |
| August 17 | Federal troops withdraw across the river to Maryland. Harpers Ferry was unoccupied by either side until February. |
| October 16 |
Battle of Bolivar HeightsFive hundred Confederate cavalrymen under Colonel Turner Ashby faced six hundred Federal troops under Colonel John Geary, although Geary send 500 men back across the river before the fighting started. The Confederates withdrew after several hours of conflict. Ashby reported that he lost 1 dead and 9 wounded, Geary lost 4 dead, 7 wounded and 2 captured. |
| 1862 | |
| February 7 | Downtown business were burned in retaliation for the sniper death of a Federal scout. |
| February 25 | Federal troops occupied the town to protect communications along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and to guard against Confederate attacks from the Shenandoah Valley. |
| March 29 | Federal Colonel Dixon S. Miles took command of the Railroad Brigade with his headquarters at Harpers Ferry. |
| May | Federal troops constructed a Naval Battery on Maryland Heights overlooking Harpers Ferry. |
| May 29-30 | Major General Jackson’s Confederate troops threaten Camp Hill from the direction of Bolivar Heights before withdrawing. Federal Brigadier Rufus Saxton was awarded the Medal of Honor for his defense of Harpers Ferry. |
| September 4 | Confederate General Robert E. Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia into Maryland, cutting rail and telegraphic communication between Harpers Ferry and the east. |
September 12-15 |
Battle of Harpers Ferry |
| September 13 | The Confederate Brigades of Barksdale and Kershaw of McLaws’ Division drove Federal troops from their defenses on Maryland Heights. At the same time Major General Thomas Jackson’s three divisions cut off Harpers Ferry to the west and south, and Brigadier General john Walker seized the undefended Loudon Heights to the southeast. Harpers Ferry was totally surrounded by Confederate forces on high ground. |
| September 14 | Jackson bombarded Harpers Ferry from all sides with over 50 pieces of artillery. The Federal garrison replied without success, using up most of their long range ammunition in the process.
Federal Colonel Benjamin Davis led the 1,500 cavalry of the Federal garrison in a daring escape, crossing th Potomac and passing under the noses of the Confederate forces on Maryland Heights. After passing through Sharpsburg they captured Longstreet’s reserve ammunition train before reaching safety at Chambersbur, Pennsylvania. |
| September 15 | The Confederate bombardment resumed as a prelude to a Confederate attack into the town from the south. But before the attack could be launched the Federal garrison surrendered. Colonel Miles was mortally wounded by an artillery shell at the very end of the bombardment. The Confederates took over 12,500 Federal prisoners – the largest surrender of U.s. troops until the loss of the Phillippines in World War II.
Jackson left A.P. Hill’s Division behind to process the parole of the Federal troops and to collect supplies and arms, and took the rest of his troops to jin Lee’s army assembling at Sharpsburg. |
| September 17 | A.P. Hill led his division on a forced march to join Lee, who was fighting a desperate defensive battle at Sharpsburg. |
| September 18 | The last Confederate troops leave Harpers Ferry. |
| September 20 | Federal troops reoccupy Harpers Ferry. |
| October 1-2 | President Lincoln reviewed Federal troops on Bolivar and Maryland Heights. |
| 1863 | |
| April-May | Additional forifications were added around Harpers Ferry. |
| June 17 | As General Lee advances north from the Shenandoah Valley the Federal garrison evacuated Harpers Ferry for Maryland Heights. |
| June 20 | West Virginia was admitted to the Union, along with Harpers Ferry. |
| June 23 | The Federal garrison on Maryland Heights report Confederate troop movements heading toward Pennsylvania. |
| June 30 | The Federal garrison on Maryland Heights withdrew toward Frederick with 4 trainloads of supplies. |
| July 14 | The Federals reoccupied Harpers Ferry after Lee retreated from Gettysburg. |
| 1864 | |
| January 10 | Colonel John S. Mosby’s Partisan Rangers unsuccessfully attacked a Federal outpost of Major Henry Cole’s Maryland Cavalry on Loudoun Heights, |
| July 4 | The Federal garrison in Harpers Ferry withdrew to Maryland Heights when Confederate forces under Jubal Early advanced from the Shenandoah Valley. |
| July 5-7 | Early’s men unsuccessfully tried to force the Federal garrison from Maryland Heights. They continued on to Washington after a three day delay. |
| August 6 | Federal Major General Philip Sheridan arrived in Harpers Ferry to take command of the Army of the Valley, with the mission of destroying Confederate resistance in the Shenandoah Valley. Harpers Ferry became the major supply railhead for the campaign. |
| October 19 | With the Federal victory at Cedar Creek major Confederate operations in the Shenandoah Valley ceased. Harpers Ferry continued to be a heavily garrisoned supply center but no further conflicts took place around the town. |
| 1944 | Harpers Ferry National Monument was created. |
| 1963 | Harpers Ferry National Historical Park was created. |