Hancock

Fighting erupted near Hancock, Maryland on January 5 and 6, 1862, as part of the Confederate Romney Expedition during the American Civil War. On January 1, Major General Stonewall Jackson, leading his own Valley District along with Brigadier General William W. Loring's command, the Confederate Army of the Northwest, set out against Union Army positions in the Shenandoah Valley region. A brief skirmish took place near Bath, Virginia, before Jackson's troops arrived in the area around Hancock late on January 4, where they opened fire on the town with artillery for a short time. When Confederate officers demanded surrender on January 5, Union Brigadier General Frederick W. Lander turned them down, and artillery duels continued between the opposing forces through that day and into the next. A bridge belonging to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was set ablaze by Confederate forces on January 5, though they pulled back from the area by January 7. Jackson subsequently turned his attention toward Romney, Virginia, taking control of it on January 15 once Union troops had already pulled out. By January 30, the Confederate Secretary of War directed that Romney be given up, a decision that followed complaints from Loring regarding Jackson's directives.

Background

As 1861 drew to a close, with the nation already a year into civil conflict, Confederate Major General Stonewall Jackson found himself charged with holding the Shenandoah Valley on behalf of the Confederacy. His command, combined with the Army of the Northwest under Brigadier General William W. Loring, gave him roughly 7,500 volunteers, alongside about 2,200 militia and something near 660 horsemen. Jackson judged these numbers too thin to keep the valley secure from Union forces. He appealed by letter to General Joseph E. Johnston and was granted authority to strike the Union garrison at Romney before it could be strengthened further. Beyond Romney, he also hoped to seize Bath and Hancock, Maryland, though it remains unclear whether Johnston was ever informed of this additional objective.

The campaign got underway at six o'clock on the morning of January 1, 1862, when the Stonewall Brigade set off first, with Loring's troops following behind. Several units, among them the militia contingent and the Rockbridge Artillery, lagged behind the planned pace, and Jackson's supply train did not begin moving until four in the afternoon. Bitter cold plagued the march, and friction grew between Jackson and Loring, who took strong exception to how the operation was being run. By January 3, Confederate forces had arrived at Bath and clashed briefly with Union defenders outside town, yet the assault failed to take it. The following day brought a short engagement after which Union soldiers pulled out of Bath entirely, fleeing over Sir Johns Run toward Hancock.

Once Jackson's advance units drew near Hancock, he directed the Rockbridge Artillery to open fire on the town despite its civilian population, a retaliatory move for earlier Union shelling of Shepherdstown in 1861. The bombardment commenced around six in the evening and lasted until roughly eleven that night, inflicting damage on several structures but producing no deaths or injuries. That same evening, Union Brigadier General Frederick W. Lander reached Hancock and assumed command, already forming plans to strike back forcefully against the Confederates the next day.

Aftermath and preservation

Brutal cold and horses that had never been properly shod before the campaign began made the withdrawal of Confederate troops especially punishing. On the night of January 7 into January 8, after stopping at Unger's Store, Virginia, Jackson received word that troops under Brigadier General Benjamin F. Kelley, part of Union forces, had overrun a Confederate outpost at Blue's Gap in a move meant to support Lander. Though he soon learned the Union troops had pulled back from Blue's Gap following that clash, Jackson suspected the Union presence at Romney might still endanger Winchester, Virginia, and so chose to push toward Romney instead. Miserable weather trapped his men at Unger's Store until January 13, after which they finally marched on Romney, a town the Union garrison abandoned on January 15. From there Jackson took the Stonewall Brigade to Winchester, leaving Loring behind to hold Romney on his own. Loring, unhappy with how Jackson had run the operation and resentful at being stranded far from him, took his grievances to Confederate authorities, and on January 30 Secretary of War Judah P. Benjamin ordered the town given up entirely. Angered by this reversal, Jackson tendered his resignation, though Virginia's governor, John Letcher, persuaded him to withdraw it. Loring, meanwhile, was promoted and sent elsewhere, away from the region entirely.

Today a section of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park sits along the Potomac near Hancock, marked by several signs recalling the fighting there. From this spot visitors can look out toward the town of Hancock itself and the ground once held by Confederate artillery. In early January 2012, from the 5th through the 7th, Hancock hosted events marking the anniversary of the battle. US Route 522 now cuts through the old battlefield, yet much of its historic character survives, including a pair of churches that still bear damage from the engagement. No portion of the site currently appears on the National Register of Historic Places, though a 2010 survey conducted by the American Battlefield Protection Program found that roughly 415.16 acres (168.01 ha) could qualify for such recognition. Around 50 acres (20 ha) of the battlefield already fall under protective ownership, held in part by the National Park Service and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.