Middleburg

From June 17 through June 19, 1863, fighting broke out at Middleburg in Loudoun County, Virginia, forming one episode within the larger Gettysburg campaign of the Civil War.

Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart worked to shield Lee's invasion path while clashing repeatedly with Union horsemen commanded by Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton. The opening day's action saw Col. Alfred N. Duffié's 1st Rhode Island Cavalry Regiment caught alone and struck by two Confederate brigades, those of Thomas T. Munford and Beverly Robertson. This assault shattered the Rhode Island unit, which suffered roughly 250 men killed, wounded, or captured. Two days later, on June 19, the brigade of J. Irvin Gregg pushed forward and forced Stuart's horsemen back a full mile past the town itself. As additional troops arrived on both sides, the fighting persisted through a mix of mounted charges and dismounted skirmish lines. Though pressure gradually pried Stuart from his initial ground, he withdrew only as far as a second ridge, from which his men continued to guard the routes leading toward the gap in the Blue Ridge.

Skirmish of June 17

Setting up his command post at Middleburg, Stuart dispersed his brigades across the Loudoun Valley to keep watch for enemy movement. That morning, the French-born Col. Alfred N. Duffié led 280 troopers of the 1st Rhode Island Cavalry away from the Army of the Potomac's encampment near Centreville, moving west under Pleasonton's instructions. His orders called for making camp at Middleburg by evening, then pushing on the following day toward Noland's Ferry, with his march extending as far west as Snickersville. By 9:30 in the morning Duffié had crossed the Bull Run Mountains through Thoroughfare Gap, brushing aside pickets belonging to John R. Chambliss's brigade without much trouble. So certain were Confederate officers that no small Union regiment would venture this deep into their territory unescorted that Chambliss held back from a forceful assault, suspecting instead that this column merely led a much larger force. Left alone on this exposed march, Duffié swung north around 11:00 a.m. and pressed toward Middleburg as instructed.

He reached the town near 4:00 in the afternoon, scattering the handful of Confederate pickets stationed there and interrupting Stuart's evening spent in the company of local women. Stuart and his staff hastily withdrew to Rector's Crossroads, where his nearest brigade was positioned, and he immediately directed Beverly Robertson to march on Middleburg and crush the Federal horsemen there. Meanwhile Duffié threw up barricades in the streets, positioned half his men dismounted behind stone walls, and dispatched a request for reinforcement to Judson Kilpatrick's brigade stationed near Aldie. When Stuart's forces struck at 7:00 that evening, the badly outnumbered Rhode Islanders were overwhelmed and scattered. The next morning brought further disaster, as Chambliss severed their line of retreat and captured many of the fleeing troopers. Only 4 officers and 27 men made it back to Centreville with the Parisian colonel, though some stragglers later found their way back to what remained of the unit. Duffié's career with the Army of the Potomac ended there, though he continued to lead cavalry in other Union commands afterward. Total Union losses that day, July 17, came to 250.

Fight on June 19

Following the clash at Aldie, Stuart held back defensively, intent on frustrating any Federal push through the gaps of the Blue Ridge. Pleasonton, for his part, cautiously probed toward Ashby's and Snicker's Gaps. On June 18, Confederate pickets near Middleburg were encountered by David McM. Gregg's men, prompting Stuart to retreat to a dominant ridge just west of the town. Worried this might be a trap, Pleasonton chose caution and had Gregg pull back toward Aldie.

The following day brought renewed pressure on Middleburg from Gregg, who dispatched the brigade led by his cousin, Col. J. Irvin Gregg, against the Confederates there. Meanwhile John Buford's division moved north in the direction of Pot House, also called New Lisbon. Through a flanking maneuver, Buford's troopers eventually took control of the terrain near Pot House, driving back two regiments belonging to William "Grumble" Jones's brigade in what amounted to a light skirmish.

Clearing Middleburg of its reinforced picket line proved no easy task, and once accomplished, Colonel Gregg found himself so struck by the strength of the Confederate position on the high ground past the town that he called for reinforcements before pressing forward. Kilpatrick answered by sending two regiments to stretch the Union line further, allowing Gregg to push ahead deliberately. Heat weighed heavily on the struggle, with temperatures near 98 degrees draining both soldiers and mounts through the afternoon hours. Repeated Federal assaults eventually compelled Stuart's horse artillery to pull out, with his cavalry following soon after. Confederate attempts to counterattack and reclaim the ridge came to nothing despite several tries.

As evening approached, Buford recalled the U.S. Reserve Brigade from Pot House, and troopers of the 2nd and 6th U.S. Cavalry captured a fiercely defended hill just south of the small settlement of Millville right as night fell. This forced