Battle Of Chantilly: 1862 battle of the American Civil War

Battle of Chantilly Part of the American Civil War General Kearny's gallant charge Date September 1, 1862 Location Fairfax County, Virginia Result Inconclusive (Union tactical victory) Belligerents United States (Union) CSA (Confederacy) Commanders and leaders Jesse L. Reno Philip Kearny Isaac Stevens Stonewall Jackson Strength IX Corps Left Wing, Army of Northern Virginia Casualties and losses 1,000 500–600

It was the last battle of the Northern Virginia Campaign during the American Civil War. The battle had two names: the Union side called it the "Battle of Chantilly" and the Confederates called it the "Battle of Ox Hill".

Confederate General Robert E. Lee had just won the Second Battle of Bull Run on August 29. The Union Army, commanded by John Pope, started retreating north towards Washington, D.C. Lee wanted to destroy Pope's army. He sent Thomas J. Jackson's corps to march around Pope's army in order to capture the road to Washington. If the Confederates captured the road, Pope would have been surrounded and be forced to surrender.

On September 1, Pope found out where Jackson was. He sent Jesse L. Reno with two divisions to attack Jackson. Jackson had stopped on Ox Hill, which was near the Chantilly Plantation. He decided to stop there because he found Pope's army was farther north than he expected.

The first Union commander to arrive at Ox Hill was Isaac Stevens. He decided to attack Jackson's men about 5 p.m. At the same time, a thunderstorm broke out and made some of the solders's ammunition too wet to fire. Many men had to fight with bayonets. Stevens's division made part of the Confederate army retreat. But the Confederates counterattacked and forced Steven's division retreat. During the attack, Stevens was killed.

After Stevens' s attack failed, Philip Kearny's division arrived. Kearny tried to attack the Confederates but he was killed too. After sunset, the Union soldiers retreated from the battlefield.

The Union army lost about 1,000 casaulties in the battle. The Confederates lost about 500 to 600 casualties. Pope continued retreating to Washington on September 2.

• Hennessy, John J. Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. ISBN 0-671-79368-3.
• Taylor, Paul. He Hath Loosed the Fateful Lightening: The Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly) September 1, 1862. Shippensburg, Pennsylvania: White Mane Books, 2003. ISBN 1-57249-329-1.

 

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