M.A. Kleen

Following the Battle of Brandy Station, Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart fanned his cavalry corps out across the Loudoun Valley southwest of Leesburg, Virginia to shield the Army of Northern Virginia’s movements. Union cavalry commander Brig. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton ordered a division under Brig. Gen. David M. Gregg to penetrate J.E.B. Stuart’s screen and find Lee’s army. On the afternoon of June 17, Brig. Gen. H. Judson Kilpatrick’s brigade scattered two regiments of Virginia cavalry commanded by Col. Thomas T. Munford just west of Aldie, Virginia, but the Confederates regrouped after reinforcements arrived. The battle centered on control over the Snickersville Turnpike and Ashby’s Gap Turnpike, which diverged west of Aldie. Fighting became so fierce along the Snickersville Turnpike that the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry took 50 percent casualties. Col. Calvin S. Douty of the 1st Maine Cavalry was killed. Though the Confederates seemed to have the upper hand, Munford withdrew his brigade just before nightfall. Union forces suffered 50 killed, 131 wounded, and 124 missing. Confederate casualties were considerably lighter, with 9 killed, 47 wounded, and 63 missing.