M.A. Kleen

By July 8, 1863, the Union Army of the Potomac was approaching Robert E. Lee’s army in Williamsport, Maryland from Frederick. Brig. Gens. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick and John Buford were licking their wounds in Boonsboro after heavy skirmishing in nearby Hagerstown and Williamsport. Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart knew if he was going to clear Union cavalry from Boonsboro, he better act quickly before their reinforcements arrived. The attack bogged down, however, as both sides were forced to dismount and fight like infantry due to muddy and rain-soaked terrain. The resulting day-long skirmish along the Old National Pike was the largest cavalry fight in Maryland during the Gettysburg Campaign, but it was, in the words of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Approaching darkness and Union reinforcements convinced Stuart to break off his attack. If little else, he bought Lee another day to consolidate his forces at Williamsport. Five Union troopers were killed, 33 wounded, and five missing to the Confederates’ 26 killed, 132 wounded, and 13 missing.