Desperate Escape

After Union General Wallace ordered the covered bridge burned, the railroad bridge became the only escape route for Lieutenant Davis and his men, who were separated from the rest of the Union forces by the river. His troops fought bravely through the morning and afternoon, but by 4:00 p.m. the situation became critical as Confederates attacked with great force. Davis wrote, "It seemed we should be swept into the river." Overwhelmed, he ordered a retreat across the railroad bridge. Some of his men were shot before reaching it, some fell through the bridge ties, but most escaped with Davis unharmed. Davis later said, "I knew nothing of the situation, or plan of battle, except as apparent to the eye...I received no orders from any source after the first gun was fired in the morning." On May 27, 1892, George E. Davis of the 10th Vermont Infantry received the Medal of Honor for holding "two bridges against repeated assaults of superior numbers... delaying Early's advance on Washington."

Maryland · United States