Confederate Victory

On September 14, 1862, thousands of Federal soldiers huddled in ravines on Bolivar Heights to escape Confederate shelling, and by evening they were demoralized and expecting surrender or destruction. By 8:00 a.m. on September 15, the situation had worsened as Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill's division of 3,000 Confederates had turned the Federal left flank on the south end of Bolivar Heights during the night, while Union artillery ammunition was exhausted. About 9:00 a.m., Union commander Col. Dixon S. Miles decided to surrender his forces, but moments later a Confederate shell fragment wounded him, and he died the next day. Stonewall Jackson accepted an unconditional surrender from Union Brig. Gen. Julius White on School House Ridge, ending the siege of Harpers Ferry. The Confederates captured 73 cannon, 13,000 small arms, 200 wagons, and 12,500 prisoners, the largest surrender of U.S. forces until Bataan during World War II. That afternoon Jackson reviewed the captured Federal garrison on Bolivar Heights, where Union soldiers watched him ride along their lines and one remarked that if they had had him, they would not have been caught in the trap.

West Virginia · United States