BATTLE SUMMARY
The Battle of Monocacy was also known as the Battle of Monocacy Junction. The battle was part of Early's Raid through the Shenandoah Valley and into Maryland, attempting to divert Union forces away from Gen. Robert E. Lee's army under siege at Petersburg, Virginia. Reacting to Early's raid, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant dispatched a 5,000-man division under Brig. Gen. James B. Ricketts on July 6, and a few days later sent a full corps under Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wright. Until those troops arrived, however, the only Union army between Early and Washington, D.C. was Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace's men. At the time, Wallace was headquartered at Baltimore. Most of his men had never seen any combat.