{"id":7058663,"date":"2026-09-10T16:36:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T16:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/american-history\/the-day-that-philadelphia-helped-to-save-washington-d-c\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T16:36:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T16:36:48","slug":"the-day-that-philadelphia-helped-to-save-washington-d-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7058663","title":{"rendered":"The Day That Philadelphia Helped To Save Washington D.C."},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Sergeant William J.\u00a0Wray. Source: Public domain, Another Group of Heroes, available <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

During the\u00a0summer<\/a>\u00a0of 1864 with both\u00a0Richmond<\/a>\u00a0and Petersburg under siege, both Grant Union Army and Robert E. Lee\u2019s Army if Northern Virginia were\u00a0skirmishing<\/a>\u00a0around Maryland. One of Lee\u2019s commanders who has been present at Gettysburg (General Jubal Early) began to move north directly\u00a0threatening<\/a>\u00a0Washington DC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He engaged Union forces in a two-day battle at\u00a0Monocacy\u00a0Creek\u200a\u2014\u200awhere Federal Forces under Major General Lew Wallace were defeated and ultimately retreated back towards\u00a0Baltimore<\/a>\u200a\u2014\u200aleaving the route to the American Capital<\/a>\u00a0open.<\/p>\n

Among the approximately seventy earthen\u00a0forts<\/a>\u00a0helping to depend Washington DC in 1864 were Fort Derussy, Fort Reno, and Fort Stephens. But the Pennsylvania 6th Corps who also contributed to a Union victory at\u00a0Gettysburg<\/a>\u00a0would\u00a0reinforce<\/a> the capital. The Confederate Army would\u00a0begin<\/a>\u00a0their attack at Fort Stephens\u200a\u2014\u200aless than five\u00a0miles<\/a>\u00a0from the White House.<\/p>\n

President Abraham Lincoln was used to being in dangerous\u00a0situations. In 1861\u200a\u2014\u200ahe was moved to Washington for the\u00a0inauguration<\/a>\u00a0in secret by train. Just a year earlier, he was the target amid a shot that rang out while he\u00a0was<\/a>\u00a0riding on a\u00a0regular\u00a0trip to the soldier\u2019s\u00a0home<\/a>. As the Confederate Army approached Washington\u200a\u2014\u200aLincoln and his family were evacuated from their cottage\u00a0retreat<\/a>. One day later\u200a\u2014\u200a both he and Mary Todd Lincoln rode to Fort Stephens to observe the\u00a0fighting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Climbing onto the parapets\u200a\u2014\u200aPresident Lincoln and his stove-top hat came in range of\u00a0Confederate<\/a>\u00a0Sharpshooters. A\u00a0surgeon<\/a>\u00a0behind him was struck in the shoulder. According to\u00a0legend<\/a>\u200a\u2014\u200aa young Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. who would later become an\u00a0Associate<\/a>\u00a0Supreme Court Judge under the Roosevelt Administration\u200a\u2014\u200ascreamed toward President Lincoln to take cover. Moments later\u200a\u2014\u200aSecretary of War Edwin\u00a0Stanton<\/a>\u00a0quickly ushered Lincoln away to safety.<\/p>\n

The next day\u200a\u2014\u200aEarly withdrew after Fort Stephens was reinforced by more Federal forces. Union forces\u00a0subsequently<\/a>cleared the peach orchard in front of Fort Stephens of Confederate\u00a0sharpshooters<\/a>\u00a0and artillery. Among the defenders from\u00a0Philadelphia<\/a>\u00a0were the 98th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry which was also at Gettysburg. Philadelphian Sergeant William J.\u00a0Wray<\/a>\u00a0of K Company even earned the\u00a0Medal<\/a>\u00a0of Honor for his role in rallying troops.<\/p>\n

Several notable quotes came from the engagement including a Federal soldier who was heard to have\u00a0said, \u201cJubal Early should have attacked earlier in the morning, but Early was late.\u201d General Early also made the famous remark, \u201cWe didn\u2019t take Washington, but we\u00a0scared<\/a>\u00a0Abe Lincoln like Hell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Enjoyed the piece?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Join thousands of history readers getting occasional updates on new blog posts, books, and video releases \u2014 plus a free history book<\/strong> to get you started.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n

Michael Thomas Leibrandt lives and works in the Philadelphia Suburbs.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sergeant William J.\u00a0Wray. Source: Public domain, Another Group of Heroes, available here. During the\u00a0summer\u00a0of 1864 with both\u00a0Richmond\u00a0and Petersburg under siege, both Grant Union Army and Robert E. Lee\u2019s Army if Northern Virginia were\u00a0skirmishing\u00a0around Maryland. One of Lee\u2019s commanders who has been present at Gettysburg (General Jubal Early) began to move north directly\u00a0threatening\u00a0Washington DC.\u00a0 He engaged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7058664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12032],"tags":[27532,467,17678,16311,7182,14139],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7058663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-history","tag-d-c","tag-day","tag-helped","tag-philadelphia","tag-save","tag-washington"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Day That Philadelphia Helped To Save Washington D.C. - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7058663\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Day That Philadelphia Helped To Save Washington D.C. - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sergeant William J.\u00a0Wray. Source: Public domain, Another Group of Heroes, available here. During the\u00a0summer\u00a0of 1864 with both\u00a0Richmond\u00a0and Petersburg under siege, both Grant Union Army and Robert E. Lee\u2019s Army if Northern Virginia were\u00a0skirmishing\u00a0around Maryland. 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