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The Fight at Monterey Pass (or Gap)〔Huntington, pp. 131-33; Wittenberg et al., 49-74; Sears, pp. 480-81; Brown, pp. 128-36, 184; Coddington, p. 548; Gottfried, pp. 278-81; Longacre, pp. 249-50. A historical marker on East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg Battlefield uses the term "Fight" for the "Monterey Gap" action, Longacre uses "skirmish". All of the other references use the name "Monterey Pass".〕 was an American Civil War military engagement beginning the evening of July 4, 1863, during the Retreat from Gettysburg. A Confederate wagon train of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, withdrew after the Battle of Gettysburg, and Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. H. Judson Kilpatrick attacked the retreating Confederate column. After a lengthy delay in which a small detachment of Maryland cavalrymen delayed Kilpatrick's division, the Union cavalrymen captured numerous Confederate prisoners and destroyed hundreds of wagons. ==Background== General Robert E. Lee ordered his Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to begin withdrawing from Gettysburg following his army's defeat on July 3, 1863. When Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac did not counterattack by the evening of July 4, Lee realized that he could accomplish nothing more in his Gettysburg Campaign and that he had to return his battered army to Virginia. His ability to supply his army by living off the Pennsylvania countryside was now significantly reduced and the Union could easily bring up additional reinforcements as time passed, whereas he could not. Prior to the movement of the infantry and artillery, however, Lee was concerned with removing his long train of wagons, supplies, and wounded men over South Mountain and into the Cumberland Valley. He sent the majority of the wagons and ambulances under the direction of Brig. Gen. John D. Imboden over the Chambersburg Pike, which passed through Cashtown in the direction of Chambersburg and Hagerstown, Maryland.〔Coddington, pp. 536-38; Wittenberg et al., pp. 1-6.〕 While Imboden's wagons moved northwest, Lee designated a shorter route for his three corps: southwest through Fairfield and over Monterey Pass to Hagerstown. After dark on July 4, Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's Third Corps headed out onto the Fairfield Road, followed by Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's First Corps and Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps. Lee accompanied Hill at the head of the column. Departing in the dark, Lee had the advantage of getting several hours head start and the route from the west side of the battlefield to Williamsport was about half as long as the ones available to the Army of the Potomac.〔Coddington, pp. 537-39; Gottfried, pp. 278-80; Wittenberg et al., pp. 5, 39.〕 However, the first traffic on the Fairfield Road had begun on the evening of July 3, when Ewell, concerned about the logistical challenges of the impending retreat, sent his corps trains and herds of captured cattle ahead of his main body. He divided his wagons into three columns. The first used the Cashtown Gap, the second the Fairfield Gap, and the third the Monterey Pass. The wagons headed for Monterey Pass followed the route of Maj. Gen. George Pickett's division, which was moving to the rear as escorts for the Union prisoners of war from the battle.〔Wittenberg et al., pp. 49-50.〕 Early on July 4 Meade sent his cavalry to strike the enemy's rear and lines of communication so as to "harass and annoy him as much as possible in his retreat." Eight cavalry brigades took to the field. Col. J. Irvin Gregg's brigade moved toward Cashtown via Hunterstown and the Mummasburg Road, but all of the others moved south of Gettysburg. Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick's cavalry division joined up with the brigade of Col. Pennock Huey at Emmitsburg, Maryland, and they were ordered to locate and destroy "a heavy train of wagons" that had been spotted by a Union signal station. Assuming that Ewell's corps wagon train was actually the main supply trains for Lee's army, Kilpatrick moved out aggressively at 10 a.m. on July 4, proceeding west on the Waynesboro-Emmitsburg Turnpike toward the village of Fountain Dale (just east of present-day Blue Ridge Summit on Pennsylvania Route 16) and Monterey Pass.〔Brown, pp. 124, 130; Wittenberg et al., pp. 52-54; Gottfried, p. 278; Coddington, p. 543.〕 Confederate cavalry commander Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart understood the importance of securing the mountain passes and he assigned the primary responsibility to the cavalry brigades of Brig. Gens. Beverly H. Robertson and William E. "Grumble" Jones. Recognizing the vulnerability of Ewell's immense wagon train in the narrow Monterey Pass, Jones asked permission from Stuart to use his entire brigade to defend it. Stuart allowed the 6th and 7th Virginia Cavalry regiments and a battery of horse artillery under Capt. Roger Preston Chew to be assigned. The 7th Virginia was soon recalled, replaced by the 4th North Carolina Cavalry of Robertson's Brigade.〔Wittenberg et al., pp. 50-52; Brown, p. 127.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fight at Monterey Pass」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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