This image is the cover for the book The Battle of Ball's Bluff, Civil War Series

The Battle of Ball's Bluff, Civil War Series

What began as a simple scouting mission evolved into a full-scale battle when a regiment of Union soldiers unexpectedly encountered a detachment of Confederate cavalry.


Three months after the Civil War's first important battle at Manassas in 1861, Union and Confederate armies met again near the sleepy town of Leesburg. The Confederates pushed forward and scattered the Union line. Soldiers drowned trying to escape back to Union lines on the other side of the Potomac River. A congressional investigation of the battle had long-lasting effects on the war's political and military administration. Bill Howard narrates the history of the battle as well as its thorny aftermath.

Bill Howard

Bill Howard is a New York-based author and historian who has published numerous books and articles about military and social history. He graduated from Manhattanville College (BA, 1983) with a degree in American studies and was a Herbert H. Lehman Fellow at the University at Albany Graduate School of Public Affairs (MA, 1984). While serving in state government, Howard spearheaded efforts to establish a New York State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs, New York, and served as a board member of the NYS Archives Partnership Trust.

The History Press