Black Horse Troop saves Stonewall’s life

Cavalrymen of the Black Horse Troop were jubilant as their horses splashed across the Potomac River into Maryland at Edwards Ferry. It was early September 1862, and they were fanning out along the front and flanks of Stonewall Jackson’s corps, passing Leesburg, Va., and Poolesville, Md., heading into Maryland toward Pennsylvania.

With the victory at the Battle of Second Manassas, they knew that with this thrust they might even be marching along the streets of Washington, bringing the Yankees to their knees. Virginia would be free at last.

Ferocious charge

Only a week earlier, the Black Horse, whose members were the gentry of Warrenton, Va., had split into two sections. One, under their captain, Robert Lee Randolph, led Jackson’s corps from the Rappahannock River through the Black Horse’s home turf to Manassas, where it took positions on a ridge above the Old Alexandria Turnpike. Lt. Alexander D. Payne’s section followed, guiding the way for Gens. Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet to join Jackson, by then embattled with the Union Army. During the movements and battle, the troop shuttled messages among the commands.

Then they helped chase the Yankees back to Fairfax and a whipping on the Chantilly family farm of Black Horse trooper Walker Milan. At First Manassas, they had been dubbed “the Terrible Black Horse Cavalry” for their ferocious charge into the Union Army as it fled between the Stone Bridge and Cub Run, capturing a score of cannons as well as some members of Congress and ladies who had come to observe a Union victory.

Riding with the Black Horse was Charles Randolph, 15-year-old brother of Capt. Randolph. “Charlie” waved his undersized sword at any troopers who were stragglers. Jackson soon sent him to Virginia Military Institute, where he was wounded as the cadet corps fought at New Market later in the war.

Black Horse casualties were minimal at both Manassas battles, although in the second fight, Pvt. Erasmus Helm was mortally wounded while he held the reins of Jackson’s horse near the sunken railroad line atop the hill.

Stonewall arrives

Lt. Col. William Payne, their first troop commander, had been critically wounded and captured at Williamsburg in May. Welcome news now reached the Black Horse that he had returned to Warrenton, where he was recovering from a bullet that had fractured his jaw.

As the troopers moved through farms and villages, small groups of cheering women and children gathered. The cavalrymen waved their hats, laughed and bowed to the crowd, which was hoping for a glimpse of the great general. Near Leesburg, a brass band played “Maryland, My Maryland” and the troopers broke into song, one jumping off his horse among a group of mothers and daughters, kissing and hugging as many as he could reach.

Spectators were calling, “Stonewall.” Several hundred yards to the front rode a trooper whose companions began pointing to him and shouting, “There’s General Jackson.” As the crowds cheered, Jackson broke into laughter himself.

When Jackson entered Frederick, Md., on Sept. 6, however, only a scattering of sympathizers ventured forth. Many more waved American flags. The soldiers snarled their displeasure and kept marching while Stonewall passed false information to residents to indicate that Chambersburg, Pa., was his destination.

The Confederates camped at Monocacy Junction near Frederick. Jackson’s back hurt because he had been thrown by his horse the day before. He fell asleep while attending a Presbyterian Church that Sunday.

On Sept. 9, the corps crossed South Mountain at Turner’s Gap, camping a mile outside Boonsboro, Md., at the home of John Murdock, a Southern sympathizer. The next day, Black Horse Lt. Alexander Payne with a squad of troopers went through the town scouting for Union forces, and Jackson’s assistant inspector general, Lt. Henry Kyd Douglas, asked friends with whom he had grown up about river crossings.

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