Atlas of Battles

battle, notable, nineteenth century

Battle of Ball's Bluff

Battle of Ball's Bluff was a battle fought on 21 October 1861 at Loudoun County, in what is now Virginia, United States. It was part of the American Civil War, which ran from 1861 to 1865. The recorded result: Confederate victory. Recorded strength: 1,720 against 1,709.

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Death of Col Edward D. Baker: At the Battle of Balls Bluff near Leesburg Va. Oct. 21st 1861
Death of Col Edward D. Baker: At the Battle of Balls Bluff near Leesburg Va. Oct. 21st 1861. Currier and Ives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought21 October 1861
WhereLoudoun County, Virginia, United States39.132N, 77.527W
OutcomeConfederate victory
BelligerentsUnited States (Union)againstConfederate States (Confederacy)
Casualties and losses921–1,002 totaland155 (36 killed; 117 wounded; 2 captured)
Battlefield todayBall'S Bluff battlefieldNPS site VA006, 17,288 acres studied, 6,583 core
Part ofAmerican Civil War1861 to 1865

Where it sits in the American Civil War

Battle of Fort Sumter, 1861Battle of Cheat Mountain, 1861Battle of Canada Alamosa, 1861Battle of Pensacola, 1861Battle of Gloucester Point, 1861Battle of Sewell's Point, 1861Battle of Aquia Creek, 1861Battle of Fairfax Court House, 1861Battle of Arlington Mills, 1861Battle of Philippi, 1861Battle of Pig Point, 1861Battle of Big Bethel, 1861Battle of Boonville, 1861Battle of Cole Camp, 1861Battle of Mathias Point, 1861Battle of Hoke's Run, 1861Battle of Rich Mountain, 1861Battle of Corrick's Ford, 1861Battle of Scary Creek, 1861Battle of Blackburn's Ford, 1861First Battle of Mesilla, 1861Siege of Tubac, 1861Battle of Cookes Canyon, 1861Battle of the Florida Mountains, 1861Battle of Athens, 1861Battle of Charleston, 1861Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries, 1861Battle of Dry Wood Creek, 1861Battle of Carnifex Ferry, 1861Battle of Lewinsville, 1861Battle of Pinos Altos, 1861Battle of Greenbrier River, 1861Battle of Cockle Creek, 1861Battle of Santa Rosa Island, 1861Battle of the Head of Passes, 1861Battle of Monday's Hollow, 1861Battle of Bolivar Heights, 1861Battle of Ball's Bluff, 1861Battle of Camp Wildcat, 1861Battle of Port Royal, 1861Battle of Guyandotte, 1861Battle of Round Mountain, 1861Bog Wallow Ambush, 1861Battle of Chusto-Talasah, 1861Battle of Camp Allegheny, 1861Battle of Rowlett's Station, 1861Skirmish at Blackwater Creek, 1861Battle of Dranesville, 1861Battle of Chustenahlah, 1861Battle of Mount Zion Church, 1861Battle of Sacramento, 1861Battle of Fredericksburg, 1862Shenandoah Valley Campaign, 1862Siege of Corinth, 1862Battle of Pea Ridge, 1862Battle of Glorieta Pass, 1862Battle of Valverde, 1862Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, 1862Battle of Richmond, 1862Battle of Fort Pulaski, 1862First Battle of Sabine Pass, 1862Battle of Lone Jack, 1862Battle of Saint John's Bluff, 1862Battle of Corpus Christi, 1862Battle of Cockpit Point, 1862Battle of Hancock, 1862Battle of Roan's Tan Yard, 1862Battle of Middle Creek, 1862Battle of Mill Springs, 1862Battle of Fort Henry, 1862Battle of Roanoke Island, 1862Battle of Elizabeth City, 1862Battle of Fort Donelson, 1862Battle of Island Number Ten, 1862Battle of Hampton Roads, 1862Battle of New Bern, 1862First Battle of Kernstown, 1862Siege of Fort Macon, 1862Battle of the Brick Church, 1862Battle of Stanwix Station, 1862New Mexico Campaign, 1862Siege of Yorktown, 1862Battle of Albuquerque, 1862Battle of Peralta, 1862Battle of Picacho Pass, 1862Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, 1862Battle of South Mills, 1862Siege of Bridgeport, 1862Capture of New Orleans, 1862Skirmish at Paint Rock Bridge, 1862Battle of Clark's House, 1862Battle of Williamsburg, 1862Battle of Lebanon, 1862Battle of Eltham's Landing, 1862Battle of McDowell, 1862Second Battle of Dragoon Springs, 1862Battle of Plum Point Bend, 1862Battle of Drewry's Bluff, 1862Battle of Princeton Court House, 1862Battle of Pigeon Roost, 1862Battle of Whitney's Lane, 1862Capture of Tucson, 1862Battle of Front Royal, 1862Battle of Lewisburg, 1862First Battle of Winchester, 1862Battle of Hanover Court House, 1862First Battle of Pocotaligo, 1862Battle of Seven Pines, 1862Battle of Tranter's Creek, 1862First Battle of Memphis, 1862Battle of Good's Farm, 1862First Battle of Chattanooga, 1862Battle of Cross Keys, 1862Battle of Port Republic, 1862Battle of James Island, 1862Battle of Saint Charles, 1862Battle of the Cumberland Gap, 1862Battle of Simmon's Bluff, 1862Seven Days Battles, 1862Battle of Oak Grove, 1862Battle of Beaver Dam Creek, 1862Battle of Gaines's Mill, 1862Battle of Garnett's & Golding's Farm, 1862Battle of Savage's Station, 1862Battle of Glendale, 1862Battle of White Oak Swamp, 1862Battle of Tampa, 1862Peninsula Campaign, 1862Battle of Malvern Hill, 1862Second Battle of Mesilla, 1862Battle of Booneville, 1862Battle of Cotton Plant, 1862First Battle of Murfreesboro, 1862Battle of Apache Pass, 1862Battle of Baton Rouge, 1862Battle of Kirksville, 1862Battle of Cedar Mountain, 1862First Battle of Donaldsonville, 1862First Battle of Independence, 1862Battle of Compton's Ferry, 1862Battle of Yellow Creek, 1862First Battle of Rappahannock Station, 1862Manassas Station Operations, 1862Battle of Thoroughfare Gap, 1862Battle of Chantilly, 1862Battle of Britton's Lane, 1862Battle of Mile Hill, 1862Battle of Riggins Hill, 1862Battle of Fayetteville, 1862Battle of Harpers Ferry, 1862Defense of Cincinnati, 1862Battle of Munfordville, 1862Battle of Crampton's Gap, 1862Battle of Shepherdstown, 1862Battle of Iuka, 1862Battle of Augusta, 1862Second Battle of Corinth, 1862Joint Expedition Against Franklin, 1862Battle of Galveston Harbor, 1862Battle of Hatchie Bridge, 1862Battle of Perryville, 1862Battle of Old Fort Wayne, 1862Battle of Pocotaligo, 1862Battle of Georgia Landing, 1862Battle of Unison, 1862Battle of Clark's Mill, 1862Battle of Coffeeville, 1862Battle of Prairie Grove, 1862Battle of Hartsville, 1862Battle of White Hall, 1862Battle of Goldsboro Bridge, 1862Battle of Lexington, Tennessee, 1862Battle of Jackson, Tennessee, 1862Van Buren raid, 1862Capture of Van Buren, 1862Battle of Stones River, 1862Battle of Parker's Cross Roads, 1862Battle of Arkansas Post, 1863Battle of Galveston, 1863Second Battle of Winchester, 1863Battle of Williamsport, 1863Battle of Fort McAllister, 1863Fight at Monterey Pass, 1863Stoneman's 1863 Raid, 1863Battle of Chalk Bluff, 1863Battle of the Cumberland Gap, 1863Battle of Franklin's Crossing, 1863Battle of Fort Esperanza, 1863Battle of Ponchatoula, 1863Raid at Combahee Ferry, 1863Second Battle of Springfield, 1863Battle of Hartville, 1863Action off Galveston Light, 1863Battle of Deserted House, 1863Battle of Dover, 1863Fight at Aldie, 1863Battle of Thompson's Station, 1863Battle of Fort Anderson, 1863Battle of Kelly's Ford, 1863Battle of Vaught's Hill, 1863Battle of Brentwood, 1863Battle of Washington, 1863Battle of Somerset, 1863First Battle of Charleston Harbor, 1863Battle of Franklin, 1863Siege of Suffolk, 1863Battle of Suffolk (Hill's Point), 1863Battle of Fort Bisland, 1863Battle of Irish Bend, 1863Battle of Vermillion Bayou, 1863Battle of Fayetteville, 1863Battle of Grand Gulf, 1863Battle of Snyder's Bluff, 1863Battle of Chancellorsville, 1863Battle of Day's Gap, 1863Battle of Port Gibson, 1863Second Battle of Fredericksburg, 1863Battle of Salem Church, 1863Battle of Raymond, 1863Battle of Jackson, 1863Battle of Champion Hill, 1863Battle of Big Black River Bridge, 1863Siege of Vicksburg, 1863Battle of Fort Gibson, 1863Battle of Pogue's Run, 1863Siege of Port Hudson, 1863Battle of Plains Store, 1863Battle of Middleburg, 1863Bluffton expedition, 1863Battle of Milliken's Bend, 1863Battle of Young's Point, 1863Battle of Brandy Station, 1863Battle of Lake Providence, 1863Battle of Richmond, 1863Battle of Aldie, 1863Battle of Wassaw Sound, 1863Battle of Fort Fizzle, 1863Battle of LaFourche Crossing, 1863Battle of Upperville, 1863Battle of Hoover's Gap, 1863Battle of Liberty Gap, 1863Battle of Fairfax Court House, 1863Battle of 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1863Battle of Davis's Cross Roads, 1863Battle of Culpeper Court House, 1863Battle of Chickamauga, 1863Battle of Blountville, 1863Battle of Stirling's Plantation, 1863Battle of Fort Blair, 1863Battle of Blue Springs, 1863First Battle of Auburn, 1863Battle of Bulltown, 1863Battle of Bristoe Station, 1863Second Battle of Auburn, 1863Battle of Fort Brooke, 1863Battle of Buckland Mills, 1863Battle of Cherokee Station, 1863Battle of Pine Bluff, 1863Battle of Brown's Ferry, 1863Battle of Wauhatchie, 1863Battle of Brownsville, 1863Battle of Bayou Bourbeux, 1863Battle of Droop Mountain, 1863Battle of Rogersville, 1863Second Battle of Rappahannock Station, 1863Battle of Campbell's Station, 1863Battle of Mustang Island, 1863Siege of Knoxville, 1863Battle of Lookout Mountain, 1863Battle of Missionary Ridge, 1863Battle of Mine Run, 1863Battle of Ringgold Gap, 1863Battle of Fort Sanders, 1863Battle of Walker's Ford, 1863Battle of Legareville, 1863Battle of Mossy Creek, 1863Battle of Nashville, 1864Battle of Fisher's Hill, 1864Price’s Missouri Expedition, 1864Battle of Tupelo, 1864Battle of New Hope Church, 1864Battle of Chaffin's Farm, 1864First Battle of Deep Bottom, 1864First Battle of Fort Fisher, 1864Battle of Berryville, 1864Battle of Port Walthall Junction, 1864Battle of Cynthiana, 1864Battle of Prairie D'Ane, 1864Battle of Elkin's Ferry, 1864Battle of Old River Lake, 1864Battle of Plymouth, 1864Battle of Salyersville, 1864Capture of Plymouth, 1864Battle of Mount Sterling, 1864Siege of Fort Gaines, 1864Battle of Loudoun Heights, 1864Battle of Dandridge, 1864Battle of Athens, 1864Battle of Fair Garden, 1864Battle of New Bern, 1864Battle of Morton's Ford, 1864Battle of Olustee, 1864First Battle of Dalton, 1864Battle of Okolona, 1864Battle of Rio Hill, 1864Battle of Cedar Creek, 1864Battle of Walkerton, 1864Battle of Fort De Russy, 1864Battle of Laredo, 1864Battle of Paducah, 1864Battle of Mount Elba, 1864Skirmish at Terre Noire Creek, 1864Battle of Mansfield, 1864Battle 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R. 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527 placed engagements of the American Civil War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date21 October 1861
PlaceLoudoun County, Virginia, United States
39.132N, 77.527W
KindBattle, nineteenth century
Strength1,7201,709
Casualties and losses921–1,002 total155 (36 killed; 117 wounded; 2 captured)
Commanders
  • Charles Pomeroy Stone
  • Edward D. Baker
  • Nathan George Evans
Battle of Ball's BluffBattle of Ball's BluffHeaton's CrossroadsAction at Mount Zion ChurchBattle of AldieBattle of DranesvilleBattle of UnisonAction at Mount Zion ChurchBattle of AldieBattle of DranesvilleBattle of Unison20 km39.132N, 77.527W
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. The dashed outline is the battlefield study area mapped by the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1861

The National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program maps this as the Ball'S Bluff battlefield (site VA006): a study area of 17,288 acres, with a core area of 6,583 acres where the fighting was concentrated; 9,485 acres retain enough integrity to be potentially eligible for the National Register.

Battle of Ball's Bluff is one of 3,507 engagements of the 19th century in the atlas and one of 1,148 in present-day United States (172 in Virginia).

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q1497909, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Ball's Bluff, revision 1370107412, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Battlefield boundary and area from the National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program (public domain). Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.