The 2nd MA did not participate in the disasterous battle at Ball's Bluff, in which Col. Edward D. Baker, an ex-congressman and personal friend of Lincoln, turned a slight demonstration against the Confederate forces into a full-scale assault. The Federal troops were shuttled across the Potomac in inadequate boats and put into position in an open field with the bluff at their backs, and when later ambushed by the enemy, had no means of retreat.
When the 2nd Massachusetts received its orders to move out quickly, it was first supposed that the movements at Conrad's and Edward's Ferries had been successful and that the regiment was en route to support the thrust into Virginia. The men, said Chaplain Quint, were convinced they were marching to meet the enemy. "Never were they more happy. They took to the road with songs." This gaiety did not last. At about 1 A.M., Gordon reached Poolesville where he met the first signs of disaster. Men standing be the side of the road spoke of a total defeat and the death of Col. Edward Baker:"I paid little heed to this knowing we were en route to the exact spot a few miles ahead to plunge into it...But soon more positive evidence of disaster met my ete, men half naked, hatless and shoeless in the pouring rain hastening to Poolesville. As they rushed past, exclaimed we are defeated with immense loss, our Regt is cut to pieces, Col. Lee is a prisoner, Col this killed, Col that endeavoring to hide away in a hay stack, they outnumbered us (the usual story) ten to one, shame to put us in such positions..."Gordon arrived at dawn, having marched 18 miles in 6 hours. During the night it had begun to rain, so the regiment pulled up muddy and exhausted. The breaking light of day revealed burial parties at work and motionless forms under blood and rain-soaked blankets. There was little for the regiment to do but perform guard duty. There would be no glorious advance into enemy territory. Federal losses were estimated at 49 killed, 158 wounded and 714 missing, many of whom drowned while trying to swim to safety. For the first time in the war, the officers of the 2nd Massachusetts felt the losses on a personal level. Capt. Richard Cary gave an accounting of some of their friends in the 20th Massachusetts. "John Putnam was hit the first volley & his arm shattered in two places so that it was necessary to amputate it close to the shoulder....[Oliver Wendell] Holmes was knocked over by a spent ball & when he picked himself up was shot through the lungs....Willy Putnam [cousin of Lt. Henry Lee Higginson] was shot through the abdomen & Harry Sturgis [a cousin of Lts. Henry Sturgis Russell & Robert Gould Shaw] picked him up in his arms & carried him to the river....Jimmy Lowell [also a cousin of Henry Lee Higginson] was shot in the leg but not serious....Young [George] Perry, engaged to Capt. Abbott's sister, is a prisoner but is supposed to be unhurt." Riding down to the river, Maj. Dwight found Lt. William Putnam lying badly wounded in a boat. "I spoke to him; he was bright, but evidently sinking. I asked him if I could do anything for him...'I should like to see Lieutenant Higginson.'" Dwight sent for Higginson, who came to see Putnam, who, according to Robert Shaw, "talked as calmly about the fight as he were in perfect health, though he knows he has little chance of living." Higginson marvelled at his cousin's calm acceptance of his fate as his life drained away. Shaw concluded, "It is a terrible thing, but we must get used to it." Dwight was infuriated by the senseless loss of the lives of so many good, young men. "No generalship seems to have been used in the matter. Not a military glance seems to have swept the field, not a military suggestion seems to have planned the enterprise. The men crossed at the worst point of the river; they had only two small scows to cross with; retreat was impossible....There does not seem to be a single redeeming feature in the whole business. They went on a fool's errand,--went without means, and then persisted in their folly." He quoted a Rebel officer having said to a burial party, "The officer who brought you here ought to be hung." That would not be necessary. Gordon, who condemned the management of the crossing as "criminally stupid," observed that Baker had "expiated the crime with his life." How culpapble the overall commander, BG Charles P. Stone was, Gordon did not know, but he was inclined to lay the lion's share of the blame on Col. Charles Devens of the 15th Massachusetts Infantry, who has been a brigadier general in the state militia "tho' I would not make that public." And the United States Government would be "inexcusably criminal," were it to place any more "inexperienced men at the head of its regiments." Gordon attempted to contact Confederate General Nathan "Shanks" Evans at Leesburg, "a personal friend of mine," to learn the fates of the missing, but was unsuccessful. Summing up the battle, Gordon tried to look at the bright side. "If this gives us wisdom, the lesson is not without value." There was no doubt that the Union army could whip the Rebels "if we only do it right."
Dwight focused upon the primary cause of the disaters. "Does it not awaken you to the fact that politicians are not generals?" Richard Cary agreed, "I trust we may have no more blunders, though it is hoping against hope so long as these political generals have the control of matters."
After a few days the 2nd Massachusetts returned to camp near the mouth of Seneca Creek.
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