During these campaigns, forces of Brigadier General John McCausland were being pursued by Federal troops when they were blocked at Old Town, Maryland at the Potomac River between Hancock, Maryland and Springfield, West Virginia by Union infantry and an armored train armed with a 12 lbs howitzer. During the ensuing battle, McNulty brought his horse drawn light cannon to high ground within 200 yards of the armored train. The first cannon shot breached and exploded the train's boiler, causing Federal troops both within and without the train to scatter. A second shot, passed through one of the train's howitzer car's open musket portals, disabling the howitzer and forcing the crew to evacuate. Pursued by the Confederates, the frontal Union troops surrendered, allowing McCausland's forces to return to the relative safety of West Virginia without further incident.[2]
Later American Civil War events
During the October 9, 1864 Battle of Tom's Brook, McNulty saved and repositioned Confederate guns to high ground when Major General Thomas Rosser's Laurel Brigade (whom the Baltimore Light Artillery were supporting) broke and ran. However, he later lost all but one of the surviving guns when chased by Federal troops after the battle.[3] McNulty's Baltimore Light Artillery had lost 4 guns and 19 of their crews in the battling at Tom's Brook.[4] McNulty remained in command of the Baltimore Light Artillery until the April 9, 1865 Battle of Appomattox Courthouse which was the final U.S. Civil War engagement of the Army of Northern Virginia. By then, however, his forces had been so depleted that they were not able to participate in the battle.[5]
While referred to in histories as "Lieutenant" or "the Lieutenant", McNulty was repeatedly promoted during the war, eventually holding the rank of major.[6]
^Scott C. Patchan Shenandoah Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign (2009) University of Nebraska Press pp. 287-289
^Gary W. GallagherThe Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864 (2006) University of North Carolina Press, pp. 147, 151 and 154
^Memoirs of the Stuart Horse Artillery Battalion, Robert J. Trout, ed., (2010) University of Tennessee Press, p. 280
^Edward G. Longacre The Cavalry at Appomattox: A Tactical Study of Mounted Operations During the Civil War's Climactic Campaign, March 27-April 9, 1865 (2003) Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, p. 48
^J. Thomas Scharf History of Western Maryland (2003) Genealogical Publishing Co. p 337 ISBN0806345659, 9780806345659, noting also that "This company (Baltimore Light Artillery) served with distinguished gallantry during the entire war in the Army of Northern Virginia."
^John Thomas ScharfHistory of Baltimore City and County, from the Earliest Period to the Present Day: Including Biographical Sketches of Their Representative Men Baltimore: L.H. Everts (1881) p. 195