In June 1864, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee sent Gen. Jubal A. Early's corps from the Richmond battlefields to the Shenandoah Valley to counter Union Gen. David Hunter's army. After driving Hunter into West Virginia, Early invaded Maryland to attack Washington D.C., draw Union troops from Richmond, and release Confederate prisoners held at Point Lookout. Union Gen. Lew Wallace delayed Early at the Battle of Monocacy on July 9, and Federal reinforcements soon strengthened the capital's defenses. After heavy skirmishing near Fort Stevens on July 11-12, watched by President Abraham Lincoln, Early withdrew toward Virginia. Soon after dawn on July 14, 1864, Early's corps began crossing the Potomac River at White's Ford from the Maryland side. The men, though tired from hard marching and fighting, were in high spirits as they returned from the campaign. They had reached the Maryland side of White's Ford on the evening of July 13, then crossed, reformed their ranks, and marched south to camp at Big Spring north of Leesburg. The Confederates returned to Virginia with more than 3,000 captured horses, 2,500 head of cattle, wagons of much-needed provisions, and $220,000 from ransoms imposed on Maryland cities. Writing to Gen. Robert E. Lee the next day from headquarters near Leesburg, Early said immense damage had been done to the enemy, though he regretted failing to capture Washington and release prisoners at Point Lookout. His force left Leesburg on the morning of July 16 for the Shenandoah Valley, and a Union cavalry ambush ten miles west of Purcellville recaptured some of the Maryland plunder.
