Confederates Invade Maryland

At 7:00 a.m., July 9, 1864, Confederate troops under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early streamed through the gaps of South Mountain and the Catoctins and headed south past Frederick toward Washington, D.C., but Union troops defending the bridges over the Monocacy River stopped them at the Best family farm. Judging a head-on attack too costly, Early spread his men across the surrounding farmlands. While Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur pinned down the Union center, Early sent Brig. Gen. John McCausland and Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge to the southwest in hopes of finding a place to ford the river and strike the Union left flank. As the forces prepared for the fighting ahead, men made shelters from the sun with blankets and oilcloths stretched on fence corners, muskets, and rails.

Ballenger Creek, Maryland · United States