For the first time since the Battle of Gettysburg, most of the Union army faced Gen. Robert E. Lee on July 12, 1863. The Federals were firmly entrenched on a ridge parallel to the Sharpsburg-Hagerstown Turnpike a quarter mile west. Less than a mile farther west, the Confederates had completed four miles of formidable fortifications a day earlier to protect Lee’s avenues of retreat across the Potomac River. Union Gen. George G. Meade paused and reconnoitered on July 13. By the next day, as he prepared to probe for weaknesses, Lee had retreated to Virginia.
