Military
10
After the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, General Lee withdrew his Confederate army back into Virginia, and instead of pursuing him Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan reoccupied the Harpers Ferry area with nearly 60,000 soldiers. While McClellan paused to reorganize and re-equip his army, President Abraham Lincoln visited on October 1 to review the troops on Bolivar Heights and encourage McClellan to move against the Confederates. The Federals advanced south one month after Lincoln's visit, leaving only 5,000 soldiers to garrison Harpers Ferry. When the Confederates invaded the North again in the summers of 1863 and 1864, Union troops on Bolivar Heights withdrew to stronger fortifications on Maryland Heights, leaving Harpers Ferry open to the Confederates and resulting in the destruction of the railroad bridge and capture of Federal supplies. In August 1864, Union Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan's army occupied the area and constructed a 2-mile line of earthwork defenses connecting six artillery redoubts along the crest of Bolivar Heights, securing Harpers Ferry as a Union supply base for the rest of the war.
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Lovettsville, Maryland · United States
