Grove Farm

Stephen P. Grove lived in this handsome house. After the September 17, 1862, Battle of Antietam, Army of the Potomac camps covered this property, and Fifth Corps commander Gen. Fitz-John Porter headquartered at the house. The opposing armies suffered from exhaustion after the bloody fight. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee withdrew the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River to Shepherdstown on the 18th. Army of the Potomac commander Gen. George B. McClellan sent part of his force in pursuit but kept the remainder near Sharpsburg to train new regiments and resupply. President Abraham Lincoln grew impatient as supply deficiencies hampered McClellan's ability to move. On October 1, he left Washington to visit McClellan. On October 3 they reviewed the 5th Corps in the nearby fields, then posed at the Grove house for photographer Alexander Gardner. Lincoln and McClellan disagreed on the army's ability to take the offensive, and the president returned to Washington the next day. On November 7, Lincoln relieved McClellan, who had crossed into Virginia and was preparing to give battle to Lee. Lincoln would then appoint and dismiss Ambrose Burnside and Joseph Hooker before naming George Meade in 1863 to command the Army of the Potomac through the remainder of the war.

Maryland · United States