The Maryland Campaign of 1862

In 1862, the Maryland Campaign became Confederate General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North as he sought to keep the offensive after Second Manassas, win a victory on Northern soil, influence fall elections, obtain supplies, move the war out of Virginia, possibly into Pennsylvania, and liberate Maryland, a divided slave-holding border state. After crossing the Potomac River into Frederick, Maryland, Lee divided the Army of Northern Virginia to capture the 12,000-man Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, which threatened his line south, sending Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson with about half the army while the remaining Confederates moved toward South Mountain and Hagerstown. In response, President Abraham Lincoln placed Major General George B. McClellan in command to protect Washington and confront the invasion, and McClellan reorganized the Army of the Potomac and advanced toward Lee. The armies first met at South Mountain on September 14, where Confederates failed to hold Turners, Fox, and Crampton Gaps, and after Jackson captured Harpers Ferry on September 15, Lee chose to stand at Sharpsburg rather than retreat to Virginia. There, at Antietam on September 17, twelve hours of fierce fighting swept the Cornfield, East Woods, West Woods, the Sunken Road, and Burnside Bridge as Lee shifted his men to meet repeated Union attacks. More than 23,000 of nearly 100,000 engaged became casualties, yet both armies still held their ground until nightfall. On September 18 they collected the wounded and buried the dead, and that night Lee withdrew across the Potomac into Virginia, ending the invasion and giving Lincoln the opportunity to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, after which the war took on the dual purpose of preserving the Union and ending slavery.

Keedysville, Maryland · United States