Existing comment:
1862 Maryland Campaign:
After defeating the North at the Second Battle of Manassas in August 1862, General Robert E. Lee invaded Maryland, hoping to rally Confederate support, resupply his army, and gain foreign recognition for the Confederacy. Carroll, Frederick, and Washington counties soon became occupied by Confederate troops. The Union army, under General George B. McClellan, arrived on the scene in pursuit of the Rebels. McClellan was aided by the discovery of Special Orders No. 191, which outlined Lee's campaign strategy. The first major battle on Northern soil occurred on September 14th atop South Mountain, the boundary betwee Frederick and Washington counties. Lee's hopes were dashed three days later at the Battle of Antietam and he retreated back across the Potomac into Virginia.
1863 Gettysburg Campaign:
Following Lee's Confederate victory at Chancellorsville, Virignia, in May 1863, he marched through the Shenandoah Valley with yet another plan to invade the North. This time he reached Pennsylvania, sending a feeling of heightened panic throughout the Northern states. In Frederick, Union General George G. Meade was given command of the Army of the Potomac. He led his troops northward toward the Mason-Dixon Line and made Taneytown his headquarters. Meade designed a defensive strategy utilizing nearby Pipe Creek. Carroll County became a primary transportation, supply, camping, and staging ground for the US forces. Meade's and Lee's armies faced off at Gettysburg in an epic three-day battle. Once again, the Confederate tide was turned back, and Washington County was traversed by the retreating Rebels.
1864 Jubal Early's Raid:
In the spring of 1864, Union commander-in-chief General Ulysses S. Grant launched simultaneous attacks against the Confederates throughout the South. He succeeded in maneuvering Lee closer to Richmond, Virginia, and finally besieged him at the CSA's capital city and at nearby Petersburg. Confederate General Jubal Early took Rebel forces north in a desperate attempt to turn the tide of war by capturing the Union's capital city. Confederate soldiers disembarked trains at Martinsburg. |