Existing comment:
Turning the Tables:
For a few short weeks in the late summer and early fall of 1862, the focus of the Civil War in the east moved from the edge of Richmond, Virginia, to the outskirts of Washington. A Union offensive to capture Richmond, the Confederacy's Capital, had failed. Just a few weeks later at Manassas, Virginia, near Washington, another Union army was defeated. The Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee were victorious and advancing north, while the Union armies were disorganized and in retreat. Perhaps the time had come for the South's first invasion of the North.
"For the first time, if I remember, I believe it possible... that Washington may be taken."
-- Adam Hill, Reporter for the New York Tribune
"We crossed the river without opposition, and now comes the 'tug of war.' The invasion policy is begun. May God continue to bless our armies and cause our general & these movements to be instruments in His hands for bringing about a speedy peace."
-- Confederate Major Walter Taylor
"The present seems to be the most propitous time since the commencement of the war for the Confederate Army to enter Maryland. ... we cannot afford to be idle ..., I am aware that the movement is attended with much risk, yet I do not consider success impossible, and shall endeavor to guard it from loss."
-- Confederate General Robert E. Lee
"There is every probability that the army, baffled in his intended capture of Washington, will cross the Potomac, and make a raid into Maryland or Pennsylvania. A moveable army must be immediately organized to meet him again in the field."
-- Union General-in-Chief Henry Halleck |