DK - The American Civil War

Lee Invades Maryland

The Confederate invasion of Maryland in September 1862 was a gamble based on a false estimate

that the Union Army was unorganized and vulnerable. Desperate to strike an offensive blow

against the North, Lee exposed his Army of Northern Virginia to potential disaster.

CLASH OF ARMIES 1862

A

dvanced units of General

Robert E. Lee’s army began

fording the Potomac River

on September 4. He was acutely

aware that the physical state of

his force was poor: “It lacks much

of the material of war,” he wrote

to President Davis, “is feeble in

transportation, the animals being

much reduced, and the men are

poorly provided with clothes and

in thousands of instances are

destitute of shoes.” Lee believed

that the Union forces around

Washington were also “in a

very demoralized and chaotic

condition” after Second Bull

Run, and that the cautious

General George McClellan now

commanding them would stay

in his defensive positions for at

least four weeks. Lee’s presence

in Maryland might tip opinion in the

North against continuing the war; at

the very least, it would keep the Union

armies on the defensive. But if Lee

thought the Union Army was dispirited,

he also had concerns about his own.

A shrinking force

Many of the Confederate troops were

euphoric as a result of their victories

through the summer, and advanced into

Maryland with enthusiasm. But others

were tired of soldiering barefoot on an

empty stomach and reluctant to venture

beyond the limits of the Confederacy.

While Lee called for stiff disciplinary

action against “stragglers,” troops

deserted in the thousands. Hopes that

Marylanders would

flock to fill the ranks

quickly evaporated.

Those who wanted

to fight for the

Confederate cause had

already gone South

earlier in the war.

Except by slaveholders,

the invading army

was not welcomed

as liberators. Most

civilians barred their

BEFORE

Success at the Second Battle of Bull Run
❮❮ 120–23 left Confederate general Robert
E. Lee facing an important decision: how
to follow up his victory.

DRIVING FORWARD
The Union troops defeated by Lee had retreated
into the defenses of Washington, D.C. Now Lee
chose to invade the North. On every front,
the Confederates were poised for action. In
Arkansas, General Thomas Hindman was
preparing to retake Missouri. In Mississippi, Earl
van Dorn and Sterling Price were gathering
forces for a possible offensive against Ulysses S.
Grant’s Army of the Tennessee. On September 3,
1862, just three days after Second Bull Run, Lee
wrote to President Jefferson Davis: “The present
seems to be the most propitious time... for
the Confederate Army to enter Maryland.”

doors against them. The locals observed

the ragged condition of the army with

shock and awe. Describing the “gaunt

starvation” evident in their faces, one

Maryland woman, Mary Mitchell,

wrote: “That they

could march or

fight at all seemed

incredible.”

Initially Lee had

hoped Maryland’s

fertile land would

provide food and fodder. The reality

was that his troops ate green corn and

suffered in consequence.

Union stand

Lee had assumed that garrisons

threatened by his advance into Maryland

would be withdrawn to avoid capture.

But the Union army at Harpers Ferry

was ordered by the commander-in-

chief, General Henry Halleck, to hold its

position, despite McClellan’s protests.

On September 9, General Stonewall

Jackson marched the bulk of the

Confederate army back across the river

to seize Harpers Ferry. General James

Longstreet was sent to Boonsboro to

defend Jackson against a possible Union

assault through the passes across South

Mountain. But he was diverted to

Hagerstown after a false report of a

Union column

marching toward

him. Defense of

the passes was left

primarily to a

division under

General D. H. Hill,

aided by General Jeb Stuart’s cavalry.

By dividing his army, Lee exposed

himself to “defeat in detail,” but again

he gambled on McClellan’s inertia.

With his forces scattered, Lee was to

find he had miscalculated the state of

the Union army.

The merger of the Army of Virginia

into McClellan’s Army of the Potomac

after Second Bull Run resulted in a

remarkable revival of morale. Soldiers

greeted McClellan as a savior.

“The [soldiers] looked to me not

made of flesh and blood but

stone and iron.”

MARYLAND’S ELIZABETH K. HOWARD DESCRIBING THE SOUTHERNERS, SEPTEMBER 1862

Union signal officers

The Union Signal Corps played a vital role in tracking the

enemy during the invasion. They collected intelligence,

surveyed the battlefield, and sent messages.

Battle of South Mountain

On September 14, Confederate

troops defended the mountain

passes against superior Union

forces, buying valuable time for

Lee to concentrate his army.

Lee astride Traveler
General Lee was deeply attached to his gray stallion
Traveler, his mount from the fall of 1861. However, for
much of the campaign in Maryland, Lee could not ride
because he had broken a bone in his hand.

DEFEAT IN DETAIL If a general has

divided his army, in an adverse situation

it can open up the possibility for his

enemy to attack and crush each part

separately or defeat it “in detail.”