Sometimes referred to as the Antietam Campaign, this series of four battles took place in September, 1862 in West Virginia and Maryland. Considered one of the major turning points in the war, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's goal was to reach the major Northern states of Maryland and Pennsylvania in order to threaten the cities of Washington and Baltimore, supply his army from the untouched farms, relieve the habitual fighting in Virginia, and hopefully make such an impact that the end of the war might be negotiated.

Lee divided his army into five parts, with General "Stonewall" Jackson taking three of them to attack Harpers Ferry, in order to control the Shenandoah Valley.

Battle of Antietam.

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General James Longstreet would lead the fourth part to Hagerstown to guard against a rumored movement of Union troops from Pennsylvania, and the fifth and final part, under the command of General Daniel Harvey Hill, was to guard the reserve artillery and wagon train at Boonsboro, Maryland, as well as watching for escaping Federals from Harpers Ferry.

On September 4, 1862, the Army of Northern Virginia crossed the Potomac River and began the Maryland Campaign which would be repulsed by Major General George B. McClellan and the Army of the Potomac, who intercepted Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia, attacking them near Sharpsburg, Maryland. The resulting Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history.

The Maryland Campaign included the following battles:

See Battle Summaries HERE!

Newcomer's Mill at Antietam, Maryland.

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