Invasion or Liberation.

— Antietam Campaign 1862 —

The serenity of the Maryland countryside wasshattered on September 4-6, 1862, as 35,000 Confederate soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginiawaded across the Potomac River. Gen. Robert E. Lee, hoping to rally support in the dividedstate, sent the bulk of his army across at White's Ford two miles north of here. The military operations would change the lives of the fighting men and affect local residents and businesses.

The largely indifferent reaction to the Confederates as they entered Montgomery County was described by a Missouri soldier, "Instead of an outburst of overflowing joy, at the sight of their deliverers, not one solitary soul had come tothe River bank to see us cross or welcome us tothe soil." A resident recalled the veteran troops as "the dirtiest, filthiest, piratical-looking, cutthroat men I ever saw.... Yet there was a dash about them that the Northern men lacked."

The invaders passed the Chesapeake andOhio Canal via road culverts and bridges erectedby their engineers. Walls of the canal werebreached to disrupt commerce and the enemy's supply lines, but efforts to destroy the Monocacy Aqueduct were unsuccessful.

As the largest part of the Confederate army marched toward Frederick, Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry formed a protective screen to the south.

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Show me all markers in:  Dickerson, MD  |  Montgomery County  |  20842  |  Maryland  |  United States of America

1862 Antietam Campaign
Gettysburg Campaign
The Confederate Monument, a War Memorial
White's Ferry
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal
Sharpsburg (Antietam) Campaign
Ball's Bluff Overlook
Union Artillery
Jenifer's Cavalry
15th Massachusetts Infantry

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