On September 14, 1861, outnumbered elements of Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia fought to hold three passes through South Mountain in Maryland against George McClellan's Army of the Potomac.
Following up his stunning victory at Second Bull Run, Lee had invaded the north for the first time. Elements of his army were scattered around western Maryland, making for Pennsylvania while also surrounding the large Union garrison at Harpers Ferry. But McClellan had found the infamous Lost Order and had full knowledge of Lee's plans and dispositions. Armed with this knowledge, he moved faster than Lee expected. Desperate rear guard fighting resulted at Campton's Gap, Turner's Gap and Fox's Gap along the towering ridge of South Mountain, which divided Maryland from north to south. But McClellan could not move fast enough, and Lee had the time to finish the capture of Harpers Ferry and consolidate most of his army along the banks of Antietam Creek.
The battle there was the bloodiest single day in American history, and South Mountain became a little-known prelude, with but a handful of monuments in the now-quiet woods. |
