Sharpsburg (Antietam) Campaign

Following a victory at the Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) and a stalemate at Ox Hill (Chantilly), Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia turned northward. Near here on 3 Sept. 1862, Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson's corps entered the Alexandria and Leesburg Turnpike and marched northwest through Dranesville. That evening, at headquarters nearby, Lee wrote to Confederate Pres. Jefferson Davis that, if practicable, he planned to enter Maryland. Lee’s army concentrated near Leesburg and crossed the Potomac River on 4-7 Sept., mostly at White’s Ford. They engaged in the bloodiest single day of battle in American history at Sharpsburg (Antietam) on 17 Sept.