In the Fall of 1862, after the Confederate victory at The Second Battle of Bull Run(or Second Manassas, as the Confederates called it), The Army of Northern Virgina, under General Robert E. Lee, moved north into Maryland in an effort to relieve Northern Virginia from Federal occupation, encourage pro-Confederate Marylanders to join the Southern Cause, and if possible, achieve total victory by defeating the Army of the Potomac on Northern soil. Robert E. Lee always did think big.The Army of the Potomac, commanded by the brilliant but ever-cautious and ever-political General George B. McClellan, pursued the Army of Northern Virginia to the town of Sharpsburg, near the Potomac river. There, near Antietam Creek, they fought a battle that produced the single bloodiest day in American history. The battle was a pretty much a draw, though Lee did retreat back into Virginia a couple days later. As a result of this Federal non-defeat, President Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, thereby changing the scope of the war from merely preserving the Union, to the ultimate destruction of slavery.

This stone bridge crosses Antietam Creek on the left side of the Union line. Late in the dayGeneral Ambrose Burnside attempted several times to push his men across this bridge, although the creek could have easily been waded across. (As proof, the water was at similar levels the day I took this picture. I was standing on a rock in the middle of the creek, and I never got my feet wet.) Several hours and many lives were wasted in the attempt before the outnumbered Confederates were finally pushed back.

In June of 1863, again after a Confederate victory (Chancellorsville), The Armyof Northern Virginia invaded the North a second time. Again, the goals were to lead the Army of the Potomac out of Virgina and to defeat it on Northern soil. This time, the two armies collided in the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg.

After two days of fierce fighting, General Lee ordered an attack on the center of the Union line, hoping to break it and drive it from the field. The attacking force consisted of General George Pickett's division of roughly 5000 fresh troops, all from Virginia, as well as around 6000 troops (mostly North Carolinians) under General Johnston Pettigrew. The attack was made on foot across open fields nearly a mile across under constant artillery bombardment. After suffering 50% casualties and briefly penetrating the Union line, the Confederates fell back. This has been referred to as the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy", as the Southerners never again had the strength to mount a major offensive.

This photo was taken in the "angle" (so named for a bend in the stone wall that runs along the ridge) on Cemetery Ridge where Pickett's charge focused. The camera is looking west towards Seminary Ridge, where the attack originated.