1862 Antietam Campaign - Lee Invades Maryland - Falling Waters, WV - Civil War Discovery Trail Sites on Waymarking.com

Marker is located outside the Visitor Information Center on I-81 S/B in Falling Waters, WV.

The marker, part of the West Virginia Civil War Discovery Trail series, recounts the movement of Lee's Armies into Maryland in 1862 and the culminating Battle of Antietam.

Text reads:

Fresh from victory at the Second Battle of Manassas, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia crossed the Potomac River on September 4-6, 1862 to bring the war to Northern soil and to recruit sympathetic Marylanders. Union Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac pursued Lee, who had detached Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's force to capture the Union garrison at Harper's Ferry. After the Federals had pushed the remaining Confederate forces out of the South Mountain gaps, Lee waited near Sharpsburg and Antietam Creek for Jackson's return.

On September 17 at the Battle of Antietam, the two armies clashed in the bloodiest single day in American history, and suffered some 23,000 casualties. Lee soon retreated across the Potomac thus ending his first invasion of the North.

Follow in the footsteps of Gens Lee and McClellan along the Civil War Trails Antietam Campaign: Lee Invades Maryland, a 90-mile tour route that allows you to explore the stories of triumph and tragedy at more than 60 Civil War sites. Please travel carefully as you enjoy the beauty and history along the trail.

Type of site: Other Military Site Address: WV Welcome Center I 81 Southbound M/M 25 Falling Waters, WV USA 25419 Phone Number: 304-274-2281 Admission Charged: No Charge Website: [Web Link] Driving Directions: I 81 Southbound from MD.

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