C & O Canal Aqueduct-Stonewall Changes Course - Williamsport, MD - Civil War Discovery Trail Sites on Waymarking.com

C & O Canal Aqueduct-Stonewall Changes Course— Antietam Campaign 1862 —On September 10, 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee ordered Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson and a detachment of 15,000 men, about two-thirds of the Army of Northern Virginia, to capture the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry and secure Confederate lines of communication with Virginia. At first, Jackson planned to follow the Sharpsburg Road from Frederick to the Potomac River, but then he decided to cross the river here at Williamsport, where he could easily engage the nearby Federal garrison at Martinsburg, Virginia. When Jackson’s column forded the river here on September 11, the outnumbered garrison fled to Harpers Ferry. By taking the longer route, however, Jackson found himself behind schedule. He did not capture Harpers Ferry until September 15 and rejoined Lee on the Antietam battlefield barely in time to save the Confederate army.

Type of site: Transportation Route or Facility Address: Located in the Conococheague Aqueduct section of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Park. Williamsport , MD USA 21795 Admission Charged: No Charge Website: [Web Link] Phone Number: Not listed Driving Directions: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   10/08/2021 Don.Morfe visited it