14 sept 1862 año - Battle of South Mountain

Descripción:

Although it has long languished in the shadows cast by Antietam, the September 14, 1862, Battle of South Mountain was in itself a battle of great importance and profound consequence. It was the first major battle fought north of the Potomac and it was there-and not at Antietam-where Lee’s first invasion of Union territory was initially met-and turned back. It was a daylong fight, spread out across many miles of rugged, mountainous terrain, as the two sides slugged it out for control of several key mountain passes. Total casualties exceeded 5,000 men, killed, wounded, or captured, a number comparable to those lost at First Bull Run. By day’s end, George McClellan and his Army of the Potomac emerged triumphant; their first major victory of the war. Conversely, and for the first time since he assumed army command three-and-a-half months earlier, Robert E. Lee suffered a serious battlefield defeat. That night, in ordering a retreat from the mountain, Lee also decided to bring an end to his invasion north. Lee’s retreat took him some eight miles westward across the Antietam Creek where he hoped to regain his lost initiative and score a victory on Union soil. As at South Mountain, however, here again Lee was defeated at the hands of McClellan and his victory-flushed Army of the Potomac.