Excerpt from Antietam National Battlefield Site, Maryland Because his army lacked the strength to assault Washington, Gen eral Lee had decided on September 3 to invade Maryland. North of the Potomac his army would be a constant threat to Washing ton. This would keep Federal forces out of Virginia, allowing that ravaged land to recuperate from the campaigning that had stripped it. It would give Maryland's people, many of whom sympathized with the South, a chance to throw off the Northern yoke. From Maryland, Lee could march into Pennsylvania, disrupting the east-west rail communications of the North, carrying the brunt of war into that rich land, drawing on its wealth to refit his army. Lee's army crossing the Potomac; Union scouts in foreground. From wartime sketch by A. R. Waud. Courtesy, Library of Congress. Larger political possibilities loomed, too. The North was war weary. If, in the heartland of the Union, Lee could inflict a seri ous defeat on Northern arms, the Confederacy might hope for more than military dividends - the result might be a negotiated peace on the basis of Southern independence. Too, a successful campaign might induce England and France to recognize the Confederacy and to intervene for the purpose of mediating the conflict. So it was that the hopes of the South rode with this Army of Northern Virginia as it marched into Frederick, Md., on Sep tember 7. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.