Visit the place where the Civil War could have ended two years early, when a desperate defense saved General Lee’s army from disaster.
The Battle of Williamsport was fought on July 6, 1863 between Union cavalry commanded by Brig. Gens. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick and John Buford and Confederate forces commanded by Brig. Gens. John D. Imboden and Fitzhugh Lee outside Williamsport, Maryland during the American Civil War. This minor Confederate victory followed the Army of Northern Virginia’s retreat from Gettysburg and resulted in approximately 350 total casualties.
After three bloody days of fighting at Gettysburg, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee retreated southwest toward the Potomac River and Virginia. As the main army staggered toward Williamsport, Brig. Gen. John D. Imboden was tasked with managing its wagon train of thousands of wounded soldiers from the Battle of Gettysburg. He placed artillery on strategic high ground around Williamsport while hundreds of wagons waited to cross the flooded Potomac River.
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M.A. Kleen 