M.A. Kleen

As Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia dug in around Williamsport, Maryland, Union Maj. Gen. George G. Meade weighed his options. Pressure from Washington, DC to attack Lee’s army while it was trapped in Maryland was enormous. Confederate engineers had erected an impressive network of earthworks, however, and the Union Army of the Potomac was still in bad shape after the Battle of Gettysburg. On the evening of July 12, 1863, Meade gathered his senior commanders at his headquarters at Antietam Bridge northwest of Boonsboro (today Devil’s Backbone County Park) for a council of war. By a firm majority, they rejected an outright attack and settled instead for a reconnaissance in force. This gave Robert E. Lee time to slip away.