Information Panel: Closing the Doors

The Confederates had the United States troops surrounded.

NPS/ Claire Hassler

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Resting with his troops in Frederick, Maryland, 20 miles northeast of here, Confederate General Robert E. Lee had hoped the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry would abandon its post when he invaded the North. They did not. Lee decided to attack. He divided his army into four columns, sending three to seize the three mountains overlooking Harpers Ferry. On the first day of the battle, the Confederates captured Loudoun Heights, south of the Shenandoah River. North of the Potomac, Union forces abandoned Maryland Heights after a nine hour defense. "Stonewall" Jackson seized Schoolhouse Ridge to the west, closing all means of escape. Bolivar Heights, the mountain you stand on, remained in Union control. The Confederates were now poised to attack the surrounded garrison.

Photo Caption: Union Commander Dixon Miles faced a great disadvantage. Outnumbered nearly two to one by the surrounding Confederates, many of Miles's troops were raw recruits, untrained and undisciplined, who had been in the army for only three weeks.