Information Panel: Fortifying Bolivar Heights

Federal soldiers dug earthworks while encamped on Bolivar Heights.

NPS/ Claire Hassler

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After the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, General Lee withdrew his Confederate army back into Virginia. Instead of pursuing Lee, Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan reoccupied the Harpers Ferry area with nearly 60,000 soldiers.
While McClellan paused to reorganize and re-equip his army, President Abraham Lincoln visited here on October 1 to review the troops on BolivarHeights and encourage McClellan to move against the Confederates. The Federals advanced south one month after Lincoln's visit, leaving only 5,000 soldiers to garrison Harpers Ferry.
The Confederates invaded the North again in the summers of 1863 and 1864, forcing Union troops on BolivarHeights to withdraw to stronger fortifications on MarylandHeights. This left Harpers Ferry open to the Confederates, resulting in the destruction of the railroad bridge and capture of Federal supplies.
In August, 1864, Union Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan's army occupied this area. Sheridan's men constructed a 2-mile line of earthwork defenses, connecting six artillery redoubts, along the crest of BolivarHeights. These fortifications secured Harpers Ferry as a Union supply base for the rest of the war.
Quotation: ". . .the heights became dotted with tents, and at night . . . the neighboring hills were aglow with hundreds of watchfires . . . ." Joseph Barry, Harpers Ferry resident October 1862
Illustration Caption: Lincoln reviewing Union troops on Bolivar Heights, October 1, 1862.
Illustration Caption: Federal soldiers dug earthworks while encamped on Bolivar Heights. The trail in front of you follows the shallow traces of these rifle-pits for 1â,„4 mile to one of the artillery positions, called redoubts.