July 5, 1864 - Jubal Early crosses Blackford's Ford into Maryland

July 5, 1865

Jubal Early crosses Blackford's Ford into Maryland

Potomac River and C&O Canal - technically in Sharpsburg, MD; across from Shepherdstown, WV 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=154073

Blackford's Ford

Advance and Retreat

— Early's 1864 Attack on Washington —

In June 1864, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee sent Gen. Jubal A. Early's corps from the Richmond battlefields to the Shenandoah Valley to counter Union Gen. David Hunter's army. After driving Hunter into West Virginia, Early invaded Maryland to attack Washington, D.C., draw Union troops from Richmond, and release Confederate prisoners held at Point Lookout. The next day, Johnson sent Maj. Harry Gilmor's regiment to raid the Baltimore area. Union Gen. Lew Wallace delayed Early at the Battle of Monocacy on July 9. Federal reinforcements soon strengthened the capital's defenses. Early attacked there near Fort Stevens on July 11-12 and then withdrew to the Shenandoah Valley with the Federals in pursuit. He stopped them at Cold Springs on July 17-18. Despite failing to take Washington or free prisoners, Early succeeded in diverting Federal resources. 

The Confederate States of America, formed as Southern states seceded from the Union in 1860-1861, was located across the Potomac River during the Civil War. The river was, to Confederates, the boundary between two warring nations. You are standing in the United States here in Maryland.

On July 5, 1864, a column under Gen. Jubal A. Early crossed Blackford's Ford (named after a Maryland estate owner) here in the third and final Confederate invasion of Maryland and the North. Abandoning his plan to capture Harpers Ferry first, Early relied on the elements of speed and surprise to sow confusion among his adversaries and accomplish his goals: to attack Washington, draw Federal troops from the vicinity of Richmond, and free Confederate prisoners held at Point Lookout. Even moving with haste, it took Early's men until the next day to complete the crossing.

On two other occasions, Confederate armies invaded the North using this ford. After the bridges upstream from Washington were destroyed, natural fords replaced them as strategic crossing points. Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's men splashed across here during the Antietam Campaign in September 1862. Gen. Robert E. Lee's entire army retreated past here after the Battle of Antietam. During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, Lee's second invasion of the North began here. Like the other two invasions, Early's 1864 campaign was unsuccessful. His threat to Washington, 78 miles downstream from here, did draw Federal reinforcements from Richmond and Petersburg, but his attack had little effect on the Union campaign against the Confederate capital."

The marker and the C&O Canal

Rare appearance by the blog author 

This location on the C&O across from Shepherdstown was also where I first met up with the members of the Garfield Camp #1 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. It wasn't our last meeting! #UnionForever

Yes, this is also Boteler's Ford, as they call it from the other side of the river. The adjacent non-Civil War marker sums it up thusly:

During the Civil War the crossing, then Boteler's Ford, provided a location for frequent river and canal crossings by Confederate troops, most notably during the Antietam campaign in 1862