American Heritage

Colonel Dixon S. Miles' 43-year military career ended in disgrace at Harpers Ferry on September 15, 1862. His professional life before the Civil War did not foreshadow such an unfortunate end. Born in Baltimore County, Maryland, in 1804, Miles began his military training at West Point at the age of 15. He devoted his life to the army and entered the Mexican War as a captain in 1846. He earned two promotions for bravery and was one of only 22 colonels in the U.S. Army when the Civil War began in 1861. At the first battle of Bull Run, however, Colonel Miles was accused of drunkenness. Read more »

The future of the first Confederate military campaign into Northern territory depended entirely upon Robert E. Lee's plan to deal with the Union soldiers at Harpers Ferry. Before he could pursue his goal to invade Pennsylvania and destroy the Union army in a pitched battle, Lee had to eliminate the Federal garrison at Harpers Ferry. Lee's daring plan to capture Harpers Ferry divided his army into four parts separated by mountains and rivers. He knew that his soldiers were tired and poorly fed, and that many of them had been marching barefoot for six weeks. Read more »

On September 13, 1862, William B. Franklin became a key player in the Union effort to foil the first Confederate invasion of the North. General Franklin's orders included a series of lengthy and detailed instructions, not the least of which was the reinforcement of the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry. But before that could happen, Franklin had to seize Crampton's gap on top of South Mountain, drive the Confederates into the Potomac River to the south and prepare for the possibility of another enemy force marching toward him from the north. Franklin outnumbered his opponent almost four to one. Read more »