Such had been the fate of General Pope.

PART V.

LEE INVADES MARYLAND.

I.

HIS DESIGNS.

The defeat of General Pope opened the way for movements not contemplated, probably, by General Lee, when he marched from Richmond to check the advance in Culpepper.  His object at that time was doubtless simply to arrest the forward movement of the new force threatening Gordonsville.  Now, however, the position of the pieces on the great chess-board of war had suddenly changed, and it was obviously Lee’s policy to extract all the advantage possible from the new condition of things.

He accordingly determined to advance into Maryland—­the fortifications in front of Washington, and the interposition of the Potomac, a broad stream easily defended, rendering a movement in that direction unpromising.  On the 3d of September, therefore, and without waiting to rest his army, which was greatly fatigued with the nearly continuous marching and fighting since it had left the Rapidan, General Lee moved toward Leesburg, crossed his forces near that place, and to the music of the bands playing the popular air, “Maryland, my Maryland,” advanced to Frederick City, which he occupied on the 7th of September.

Lee’s object in invading Maryland has been the subject of much discussion, one party holding the view that his sole aim was to surround and capture a force of nine or ten thousand Federal troops stationed at Harper’s Ferry; and another party maintaining that he proposed an invasion of Pennsylvania as far as the Susquehanna, intending to fight a decisive battle there, and advance thereafter upon Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Washington.  The course pursued by an army commander is largely shaped by the progress of events.  It can only be said that General Lee, doubtless, left the future to decide his ultimate movements; meanwhile he had a distinct and clearly-defined aim, which he states in plain words.

His object was to draw the Federal forces out of Virginia first.  The movement culminating in the victory over the enemy at Manassas had produced the effect of paralyzing them in every quarter.  On the coast of North Carolina, in Western Virginia, and in the Shenandoah Valley, had been heard the echo of the great events in Middle and Northern Virginia.  General Burnside’s force had been brought up from the South, leaving affairs at a stand-still in that direction; and, contemporaneously with the retreat of General Pope, the Federal forces at Washington and beyond had fallen back to the Potomac.  This left the way open, and Lee’s farther advance, it was obvious, would now completely clear Virginia of her invaders.  The situation of affairs, and the expected results, are clearly stated by General Lee: 

“The war was thus transferred,” he says, “from the interior to the frontier, and the supplies of rich and productive districts made accessible to our army.  To prolong a state of affairs in every way desirable, and not to permit the season for active operations to pass without endeavoring to inflict other injury upon the enemy, the best course appeared to be the transfer of the army into Maryland.”