On January 1, Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson marched north in bitter cold from Winchester to Bath with the objective of disrupting traffic on the B&O Railroad and C&O Canal.

On January 5, after skirmishing with the retiring Federals, Jackson's force reached the Potomac River opposite the garrisoned town of Hancock, Maryland. His artillery fired on the town from Orrick's Hill but did little damage. Union garrison commander Brig. Gen. F.W. Lander refused Jackson's demands for surrender.

Jackson continued the bombardment for two days while unsuccessfully searching for a safe river crossing.

The Confederates withdrew and marched on Romney, in western Virginia, on January 7.

Result(s): Inconclusive

Location: Washington County, Maryland; Morgan County, West Virginia

Campaign: Jackson's Operations against the B&O Railroad (January 1862)

Date(s): January 5-6, 1862

Principal Commanders: Brig. General F.W. Lander [US]; Maj. General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson [CS]

Forces Engaged: Brigades

Estimated Casualties: 25 total

The Gleam Of Bayonets: The Battle Of Antietam And Robert E. Lee's Maryland Campaign, September, 1862
Antietam turned the tide of the Civil War in favor of the North and delivered the first major defeat to Robert E. Lee's Confederate army. The gentleness and patience of Lincoln, the vacillations of McClellan, and the grandeur of Lee—all unfold before the reader

Maryland In The Civil War
After Fort Sumter, the Lincoln administration could ill afford to lose Maryland, especially its principal city Baltimore, site of the first blood spilled when a mob attacked the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment. Maryland was the site of the greatest single day's carnage in American

Maryland Voices of the Civil War
Maryland Voices of the Civil War draws upon hundreds of letters, diaries, and period newspapers to portray the passions of a wide variety of people -- merchants, slaves, soldiers, politicians, freedmen, women, clergy, slave owners, civic leaders, and children caught in the emotional vise of war.

First and Second Maryland Cavalry, C.S.A
An indepth look at Maryland and her divided loyalties during the Civil War. Brother against brother epitomizes the state of affairs in Maryland. Men, loyal to the South, crossed the Potomac river at great personal peril to join Confederate ranks.

Kindle Available

Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam
James M. McPherson states in his concise chronicle, it may well have been the pivotal moment of the war . The South had reversed the war's momentum during the summer, and was on not only on the "brink of military victory" but about to achieve diplomatic recognition by European nations

Kindle Available

Why Confederates Fought
Family and Nation in Civil War Virginia
The Southern view of slavery as essential to the Southern economy is reiterated. Slavery was the great Southern irony, viewed as a foundation of white liberty. From that perspective, the Confederate soldier's choice was simply victory or death

Too Afraid to Cry: Maryland Civilians in the Antietam Campaign
The children, women, and men living in the village of Sharpsburg and on surrounding farms. The dramatic experiences of these Maryland citizens, stories that have never been told, and also examines the political web holding together Unionists and Secessionists, many of whom lived under the same roofs

Antietam The Soldiers Battle
In "Antietam: The Soldiers' Battle," author John Michael Priest tells the story of the American Civil War's bloodiest day using a compilation of eyewitness accounts. The book also includes 72 sketch maps of the battle. Between the plentiful maps and the chronologically-arranged accounts, the reader can follow the battle.