Williamsport, Md Retreat History

In the evening of July 3, 1863 General Robert E. Lee had a tough decision to make. Does he stay and fight another day or does he withdraw his troops back to the safety of Virginia to prepare to fight another day. After losing over 25,000 troops Lee decided to retreat to Virginia following his original path through the Town of Williamsport and across the Potomac River.

Most of the Rebel army and two long wagon trains would follow a route to Williamsport passing through Blue Ridge Summit, Leitersburg, and Hagerstown. Another part of the army, protected a wagon train mostly carrying 8-10,000 wounded.

While Lee and his Army travelled back to Williamsport they encountered the enemy at many locations to include Fairfield, Monterey Pass, Smithsburg, Leitersburg, Funkstown, Hagerstown, Boonsboro, St. James, and Williamsport. During this arduous march the skies opened up and it rained heavily and continuously for days causing flooding everywhere they went.  By the time that the first wagons arrived in Williamsport, the Confederates discovered the fords in Williamsport were impassable.and that Union cavalry had destroyed the pontoon bridge at Falling Waters.

For ten days Lee, with his battered and beaten down army occupied the areas of Hagerstown, Halfway, St. James, Downsville, and Williamsport and created an impenetratable defense line all the way from Falling Waters to Williamsport.

Two major battles occurred in the Williamsport area. On July 6, 1863 General Buford of the Union Cavalry sent forces to Williamsport to capture the 17 mile wagon train that had become trapped in Williamsport. Gen. John D. Imboden, who commanded the wagon train of the wounded, had his own brigade, two small regiments and a number of cannons for defense of the town. He also rounded up mismatched, injured, battered, and auxiliary soldier and provided them with a musket and ammunition. In a 3 hour battle that evening,  Imboden's fighters beat off Buford's attack and saved the wagons. Assisted by a very formidable artillery battery the brave men, under extremely adverse conditions fought off the attack from Buford and kept the wagon train safe in Williamsport.

On the morning of July 14, 1863, General George A. Custer's 7th Michigan cavalry attacked the Rebel rearguard near Falling Waters. Soon the nearby fields were covered with killed and injured soldiers from both sides.  General Pettigrew of the Confederate Army lay mortally wounded on the battlefield. One of General Pettigrew’s accomplishments was to be one of the highest ranking Confederate officers to make it over the high water mark and return alive at Pickett’s Charge on the fields of Gettysburg.

Williamsport was used by both the Confederate and Union armies during the time period of 1861 to 1865. For ten days in July of 1863 Williamsport was the center of Confederate activity and it could have been the location of the end of the war had some decisions been made differently.