ACW: Why Lee Invaded Maryland - “The Ninety-Day Turnaround”

After months of campaigning during the summer of 1862, General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia is outside the gates of Washington, having completed a 90-day turnaround in the war effort. The question now plaguing Lee’s thoughts is, what to do next? With the campaigning season not yet over, Lee must make a decision about his next move against the Union Army, and the decision he makes could affect the outcome of the entire war. Meanwhile, Union forces in and around Washington, demoralized from their string of defeats, are reinvigorated by the return of Major General George B. McClellan to command of the Army of the Potomac, and the “Young Napoleon“ will quickly go to work restoring the army’s confidence and fighting capabilities to face whatever move Lee makes next. Summer, 1862, is nearing its end, and with it, possibly the end of the war itself. What will Lee’s next move be? 0:00 Introduction 0:55 Recap of 1862 4:37 Lee’s plans for September