Blue & Gray Magazine: History and Tour Guide of Stonewall Jackson’s Battle of Harpers Ferry September 12-15, 1862 – by Dennis E. Frye

At the bottom of the “hole” where the Shenandoah River flows into the Potomac River is the village of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (which was Virginia in 1862). Towering over this confluence are Maryland Heights, Loudoun Heights, and Bolivar Heights. It all makes for wild, scenic beauty, but the town becomes virtually indefensible if enemy cannons are placed on the heights. In September 1862, Stonewall Jackson did exactly that. But Jackson was late. He was unable to meet Robert E. Lee’s stringent timetable for capturing Harpers Ferry, and the unprecedented loss of Lee’s Special Orders 191 – which detailed the Confederate invasion plan – compromised the operation and endangered the Confederate army. Often overshadowed by Antietam, the battle never would have occurred without Stonewall’s actions at Harpers Ferry.

This guide includes several color and black-and-white photographs and maps of the battlefields.

Paperback, 103 pages