Maryland, My Maryland - Giclee Canvas Print by Mort Kunstler

Potomac Crossing, June 25, 1863

It was one of the war’s most dramatic moments.  In late June of 1863, General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia forded the Potomac River into Maryland, heading to Pennsylvania in what Lee hoped would be a decisive victory on Northern soil. The troops of General James J. Pettigrew’s Brigade crossed on June 25th at Shepherdstown, Virginia. With shoes, clothing and cartridge boxes slung on their rifles and held high above their heads, the men waded to the opposite shore. There someone began singing “Maryland, My Maryland.” The 26th North Carolina Infantry’s regimental band took up the tune and continued to play it until thousands of soldiers were across. It was a triumphant moment for the men in gray and butternut, but just miles ahead across the Pennsylvania border lay a quiet crossroads hamlet called Gettysburg.  There the great battle that Lee sought would be waged, but it would not end in Southern victory.  Instead, it would prove to be the high water mark of the Confederacy.