Battle of South Mountain

Battle of South Mountain; (Battle of Boonsboro Gap)
	Part of the American Civil War
	; Union Corps under General Franklin attacking Confederate troops at Crampton's gap, Harper's Weekly Oct 25 1862.
Date	September 14, 1862
Location	Frederick County and Washington County,; near Boonsboro, Maryland39°29′06″N 77°37′18″W / 39.48501°N 77.62161°W
Result	Union victory
Belligerents
United States	Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
George B. McClellan; Ambrose Burnside; William B. Franklin	Robert E. Lee; D. H. Hill
Strength
28,000	18,000
Casualties and losses
2,325 total; (443 killed, 1,807 wounded, 75 missing)	2,685 total; (325 killed, 1,560 wounded, 800 missing)

The Battle of South Mountain, known in several early Southern accounts as the Battle of Boonsboro Gap, was fought on September 14, 1862, as part of the Maryland campaign of the American Civil War. Three pitched battles were fought for possession of three South Mountain passes: Crampton's, Turner's, and Fox's Gaps.

Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, commanding the Union Army of the Potomac, needed to pass through these gaps in his pursuit of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's precariously divided Army of Northern Virginia.^[1]

Although the delay bought at South Mountain would allow him to reunite his army and forestall defeat in detail, Lee considered termination of the Maryland Campaign at nightfall.^[2]

^ Alexander, Ted (2011). The Battle of Antietam: The Bloodiest Day. Charleston, SC: The History Press. pp. 21–23. ISBN 9781609491796.
^ Harsh, Joseph L (1999). Taken at the Flood: Robert E. Lee and Confederate Strategy in the Maryland Campaign of 1862. Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press. p. 289. ISBN 9781606351888. The day has gone against us, and this army will go by Sharpsburg and cross the river.

[1] Alexander, Ted (2011). The Battle of Antietam: The Bloodiest Day. Charleston, SC: The History Press. pp. 21–23. ISBN 9781609491796.

[2] Harsh, Joseph L (1999). Taken at the Flood: Robert E. Lee and Confederate Strategy in the Maryland Campaign of 1862. Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press. p. 289. ISBN 9781606351888. The day has gone against us, and this army will go by Sharpsburg and cross the river.

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