Our country was begun with the concept of equality for all men - and yet the United States was one of the last countries in the world to end slavery. The controversy left by this simmered in the new country until it errupted into all out war. The southern states wanted to secede so that they could continue the ownership of slaves, which was a vital part of their economy. The North, afraid that this might lead to the disintegration of the Union, would not allow this.

The Civil War began in 1861 at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. A major characteristic of the war was the repeated attempts by the Confederate army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Gen. Robert E. Lee, to invade the North. One such attempt, in 1862, ended in the battle of Antietam, Maryland. The second invasion of the North ended with the defeat of the Confederate army in the epic battle of Gettysburg in 1863. A third attempt was made by Gen. Jubal Early in 1864, in which his troops marched through and skirmished in Montgomery County, Maryland.