John Marchetti

Battle of Crampton's Gap

At dawn on September 15, 1862, Union Army Major General William Franklin, commander of the Sixth Corps, peered out across Pleasant Valley towards Harpers Ferry. Arrayed before him, Confederate Brigadier General Lafayette McLaws had deployed a mixed force of six brigades. Franklin “made an examination of the position, and concluded that it would be suicidal to attack it.” Instead, he decided to simply wait and watch the Confederate forces as Harpers Ferry surrendered and Lee began to reunite his army along Antietam Creek.