History Program Offered Sept 9th, Highway to War: Loudoun County and the Summer Campaigns of 1862

The Mosby Heritage Area Association, the nonprofit education and preservation organization, and NOVA Parks are pleased to offer the next installment of the Conversations in History series, “Highway to War: Loudoun County and the Summer Campaigns of 1862.” The program will be held at Rust Library, 380 Old Waterford Rd. NW, Leesburg, VA 20176, beginning at 2:00 p.m.

Rob Orrison and Kevin Pawlak, co-authors of the forthcoming To Hazard All: A Guide to the Maryland Campaign, 1862, published by Savas Beatie, will speak on the Civil War events that unfolded in Loudoun County in the summer and early fall of 1862.

In September of that year, Confederate soldiers marched across the county on their way into Maryland during Robert E. Lee’s first Confederate invasion of northern soil. This movement culminated in the bloodiest single day in American history, September 17, 1862, the Battle of Antietam, and led to the issuance of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.  Six weeks later, United States soldiers crossed the Potomac River once again during their return to Virginia. The new campaign prompted a series of battles in the Loudoun Valley, of which the sites are mostly preserved today. Following the program, historic Harrison Hall in Leesburg, meeting place of Robert E. Lee and his generals on September 5, 1862, will be open for guided tours.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call (540) 687-6681

The mission of the nonprofit Mosby Heritage Area Association, formed in 1995, is to help preserve the Northern Virginia Piedmont and increase public knowledge about this historic area. MHAA provides classroom history programs for elementary, middle, and high school students, sponsors lectures, programs, publications, guides, and field trips, and brings nationally known scholars to the area for its award-winning annual Civil War Conference. For more information, visit www.mosbyheritagearea.org.