Hagerstown Pike

By maneuvering and gaining control of the Hagerstown Pike, Joseph Hooker's First Corps troops cut off General Lee's hopes for using a route to continue the campaign into Pennsylvania from this side of the Potomac River. The Mason-Dixon Line was about twenty miles away but Lee's focus shifted as he was still waiting for the greater proportion of his forces to arrive with Jackson. As it consolidated, he decided that his army could now make a major stand after Harpers Ferry fell.