We’ll be kicking off July by looking at how and when the idea of invading Maryland occurred. On July 7, Dr. Alex Rossino will present – Before September: The Origin of the 1862 Maryland Campaign
Confederate military and political leaders hatched multiple plans for an invasion of Maryland before Lee’s army crossed the Potomac in September 1862. In this talk, Dr. Rossino documents those plans and the impact they had on Lee’s decision to enter the state.
Dr. Alexander B. Rossino resides in Washington County, Maryland. An award-winning independent historian, Dr. Rossino earned his degree from Syracuse University and worked at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C from 1994 to 2003. He is the author of Their Maryland: The Army of Northern Virginia from the Potomac Crossing to Sharpsburg in September 1862 (Savas Beatie, 2021), Calamity at Frederick: Robert E. Lee, Special Orders No. 191, and Confederate Misfortune on the Road to Antietam (Savas Beatie, 2023) and has published several articles on the Maryland Campaign. He has co-authored The Tale Untwisted: General George B. McClellan, the Maryland Campaign, and the Discovery of Lee’s Lost Orders (Savas Beatie, 2022) with Gene Thorp. Alex has also written a two-part series of historically accurate Civil War novels published by Savas Beatie, Six Days in September: A Novel of Lee’s Army in Maryland, 1862 (2017) and The Guns of September: A Novel of McClellan’s Army in Maryland, 1862 (2024).
Come join leading historians and scholars as they discuss intriguing topics about their latest works and research on the Maryland Campaign and the Civil War during our Civil War Summer Lecture Series. See the complete 2025 schedule.
These indoors programs are held in McKinley Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m. The church is located at 209W Main Street with a small parking area off the alley. More parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. These lectures free and open to the public. Each week we hold a drawing in which the proceeds support the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Be sure to check our Facebook page for updates and changes to the schedule.