The Battle of Harpers Ferry was fought September 12–15, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. As Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia advanced into Maryland in the fall of 1862, Lee hoped to capture the Union at Harpers Ferry.  Surrounded on three sides by steep heights, the terrain at Harpers Ferry made it nearly impossible to defend, a problem made worse by the Union commander at Harpers Ferry