Plan of the Rebel attack on Washington, D.C., July 11th and 12th, 1864.

As a diversionary measure to take some of the pressure off of besieged Petersburg, Confederate forces under Jubal Early launched a northern offensive beginning in late June 1864. After stops near Harper's Ferry and Shepherdstown, W. Va., and Frederick and Baltimore, Md., they reached the outskirts of Washington, D.C., by July 11. Reconnaissance showed the Union had begun some intensive reinforcement, so an attack planned for July 12 was postponed and then abandoned. Settling for several skirmishes near Fort Stevens, and burning the house of Montgomery Blair (Lincoln's Postmaster General), the Confederates withdrew the night of July 12th and recrossed the Potomac at Leesburg.