Battle of Camp Hill

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Battle of Camp Hill
Part of the War of Secession
Date 1 October 1862 Location Camp Hill, PA Result Decisive Confederate Victory
Combatants
United States of America	Confederate States of America
Commanders
George McClellan	Robert E. Lee

Maryland Campaign
South Mountain – Harpers Ferry – Camp Hill

The Battle of Camp Hill was a fictional military engagement of the American Civil War that is mentioned in several of Harry Turtledove's Timeline-191 series of books.

Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, is made out to be the site of a major battle between Robert E. Lee and George McClellan on October 1, 1862--the climactic battle of the war that ended the conflict in victory and independence for the Confederate States of America. The battle itself seems to be the reverse of the Battle of Antietam in that it is the Army of the Potomac that is in front of the river. General Lee wrecks the Army of the Potomac and destroys its only mode of escape by burning the only bridge behind it. Having smashed the Federal army, the Army of Northern Virginia moves on to occupy Philadelphia. The CSA then wins recognition from both Great Britain and France and independence from the USA.

James Longstreet held McClellan's forces in the center, Lafayette McLaws outflanked the Union on the left (McClellan's right), and Stonewall Jackson outflanked them on the right. On McClellan's left, D.H. Hill's division under Jackson succeeded in rounding the flank. McClellan had made the disastrous choice of accepting battle in front of a river with only one bridge nearby as a line of retreat. Once Jackson's artillery were far enough forward they shelled the bridge, cutting off all possibility of Union escape.