Turner’s Gap

Turner’s Gap was the scene of one of a series of battles for control of the mountain passes in the Battle of South Mountain during the Maryland Campaign of 1862.

The Battle of Turner’s Gap began at about noon on September 14, 1862 when the Union I Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, attempted to dislodge Confederate forces from the mountain pass. At about 4:00 p.m. two Union brigades attacked the extreme left flank of the Confederate position located atop two high knolls about a mile above the gap. A third brigade, commanded by Brig. Gen. John Gibbon, attacked a Confederate brigade, commanded by Alfred Colquitt, who defended the gap from behind a stone wall. The Union assault forced the Confederates from the knolls north of the gap, but as darkness fell the southerners maintained possession of Turner’s Gap with Gibbon bivouacked in their front. At about 10:00 p.m. Confederate General Lee ordered the soldiers defending the gap to retire toward Sharpsburg.