Harper's Ferry is 55 miles northwest of Washington, D.C in the state of West Virginia. Harper's Ferry became a milling, manufacturing, and transportation center. It was made a famous place by John Brown in 1859. The outbreak of the war was when  Virginia seized the United States arsenal and armory at Harper's Ferry. Small union forces withdrew from the approach of Virginia. After the Confederate states destroyed the arsenal they had a military value. General Joseph E. Johnston occupied Harper's Ferry from April to June 1861. The union soldiers occupied the town in Sept. 15, 1862, while Robert E. Lee invaded  Maryland. Lee was defeated at Antietam, then a Union garrison again took charge. During Lee's campaign in Gettysburg on July 1863, Harper's Ferry remained under the Union' s control. In 1944 the historical park was established. That is Harper's Ferry.