 After the costly victories during the Seven Days Battles and at Second Manassas in August 1862, Lee had now lost a total of 30,000 of his approximately 92,000 troops within three months of becoming the Confederate's top general.Lee then planned to take his troops north into Maryland to destroy a critical railroad bridge across the Susquehanna River at Harrisburg in a letter written to President Davis.Lee even questioned his own plan, as he wrote, "I am aware that the movement is attended with much risk, yet I do not consider success impossible..." In addition, historians question Lee's aggressiveness to move his army to Maryland.