by a full day. After hearing of the retreat, Grant, exercising his powers as general-in-chief, put Maj. Gen. E. O. C. Ord in command of Wallace’s troops. (Wallace did not learn that he had been replaced until July 11, after his forces reached Baltimore; however, he still retained responsibility for the administration of the Middle Department.) When government officials became aware of the efforts that Wallace and his men had made to save Washington, the situation changed. Wallace was restored to full command of VIII Corps and the Middle Department on July 28. With Wallace's retreat to Baltimore, the road lay open to Washington. On July 10 the Confederates began the march toward the Union capital. By midday on Monday, July 11, Early arrived at Fort Stevens, from where he could see the dome of the U.S. Capitol through his glasses. With his troops straggling behind him, exhausted from the heat and the long march, Early decided to delay the attack on the fort until July 12. Although artillery exchanges and skirmishes occurred on July 11, prior to the full-scale attack, Early was too late. VI Corps, the Union troops that Grant had dispatched to Washington, had already arrived and was prepared to defend the city. The Confederate infantry, reduced to 8,000 men, was unable to continue. By July 14 Early had crossed the Potomac at White's Ferry into Virginia. The battle at Monocacy cost Early a day's march and his chance to capture Washington. Thwarted in the attempt to take the Union capital, the Confederates retreated into Virginia, ending their last campaign to carry the war into the North. Union forces in the area pursued Early, but due to a divided military command, they were unable to defeat him. In response, Grant formed the Middle Military Division, covering Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and the Shenandoah Valley, to coordinate the offense against Confederate forces in the valley. General Early wrote in a report of the 1864 campaign: Grant assessed Wallace's delaying tactics at Monocacy in his memoirs: In late July, Wallace gave orders to collect the bodies of the dead and bury them on the battlefield. He also proposed a monument to be erected on the site with an inscription that would read: "These men died to save the National Capital, and they did save it." (Wallace's proposed monument was never built, but five others were