What is a sovereign state?
o a country that is ruled by a monarch
a self-governing region in a federal government
o an independent country that makes its own laws
a defined territory with a democratic government

Hope this helps you - General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia entered the final stage of a protracted season of campaigning as it marched toward Maryland during the first week of September 1862. ... In taking his army across the Potomac River in early September, Lee had in mind strategic, logistical, and political factors.