Introduction
The Battle of Antietam was fought near the city of Sharpsburg, Maryland on September 17, 1862. This was Lee's chance to gain the victory that would catch the attention of the countries in Europe. Lee was hoping that Antietam would be the final victory of a chain of many consecutive victories including the Second Battle of Bull Run and the Peninsula Campaign. Winning at Antietam would mean that England and France might come to the aid of the Confederacy.
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September 13, 1862
A copy of Lee's Special Orders 191 are found at an old campsite by a Union soldier and delivered to McClellan. At 10 PM Lee catches wind of some excitement at the Union camp and promptly warns James Longstreet to start moving towards Boonsboro. McClellan did not act even when he had information. If he had acted earlier, before the Confederate Army changed their plans and were already moving, then both armies might have avoided what was to come at Antietam.
September 15, 1862
On the left is the route of Lee's route to Sharpsburg. On September 15, Lee stopped the retreat and ordered his men to concentrate on the area near Sharpsburg, Maryland. Lee was originally aiming for Harrisburg but was cut off by Union troops. This was the first time Lee brought his army over the Potomac and onto Union soil, taking the offensive stand. He was hoping that the Confederates could get Maryland and Kentucky to secede so that Washington D.C. would be completely surrounded by Confederate territory.
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September 16, 1862
On this day, Longstreet and Walker's divisions of the Confederate army arrived at the site of the battlefield. Lee sent word to McLaws and Hills to hurry. The Union I and XII Corps crossed Antietam Creek later that evening and made contact with Lee’s left flank at 6 pm McClellan ordered Franklin to move his troops from Pleasant Valley to Sharpsburg. The site of the battlefield was only a cornfield which is why the battle of Antietam is sometimes referred to as the "Cornfield" battle.
September 17, 1862 - Dawn
General Joseph Hooker led the Union’s First Corps on an attack down Hagerstown Turnpike,
aiming for Dunker Church. Confederate troops were waiting in David Miller's cornfield. |
September 17, 1862 - 7AM
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September 17, 1862- 9:30 AM
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General Hooker stopped his troops when he saw the glint of Lee's bayonets. He ordered his four batteries into formation and they fired at the southerners who subsequently fired back. Control of the battlefield changed more than 8 times as a bloodbath occurred. Each side were pushed back and then moved forward. Miller's cornfield is thought to be the bloodiest patch of land in America.
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General Edwin Sumner of the Union army led a division of more than 5,000 men into battle with the intention of moving into the West Woods and attacking General Robert E. Lee’s left flank. But as the Union moved through the woods, the Confederate fired at them from three different locations. In less than 20 minutes, the Union suffered more than 2,000 casualties.
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September 17, 1862 - 9:30 AM- 1:00 PM
There is fighting at Sunken Road which yields about 5,600 casualties. Sunken Road was named because years of erosion and travelers made the road several feet lower than its original level. After the fighting, the road was given a new nickname: Bloody Lane.
Men in blue fired down the sunken lane, killing and wounding countless men in a position that to this point had served the Southerners well." |
September 17, 1862 - 10:00 Am - 1:00 PM
While the fighting at Sunken Road is going on, Union General Ambrose Burnside is ordered to attack Lee’s right flank. Burnside sends General Isaac Rodman downstream to cross
Antietam Creek and attack Confederate troops on the west side of the stream. It takes the Union three attempts to cross Rohrbach’s Bridge which is at southernmost crossing of the creek. This bridge was renamed the Burnside Bridge after this battle. Regiment after regiment, and even brigades were brought up against them; and yet they held their ground, and the bridge too, until they had fired their last cartridge.” |
September 17, 1862 - 3 PM
Burnside takes control of the bridge. He and his men form a mile wide line that pushes back the Confederate troops towards Sharpsburg.
The map on the right shows how Burnside and his men crossed the Antietam Creek and began to push the Confederates farther and farther back. September 17, 1862 - 4 PM
General A.P. Hill of the Confederate Army arrives with his men for reinforcements from Harper's Ferry. They attacks Burnside and his men from the left flank, forcing the Union troops to fall back on the west bank of Antietam Creek. Burnside askes McClellan for reinforcement troops which McClellan famously responds, "I can do nothing more. I have no infantry." even though more than a third of the Union troops were still in reserve. Burnside's men ends up spending the rest of the time defending the bridge they had taken hours earlier.
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September 17, 1862 - 5:30
The fighting ends at first with no clear winner. September 18, 1862 Lee begins to withdraw his army towards the Potomac River September 19, 1862 Lee and his army complete the crossing of the Potomac. McClellan does not pursue them and subsequently is replaced as general-in-chief of the Army of the Potomac by Ambrose Burnside. |
Conclusion
The Union won the Battle of Antietam since the Confederacy retreated. However, it did not seem like a real victory for either side, since both lost many people. 23,000 were wounded and 3,600 people died, making Antietam the bloodiest single day war. This battle was a turning point in the Civil War because it allowed Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation which changed the purpose of the war. It was also successful in stopping Lee's plan.