Battle of Antietam

The Battle of Antietam (known as the       Battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg
Battle of Sharpsburg in the South),
fought on Wednesday, September 17,     Conflict          American Civil War
1862 near Sharpsburg, Maryland, was    Date              September 17, 1862
the first major battle of the American
Civil War to take place on Northern    Place             Near Sharpsburg,
                                                         Maryland
soil. It was the bloodiest single-day
battle in American history, with over  Result            Union slight
20,000 soldiers killed or wounded.                       victory

                                                    Combatants
The Prelude
                                       United States of  Confederate States
Confederate General Robert E. Lee's    America           of America
with 40,000 men had entered Maryland                Commanders
for new supplies and fresh men. While
Major General George B. McClellan's    Major General
forces were moving to meet Lee, they   George B.         General Robert E.
discovered a mislaid copy of the       McClellan         Lee
detailed battle plans of Lee's army,                 Strength
wrapped around some cigars. McClellan  87,000 soldiers   40,000 soldiers
waited for some time before deciding
to take advantage of this extremely                 Casualties
valuable intelligence and position his 12,410            10,700
forces based on it. Critics have
accused him of throwing away a golden opportunity to easily defeat Lee
because of this delay.

The Battle

South of Sharpsburg, Lee deployed his army along Antietam Creek along a low
ridge. Gen. McClellan had 87,000 soldiers at his disposal.

The battle opened at dawn when Union Major General Joseph Hooker's artillery
opened fire on Lieutenant General Stonewall Jackson's men. When the latter
were reinforced, they attacked, but were driven back when Union Major
General Joseph Mansfield counterattacked.

In the center, bitter fighting raged along the sunken road between the men
of Union Major General Edwin Sumner's corps and those of Confederate Major
General D.H. Hill.

Southeast of the town, Major General Ambrose Burnside's troops, at 1:00,
finally succeeded in crossing a bridge over Antietam Creek against fierce
opposition of Georgians. At the end of the afternoon, Burnside threatened to
take Sharpsburg and envelop Lee's position; however, he blundered by wasting
troops and time to attempt to cross a bridge south of the town (later named
Burnside's Bridge), instead of crossing at one of the many fords nearby.
This allowed Major General A.P. Hill to bring his Light Division to
effectively halt the attack.

Losses had been heavy; over 12,000 Union troops and 10,000 Confederates were
casualties of this battle.

The Aftermath

Following the Battle of Antietam, President Lincoln announced his intention
to issue an Emancipation Proclamation. Although Lincoln had intended to do
so earlier, he was advised to make this announcement after a Union victory
to avoid the perception that it was issued out of desperation.

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