Short Essay On Antietam

On July 1, 1863, the biggest battle of the Civil War started. This most famous and most important Civil War Battle occurred over three hot summer days, July 1 to July 3, 1863, around the small market town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Before the battle, Union general Ulysses S. Grant started a siege of Vicksburg which would shut down the Mississippi River. Meanwhile, major cities in the North such as Philadelphia, Baltimore and even Washington were under threat of attack from General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia which had crossed the Potomac River and marched into Pennsylvania. The Union and Confederate army both had around 75,000 soldiers. With both armies on a collision course, the days leading up to the war were

As the bloodiest single-day in American history, the battle of Antietam shifted Union confidence sufficiently enough to serve as an early turning point in the Civil War while simultaneously discouraging international support towards the Confederacy. On September 17, 1862, Major General George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac met General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at Antietam Creek in what would become one of the most significant early battles of the Civil War.

In the summer of 1862, the confederates found themselves as the aggressors. In the Eastern Theater, Lee’s army of Northern Virginia had driven the Union Armies away from the Confederate capital, Richmond and was preparing to invade Maryland. In the western theater, the confederate armies were also moving strong, into Kentucky. Due to the war France and Britain were feeling the strain as cotton from the southern states was starting to diminish.

The Battle of Antietam took place on 17 September 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland. The battle was fought between General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac. Although the battle lasted only 12 hours, it was a significant point of the American Civil War, as well as the deadliest day in history. Tactically the battle was considered a draw, but the North claimed strategic victory and President Lincoln published the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing hundreds of thousands of slaves.

The American Civil War had as many as 650,000 casualties, naming itself as America’s bloodiest war. The beginning of the end started when Union armies outran Gordon’s regiment and had already captured 6,000 troops prior to the battle at Sayler's Creek. Union troops had overthrew the Confederate capital of Richmond, due to this the North had Lee running for the hills and Grant was not about to let Lee off that easily. It doesn’t help that the Confederates had many soldiers leaving the army, so really there really wasn’t a Confederate army, in all honesty they were a band of jolly old rebels. Grant chased Lee through the backwoods of Virginia and eventually into Appomattox Court House, Lee who was low on supplies, soldiers, and ammunition, he knew that he didn’t have a

These two battles ended in Union victories that demoralized the Confederate army and population while promoting northern public opinion about winning the war. The Confederates lost economic, political, and military support from Britain after they were defeated. They lost many troops in both battles. General Lee’s Army of Virginia was almost completely destroyed at

The battle of Antietam was the turning point in American history pertaining to the possible division of the nation, the abolishment of slavery, and the success of a democratic government. The battle analysis examines the strengths and weaknesses of the Confederate and Union army leading up to the battle on September 17, 1862. Union and Confederate forces suffered severe losses totaling 22,719 casualties, ending with Confederate forces withdrawing to the south. Broken and unmotivated, Union and Confederate soldiers lost morale and drive to finish the battle. The fact that Lee withdrew from the battle of Antietam was enough of a victory for President Lincoln to justify the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, and prevented the Confederate army from gaining foreign support. The battle analysis of Antietam assesses the invasion of Maryland, human intelligence assets utilized, and failures on both sides of the battlefield. This battle analysis will depict an alternate outcome of the Confederate army winning at the battle of Antietam (Cannon, 1994).

Lee’s army. Union soldier, Joseph E. Hooker, initiated an attack on the Hagerstown Turnpike (Ballard 25). At dawn, Joseph Hooker led approximately 8,600 men to battle. However, Hooker stopped the infantry unit upon noticing that the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia concealed a range of bayonets in a cornfield (Ballard 30). Thus, a fiery battle erupted along the Antietam Creek. Soldiers beat their fellow man with rifle butts and pierced their bodies with bayonets. Additionally, The Dunker Church at Antietam became a bloody remembrance of the battle (Ballard 40). By midday, the town was covered with the carnage of Union and Confederate soldiers. A sunken street, known as Bloody Lane, was emblazoned with the bloodshed of 5,600 casualties. On the evening of September seventeenth, the battle had concluded. According to historians, the Battle of Antietam yielded more casualties than any other day in the history of the nation’s military. Specifically, over twenty thousand casualties were accounted for. However, President Abraham Lincoln expressed disappointment in General George B. McClellan’s military performance during the Battle of Antietam. For example, he stated that a “rationalist mindset” that permeated McClellan’s strategic acts “led him to miss a great chance to destroy Lee’s army” (Lincoln 19). Furthermore, Lincoln grew increasingly disenchanted with McLellan’s militant skills as he declined to attack General Lee along the Potomac River. On November seventh of 1862, President Lincoln dismissed General McClellan from the Army of the Potomac and the Maryland Campaign was dissolved. Consequently, the Battle of Antietam was strategically deemed a Union

The first Battle of Bull Run also known as Manassa was one of the deadliest wars. The battle of Bull Run took place at Manassas Junction, Virginia near Bull Run Creek. The generals in this war were, Brigadier General Irvin McDowell which was the union leadership & General P.G.T Beauregard which was the Confederate leadership. Approximately there were 4,000 deaths. The victor of this war were the confederate.

One of McClellan goals was to have crushed Lee’s army. The 1st Texas army lost 82% of their own men during the Battle of Antietam, this battle was the highest casualty rate for any Confederate regiment out of any of the battles of the Civil War. George McClellan was slow, cautious and defensive. The battle ground Lee had was suited for his defense. Lee withdrew on September 18 in defeat. The battle of Antietam was the bloodiest day in American history.Alex Gardner took pictures of the battlefield and got pictures of the dead and wounded. It was on an early morning morning of September 17, 1862. It was called Antietam because the names, places after their

General Robert Lee was on his way to Maryland where he planned on attacking the North, he thought that side they owned slaves as well and the south was winning that they'd gladly let them in and sympathize with them. When General McClullan found out about Robert Lee's plans he planned a surprise attack on them in South mountain because he knew that Lee had divided his army. Once the battle was over more than about 20,000 soldier were either left dead or wounded on both sides. Even though no one really won the battle the north considered the battle a success due to the fact that that they prevented the south from entering Northern Territory. Historians considered the Battle of Antietam a turning point in the Civil War president Lincoln had

The Confederate invasion of the North in September of 1862 was an attempt by Robert E. Lee to swing the war in favor of the South. The main reason for the Confederate invasion was that the British were on the verge of recognizing the Confederacy if they could show it could hold its own, and Lee was anxious to provide a cornerstone for the Confederacy to build upon. The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest day in American history and was a major blow to the Army of Northern Virginia and the morale of the south. This is the tableau against which our story unfolds.

This complicated war full of bloodshed and death started merely by an assault of a Confederate left flank. Deemed the single most deadly day in American military history, the Union (who had more men) swept many attacks towards the Confederate army. Even though the South had more spirit and useful tactics the sheer numbers of the Union made this battle one to remember. They fought for many hours in Miller's cornfield to then make a last stand at Antietam Creek. With the only sign of cover being trees and the stone bridge which was worn by bullets and bodies you could tell this fight was going to be bad. The Union captured the bridge and with a final push and counter attack from another Union division the Union were victorious and were another

The battle starts at the lower bridge over Antietam creek. This battle was now led by General. Burnside instead of McClellan. General Burnside told his soldiers to go down the hill and they all got shot one by one. About 500 people died before General Burnside realized he had to change his plan. Confederates were greatly outnumbered but had a high advantage of being on top of the hill, The Union soldiers were easily picked off as they tried to cross the bridge . General Burnside came up with a plan to sneak around the back and attack. That plan worked perfectly. At the end of this battle ( eleven hours long) there was around 20,000 casualties. McClellan should have ended it, when he has the chance to do so.

In all honesty, I was not very good at keeping up with the war. Since I was not fighting in the war, I did not hear about many battles. Through the grapevine, I was able to hear about some of the major battles, especially the Confederate victories. It seemed like in the east, the Confederacy would always come out victorious: The First Manassas, The Seven Days’ Battles, The Second Manassas, the Battle of Fredericksburg; in the west, the Union beat us: Shiloh, New Orleans. I almost thought the Confederacy had this war in the bag: “We’re going to win this!,” I would hear a lot of people say. But, there was one battle everyone heard about: the Battle of Sharpsburg in September of 1862, or the Battle of Antietam, as the Northerners like to call it. Supposedly it was the bloodiest battle in the entire war. It was a Union victory. Though I was not there, this battle changed my life. This single battle led to Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. This law banned slavery. I lost all of my slaves. At this point, I thought “We already lost.” The whole point of us fighting this war was to maintain our rights and independence from the Union. They had just removed our right to own property. Yet, the war was nowhere near over.