The Battle Of Antietam : The Bloodiest Battle

McClellan had proven throughout the Peninsula Campaign to be an incredibly timid opponent. He had been deceived time and again into believing that he was vastly outnumbered when the Southern forces were of similar size to his own. Lee's aggressiveness had proven successful against him in every previous engagement, and Malvern Hill looked to be no different. However, his opponent was not McClellan, who” rode to Haxall’s Landing.. and determined the site of the Army’s new base” (Santoro, 191). As a result, Fitz John Patrick commanded Union forces at Malvern Hill (Krick). He was not intimidated by the Confederate offensive. This confusion over the nature of the enemy commander proved to be another major blow to the Army of Northern Virginia's assault. Had the enemy commander been more timid, he may have failed to reinforce the lines under assault with the reserve because he believed the Southern attack is a feint, a mistake McClellan would make at Antietam. Had this occurred, the Confederate attack might have met with more

In 1800s, there was a war that happened that caused many people to die in the war, which was Civil War. The Civil War was a war that was fought between the Union and Confederate parts of United States. The Union was in the North, and the Confederates were in the South. There were many reasons why the battles were fought. During the Civil War, the president was Abraham Lincoln. There were many reasons why the war was fought, but the main reason was to keep the country together. Before the war, the North and South had some conflicts. During the Civil War, the slavery was one issue why the war was fought too. There were many battles that were fought between the North and the South. Most of the battles were fought in the South. Among the battles of the Civil War, there was an important battle called the Battle of Antietam. This battle was also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg. The battle of Antietam took place on September 17, 1862. This battle was fought at Antietam Creek that was close to the village of Sharpsburg, Maryland. The South was led by a general named Robert E. Lee. He was one of the greatest general on the Confederate side.

In his book written several years after the war, McClellan’s remarks on Burnside clearly depict his disdain for the subordinate General, “I think that his weak mind was turned; that he was confused in action; and that subsequently he did not know what had occurred, and was talked by his staff into any belief they chose” (McClellan, G. B. 1887). Instead of fostering mutual trust and respect, he provided unclear and biased guidance to his subordinate leaders resulting in confusion, angst, and eventually he lost control of the battle around mid-day.

McClellan’s men were ordered to cross over south mountain and quickly found that Lee had fortified this area. McClellan pushed through and took this area as a victory. Since Lee knew of McClellan’s fortune in finding the 191 orders he quickly began

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.

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

As a result of all the casualties, the Union won the Battle of Antietam. McClellan and Burnsides knew the Confederate’s intensions. McClellan and Burnsides battle Lee to a gridlock. The Union won because they already knew The Confederacy’s plan to overtake the Union. In the Battle of Antietam, no one had an advantage, so therefore anyone could have won. The biggest mistake that was made by the north was that they allowed Lee to escape. This wasn't just like any other battle where the Union cut off the Confederate and suffocated them. This was by far the second bloodiest battle in the civil war. The Union killed 1,550 soldiers, wounded 7,750, and captured 1,020. However, the Confederate, they killed 2,100 Union soldiers, wounded 9,550, and

The Battle of Antietam took place on September 16, 1862. Major General George B. McClellan’s Union Army of the Potomac confronts Robert E. Lee’s army of Northern Virginia in Sharpsburg Maryland. On the morning of September 17 a Union corps launched a powerful attack on Lee’s left flank thus beginning the Battle of Antietam. This first attack was led by Major General Joseph Hooker’s. This battle was named the single bloodiest day in American history. Both the Union and Confederates led extremely violent attacks towards each other in Miller’s cornfield and also the West Woods. Despite the Unions advantage in numbers Stonewall Jackson’s army held their ground that morning near the Dunker Church. In the meantime in the center of the battlefield

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

The Battle of Fredericksburg falls in a long list of failures of the Army of the Potomac during the first year of the American Civil War. Following the Battle of Antietam the Northern Army had the opportunity to defeat Lee’s army. However, Northerners, were shocked by Lee’s escape following this battle on 17 September 1862, and were further upset by Major General George B. McClellan’s procrastination in pursuing Lee and allowing General J.E.B. Stuarts daring cavalry raid into Pennsylvania around Gettysburg (10-12 October 1862). McClellan’s failure to pursue Lee’s Army is mainly due to his own lack of confidence, believing that he doesn’t have enough men or material in order to defeat the Army of Virginia. President Lincoln had finally

The Battle of Antietam could have been a devastating and fatal blow to the Confederate Army if Gen. McClellan acted decisively, took calculated risks, and veered away from his cautious approach to war. There are many instances leading up to the battle and during the battle in which he lacks the necessary offensive initiative to effectively cripple and ultimately win the war. This paper is intended to articulate the failure of Mission Command by GEN McClellan by pointing out how he failed to understand, visualize, describe and direct the battlefield to his benefit.

What happened in the Battle of Antietam is that general McClellan got the general Lee's plans about what he was going to do. General McClellan meet the the part of Lee's army that was on Maryland and they started to fight on September 14. Lee managed to keep his amy put together until the other part of his army came to help. When the other part of Lee's army came to help it was still not enough because again McClellan has the plan's of Lee so he knew how to hit hard. At the end Lee's army withdraw to Virginia. The North considered the battle a success. The reason the battle was considered a turning point in the Civil War because "it ended Lee's effort to bring the war to the North." Another reason why this battle was considerede a turning

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.

The bloodiest day in U.S. military history as Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Armies are stopped at Antietam

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