THE BLOODIEST DAYThe Battle of Antietam

or Sharpsburg

Why do some battles have different names?

Many battles are known by more than one name The Union chose to name some after the closest

body of water The Confederates named them after the nearest

town or landmark

Examples: Antietam (creek)/Sharpsburg (town) Pittsburg Landing (river)/Shiloh (church) Bull Run (stream)/Manassas (town)

Situation Report: September 1862

Union Army: Ready to go into disaster-mode in the north because of poor leadership, while out west, they are experiencing success under General Grant

Confederate Army: One victory away from seeming invincible.

To everyone’s surprise, the war last longer than a month

Leader Profiles: George McClellan

Brilliant organizer Lacked killer instinct Suffered from a God complex Loved his men Nicknames

“Little Mac” “The Young Napoleon”

Leader Profiles: Robert E. Lee

Brilliant defensive strategist Loved by his men Thought he was too old to fight

“I’ve heard of Jesus Christ,but I’ve seen Robert E. Lee.”

-Mary Chestnut

Lee’s Invasion of Maryland

Lee persuades Jefferson Davis to let him invade the border state of Maryland (“The army is not properly equipped for an invasion of an enemy's country…”)

Wants to incite rebellion in the already divided state Feels that if he can win a battle on Northern soil, they will

surrender Would be the CSA’s first offensive of the war Lee’s proclamation to the people:

"....This, citizens of Maryland, is our mission, so far as you are concerned. No constraint upon your free will is intended; no intimidation will be allowed within the limits of this army at least. Marylanders shall once more enjoy their ancient freedom of thought and speech. We know no enemies among you, and will protect all, of every opinion. It is for you to decide your destiny freely and without constraint. This army will respect your choice, whatever it may be; and while the Southern people will rejoice to welcome you to your natural position among them, they will only welcome you when you come of your own free will."

Confederate Proclamation

Issued by Jefferson Davis prior to the invasion:

1st Article: “That the Confederate Government is waging this war solely for self-defense; that it has no design of conquest, or any other purpose than to secure peace and the abandonment by the United States of their pretensions to govern a people who have never been their subjects, and who prefer self-government to a union with them.”

2nd Article: “That this Government, at the very moment of its inauguration, sent commissioners to Washington to treat for a peaceful adjustment of all differences, but that these commissioners were not received, nor even allowed to communicate the object of their mission; and that, on a subsequent occasion, a communication from the President of the Confederacy to President Lincoln remained without answer, although a reply was promised by General Scott, into whose hands the communication was delivered.”

The Mystery of Special Order 191

Lee’s secret plan of invasion, given only to Generals Longstreet, Jackson, and Hill

They are all told to essentially burn after reading

Somehow, one of the copies ended up in Union hands

McClellan’s Letter to Lincoln

"I have the whole rebel force in front of me, but am confident, and no time shall be lost. I have a difficult task to perform, but with God's blessing will accomplish it. I think Lee has made a gross mistake, and that he will be severely punished for it. The army is in motion as rapidly as possible. I hope for a great success if the plans of the rebels remain unchanged. I have all the plans of the rebels, and will catch them in their own trap if my men are equal to the emergency. I now feel that I can count on them as of old. All forces of Pennsylvania should be placed to co-operate at Chambersburg. My respects to Mrs. Lincoln. Received most enthusiastically by the ladies. Will send you trophies. All well, and with God's blessing will accomplish it.” (Sept. 13, 1862)

McClellan’s Plan

With the two armies converging near Sharpsburg, McClellan orders his generals to attack Confederate positions simultaneously

The order is botched, and the attacks are delayed and separate Joseph Hooker’s I corps are to attack from the

north Edwin Sumner’s II corps are to move west Fitz John Porter’s V corps and William

Franklin’s VI corps are to remain in reserve

Lee’s Strategy

Lee places Jackson and his men near the Dunker Church to protect the flank and line from caving in if attacked

After the battle begins, Lee is seen riding amongst his men. Several times, soldiers break rank and run over to him, telling him he should move to the rear

Forced to get creative: due to being outnumbered, he has to maneuver his soldiers to meet the Union wherever they attack

The Battle Begins

All forces now converge on Sharpsburg McClellan poises himself on the eastern

side of Antietam Creek Lee has only 18,000 men (another 20,000

on the way), with McClellan having more than 100,000 but he does not attack, fearing a trap

Cont.

Major fighting begins with Hooker’s advance near the Dunker Church

He marches his men across the Miller Cornfield and towards the church

Confederates, under Longstreet, lose 1,500 men in the first half hour

Hooker’s men are pushed back into the cornfield, where both sides began shelling with artillery

The Artillery Duel

Union and Confederate 20-pounders exchange barrages near the church

“…artillery hell.”- Col. Stephen Lee

The Miller Cornfield

Over the course of the next three hours, 8,000 men would be killed or wounded in the 40 acre cornfield

There would be fifteen combined charges between the two sides

He fighting was back and forth, pointless, and bloody

It was said after the battle that a person could not walk from one end of the field to the other without stepping on a dead body

Quotables

“Every stalk of corn in the northern and greater part of the field was cut as closely as could have been done with a knife, and the Confederates slain lay in rows precisely as they had stood in their ranks a few moments before.”- Union General Joseph Hooker

“...the most deadly fire of the war. Rifles are shot to pieces in the hands of the soldiers, canteens and haversacks are riddled with bullets, the dead and wounded go down in scores.”- Capt. Benjamin Cook

The Dunker Church

The fighting in the cornfield ceases when Hooker is shot in the foot and has his men pull out

Sumner’s men move toward the Dunker church and are caught in a cross fire between Jackson’s CSA troops and Howard’s USA troops

General Oliver Howard is soon shot, and orders a retreat

The “Bloody Lane”

With the first two attacks failing, McClellan sends the III corps to take a sunken farm road

Lee moves his men to meet them and arrives first

The Confederates are hidden behind the road and the Union is easily picked off as they have to march through it uphill

Soon both sides were trying to push each other up and down the road

Cont.

The 69th New York infantry, otherwise known as the Irish Brigade, led by Gen. Thomas Meagher, soon joins the fight, along with a German regiment

However, the fighting at the sunken road would soon end because the soldiers could no longer advance due to how many bodies there were in the road

It was said that the men left standing were ankle deep in blood, which was causing them to slip

The Fighting Irish

Used “Buck and Ball” Ammunition During the fighting, Irish brigade Chaplin

Father William Corby was seen riding up and down the lines of men, blessing them

At the end of the day, an Irish soldier was found dead, sitting up against a tree, holding his regiment’s flag in his hands up against his chest. The cloth was shredded to tatters while the wooden staff was cracked in half.

Commander: General Thomas Meagher (pronounced ‘Mah-her’)

The Rohrbach Bridge

Union general Ambrose Burnside is ordered to cross Antietam Creek at the Rohrbach Bridge

The bridge is too narrow and the creek is too deep, so he delays

Confederate sharpshooters position themselves on the hill overlooking the bridge

Soldiers that attempt to cross are picked off one by one

The bridge begins to fill with the bodies of dead and dying soldiers

Brooklyn Comes to the Rescue

Concerned that the men are too afraid to cross, a sergeant from Brooklyn gives free rum to any man that will volunteer to cross with him

Within minutes, 500 men volunteer and they make a charge that finally breaks through

Quotables

“I do not know the name of the creek, but I have named it the creek of death. Such a slaughter I hope to never witness again.”- a Union soldier

The Battle Comes to a Close

With the Confederates running out of ammo, Longstreet orders them to forage off dead soldiers

When evening came, McClellan still had 70,000 fresh soldiers available but did not use them The Confederates were waiting in position

with nothing but bayonets on their rifles, expecting an attack

Had the Union attacked, the war could have been over

Advice Ignored

Though all military officers, including McClellan would have studied On War by Carl Von Clauswitz, his advice was not heeded: “Once the great victory is gained, the next

question is not about rest, not about taking breath, not about considering, not about reorganizing, etc., etc., but only of pursuit of fresh blows wherever necessary, of the capture of the enemy’s capital, of the attack of the armies of his allies, or of whatever else appears to be a rallying point for the enemy.”

McClellan, in his own words…

Report on the Battle of Antietam, George. McClellan, 1862

Cont.

At the end of the day, the Union was given credit for the victory, because they held the field and forced Lee to withdraw

In a mere twelve hours of fighting, the casualty figures were enormous: USA: ~13,000 (25% of fighting force) CSA: ~10,000 (31%)

Article in The Washington Star

“WEDNESDAY EVENING, Sept. 17.-- p.m.--This has been an eventful day in the history of the rebellion. A battle has taken place, in which the Army of the Potomac has again been victorious, and which exceeds in extent any battle heretofore fought on this continent.””

“…The enemy's dead, which nearly all fell into our hands, were thickly strewn over the fields, laying in heaps in many places…”

Additional Photographs

A Cause for Emancipation

After being pressured to free the slaves, Lincoln says he will only do so after a victory

Although Antietam was not what he had hoped for, he announces his Emancipation Proclamation to be effective January 1, 1863

The document is still misunderstood to this day, because it did not free all the slaves

Civil War Photography

Published in the New York Times, in 1862:

“The dead of the battlefield come up to us very rarely, even in dreams. We see the list [of dead] in the morning paper at breakfast, but dismiss it’s recollection with the coffee. Mr. Brady has done something to bring us the terrible reality and earnestness of the War. If he has not brought us bodies and laid them at our doorstep and along streets, he has done something very like it.”

Shakespeare and the Civil War

On the night of Sept. 17, 1862, John Wilkes Booth was performing Hamlet at McVicker’s Theater in Chicago:

“Exposing what is mortal and unsureTo all that fortune, death and danger dare,Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be greatIs not to stir without great argument,But greatly to find quarrel in a strawWhen honor's at the stake. How stand I then,That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,Excitements of my reason and my blood,And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I seeThe imminent death of twenty thousand men,That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plotWhereon the numbers cannot try the cause,Which is not tomb enough and continentTo hide the slain? O, from this time forth,My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!”