America's Bloodiest Day: Antietam

It’s September of 1862, The Confederates are feeling confident. They’ve had victory after victory since the outset of the Civil War in 1861. Now, Robert E. Lee marches his 55,000-strong Army of Northern Virginia north into Maryland. He plans to pressure the Union by driving his army up and around Washington D.C., forcing the North to divert troops from the capital. General George B. McClellan and his 80,000 men of the Army of the Potomac ensure they stay between Lee and D.C.

In one of those rare strokes of luck that sometimes happen in war, Union soldiers patrolling the road discover Lee’s written orders wrapped around three cigars. McClellan now fully knows Lee’s troop numbers, movements, and location. McClellan decides to capitalize on his intelligence advantage. On the 17th, the two armies will meet.

McLellan attacks Lee near the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland, along Antietam Creek, where this battle will get its name. The battle will be famously divided into three areas: the Cornfield, the Sunken Road, and the Bridge.

The battle began when Union forces attacked the Confederate battery lying in the cornfield on the Northern end of the line. Casualties quickly began to rack up on both sides. While the cornfield fight raged, Union troops near the center of the line moved to take the sunken road held by the Confederates. The fighting here would be some of the most intense. Bodies would be stacked on the road two or three high in some places. It would become known as “Bloody Lane.” However, the Union prevails and manages to take the Sunken Road. Next, near the bottom of the line, The Union makes the move to cross the bridge over Antietam Creek. The Confederates defending from the heights opposite the creek inflict major casualties as Northern soldiers try to cross. After multiple attempts, the Union manages to get a foothold on the opposite side of the Creek. However, Confederate reinforcements arrive on the battlefield just in time, forcing the Union back to their side of the bridge.

After the intense fighting that would last for hours, the battle would end in a draw. However, it would become a strategic victory for the Union. Lee’s plans for a northern invasion had been stymied. A Confederate victory in the north could have legitimized the Confederacy to the British, who were watching the war very closely and considering intervening on the Confederacy’s behalf. Instead, Lee would be forced to retreat into Virginia. President Abraham Lincoln took advantage of this Union win to announce his historic Emancipation Proclamation. 

McLellan’s Army of the Potomac would incur over 13,000 casualties, and Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia would take over 10,000 casualties. It would become and still is to this day, America’s single bloodiest day.