Antietam

The Battle of Antietam pitted Union General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac against General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. During the first three hours, the two sides struggled over a cornfield. Each side attacked, fell …

1862-09-17

51

The Battle of Antietam pitted Union General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac against General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. During the first three hours, the two sides struggled over a cornfield. Each side attacked, fell back and rallied, only to attack again. By 8:45 a.m., neither side held a distinct advantage. Around 9:00 a.m., 5,300 Union troops marched towards the West Woods in an attempt to drive the Confederates from the field. After moving into the woods, a Confederate attack struck the flank of the Union line and in twenty minutes, 2,200 out of 5,300 men had fallen killed or wounded. The battle shifted to the center of the Confederate line along a sunken road. Due to confusion on the side of the Union by 1:00 p.m., the Federal forces had fallen back through the sunken road, known also as the Bloody Lane, and returned to where their attacks originated from.

Sharpsburg, Maryland

The Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War, fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac, near Sharpsburg, Maryland and Antietam Creek. Part of the Maryland Campaign, it was the first field army–level engagement in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War to take place on Union soil. It was the bloodiest day in United States history, with a combined tally of 22,717 dead, wounded, or missing.

Wikipedia: Battle of Antietam

the Confederacy

the Union