What was the Antietam Battle about?

Answer 1

The Battle of Antietam was simply stopping the Confederate Army from advancing into Virginia, Union territory/// First, a couple of corrections. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had advanced from Virginia which was Confederate territory(not Union) into Maryland. Maryland was one of the so-called "border states" which allowed slavery but did not secede from the Union. General Lee had several reasons for taking the army into Maryland. Strategically, he was looking to capitalize on the recent victories of his army(the Seven Days' battles, Second Manassas) with a victory on Northern soil,hoping to secure greater support from Britain. Secondarily, he wanted to give the people(farmers)of Virginia a break from the war,which had been fought entirely on Virginia soil since it began. It was the great fortune of the Union Army to discover a copy of Lee's entire plan for the campaign(the famous"Lost Order"). This allowed McClellan to cut-off Lee's advance at South Mountain, and a couple of days later(Sept.17,1862) there was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history at Sharpsburg,(Antietam) Maryland.