Why did the Battle of Antietam happen?

Answer 1

AntietamIt was the first battle to take place on northern soil. Additionally, it was the bloodiest single day battle in US history, with about 23,000 dead and wounded resulting from it. It was also the battle which encouraged Lincoln to give the Emancipation Proclamation, which, in turn, caused the French and British governments not to follow through with plans to grant recognition to the Confederacy.

The Battle of Antietam (also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the South), fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with almost 23,000 casualties. After pursuing Confederate General Robert E. Lee into Maryland, Union Army Major General George B. McClellan launched attacks against Lee's army, in defensive positions behind Antietam Creek. Despite having superiority of numbers, McClellan's attack failed to achieve concentration of mass, resulting in a three-phase battle that Lee was able to counter by shifting forces to meet each challenge. Despite ample reserve forces that could have been deployed to exploit localized successes, McClellan failed to destroy Lee's army. Nevertheless, Lee's invasion of Maryland was ended and he was able to withdraw his army back to Virginia without interference from the cautious McClellan. Although the battle was tactically inconclusive, it had unique significance as enough of a victory to give President Abraham Lincoln the confidence to announce his Emancipation Proclamation.

AnswerWHY was it fought? In 1862, General Lee wanted to carry the war into the Northern states and threaten to turn the flank of the defenses around Washington DC. (Lee again moved into the North during the Gettysburg campaign in 1863.) This forced Union General McClellan to go into Maryland and try to stop him.

Answer 2

Because Lee was trying to invade Pennsylvania, to impress the British, who were treating this campaign as the test of Confederate viability, with a view to granting official recognition and sending military aid.

By chance, one of Lee's officers dropped a set of orders in the field, where they were found by Union troops and shown to McClellan. These orders revealed that Lee's divisions were widely separated, and McClellan should be able to destroy them, one by one.

But there was a Confederate spy on McClellan's staff, who was able to get word to Lee, and the two armies more-or-less collided at Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg.

Although the Union won the battle, Lincoln felt strongly that McClellan ought to have been able to destroy Lee's army outright, instead of letting it escape back to Virginia, and McClellan was sacked.

Antietam cost the highest casualties of any single-day's fighting in the Civil War.

Answer 3

It followed Lee's astonishing successes across Virginia in the summer of 1862, which had brought the British close to recognising the Confederacy. Now they were watching to see if his invasion of Pennsylvania would succeed. If so, they would send military aid.

Historians believe that Lee would have succeeded, but for one pure accident, when a Confederate officer dropped a set of Lee's orders in the field, where they were found by Union troops and shown to McClellan. These orders revealed that Lee's divisions were widely separated, and that McClellan would be able to destroy them, one by one.

But he moved too slowly into the attack, and Lee was able to concentrate his troops at Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg. Although McClellan won this very costly battle, he failed to pursue Lee's army, which was able to get back to Virginia. Lincoln believed that McClellan should have been able to destroy that army outright, and fired him from his job.

However, this Union victory, following so many defeats, gave Lincoln the credibility to issue the Emancipation Proclamation (without making it look like a desperate measure), which turned the war into an official crusade against slavery, so the British could not then support the Confederates without looking pro-slavery themselves.

Answer 4

Because Lee had divided his army into separate parts, and McLellan had accidentally discovered a set of Lee's orders, giving the locations. McLellan then tried to put one of the parts out of action, before turning on the other. To prevent this, Lee had to concentrate his forces at once, and Antietam Creek (Sharpsburg) was where the two armies collided.

Answer 5

Because the South needed a victory on Union soil to convince the British and French to intervene on their behalf...it would HAVE been a total Confederate victory had not a Union scouting party miraculously happened upon the Army of Northern VA's (Southern) marching orders wrapped up in a cigar case......divine intervention...Good luck for the North, bad luck for the South....sort of like the Germans losing at El Alemein, Stalingrad, and running out of fuel during Battle of of the Bulge....

Answer 6

1. Sectionalism
2. Slavery
3. and States Rights

Answer 7

General lee wanted to inspire a Pro-confederate uprising because Maryland was full of confederate sympathizers

Answer 8

It was an important Confederate Victory, that they needed to win.