Battle of Antietam

George McClellan

Northern newspapers hailed the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam. When the news about the lack of a Union follow up became known, Republican newspapers blamed McClellan while Democratic newspapers blamed Secretary of War Edwin Stanton for that failure.

As General Lee and his engineers surveyed the area around the town of Sharpsburg and the Antietam Creek, the plateau to the west of the creek was perfect for his defensive purposes. The plateau was high enough to allow his defenders to see and fire on attacking Union troops. The terrain was also broken by thick woodlots, small rises, and sunken roads that offered his troops shelter and concealment.

The freak incident was before the battle.

A Confederate officer managed to lose a set of Lee's orders, which were discovered in the field by Union troops, and shown to McLellan.

They revealed that Lee's divisions were widely separated, and that McLellan could destroy them piecemeal. But he didn't move fast enough, and the advantage was lost.

Still, Lee had to concentrate his forces in a hurry, and fight in a location that was unfavourable to him.

McLellan won the battle, but Lee was able to get his troops back to Virginia.

Lincoln felt that McLellan had performed badly, and fired him.

It enabled Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which kept Britain and France out of the war. It meant that the Union armies would only have to face the dwindling numbers of the Confederates alone.

The Union's victory at Antietam, was an important defeat, which President Lincoln needed, in order to issue the first portion of the Emancipation Proclamation, so that it would have an affect, and impact on the south. The battle of Antietam ended in the Union's victory on September 18, 1862, and the draft issue of the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862.

This was the unexpected Northern victory (after a string of successes by Robert E. Lee) that gave Lincoln the credibility to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that the Union was now waging war on slavery. This made it impossible for Britain to help the Confederates without looking pro-slavery.

The Union feared Great Britain and France would recognise the Confederate States as a sovereign nation and intervene on their behalf. This meant these two countries would increase their aid to the South and raised the very real prospect of them sending troops to the battlefield. Had Lee and his army gained a victory on Union soil these fears would probably have come to pass. At best the battle was a draw.

The Union however claimed Antietam a victory and Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The war took on a new complexion. Not only was it being fought to preserve the Union, but also to end slavery. Lincoln knew Great Britain and France would not fight against the abolition of slavery, thus the threat of foreign intervention disappeared.

The Battle of Antietam was very important to the Emancipation Proclamation because it was the final battle of the Civil War. The treaty was signed at Antietam Courthouse and the Emancipation Proclamation declared slaves free, which was the whole point in the Civil War.

Matthew Brady.

During the American Civil War, the Battle of Antietam, occurring on September 17th of 1862, featured General Robert E. Lee in command of the Confederate army and Major General George McClellan in command of the Union army. Two additional soldiers who proved significant during this bloodiest day in American military history were, on the Confederate side, Major General A.P. Hill, whose force saved the day for the South by counter-attacking in timely fashion, and Major General Ambrose Burnside, whose force was decisively pushed back by Hill's late-arriving Confederates.

Fort Pulaski was an out-dated brick fort that was held by only 385 men. The Union troops in the area numbered approximately 12,000 men under the command of General Gillmore. Quoting the website below: "On 10/29/1861, Capt. Samuel F. Du Pont commanded a 51 ships convoy, carrying 12,500 troops commanded by Brig. Gen. Thomas Sherman and sailed under sealed order from Hampton Roads to South Carolina. They captured Hilton Head and Bay Point on 11/7/1861, and Port Royal a few days later. The Union used these beachhead and prepared to take Fort Pulaski." The Union shelled the fort using rifled cannon and penetrated the walls. The fort surrendered in fear of the powder magazine being blown up. Only 1 Union soldier casualty. This site gives a history and description of the Union artillery that pounded the fort. http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/wars/Civil_War/ftpulaski.html Another good history http://members.aol.com/gordonkwok/pulaski.html

While moving to intercept Robert E. Lee's army of Northern Virginia, which had marched into Maryland, some Union soldiers from George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac discovered a misplaced copy of Lee's detailed battle plans wrapped around three cigars. McClellan failed to use this to his advantage, as he was only able to achieve a tactical draw at Antietam even though his army outnumbered the Confederal army 2 to 1. President Lincoln, disillusioned by McClellan's blundering, replaced the overcautious general later in the year.

Yes - and possibly the French as well.

It all depended on the credibility of the Confederate nation and its army.

The British were waiting to see whether the invasion of Pennsylvania would succeed. Then they would have granted recognition.

Lee probably would have won, if a Confederate officer had not managed to drop a set of orders in the field, which were found by Union soldiers and shown to General McLellan.

Corporal Barton Mitchell of the 27th Indiana Infantry found the so-called "Lost Order"(Lee's Special Order Number 191) near Fredericktown,Maryland. He promptly sent it up the chain-of-command and it quickly made it to General McClellan's hand.

Because Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation after this battle the focus of the war was shifted to ending slavery.

The orders showed the plan for Lees Maryland Campaign and led to the Battle of Antietam.

If McClellan had not found the "lost order" there may not have even been a Battle of Antietam(Sharpsburg). Lee would have been able to advance farther into the North without being checked at Boonesborough(South Mountain) and then concentrating his Army between Antietam Creek and the town of Sharpsburg. McClellan was notoriously cautious-some might even say overly-cautious. Even with Lee's whole battle plan in his posession he still moved as though he were blind.

* Manpower. * An Industrial base. * A fleet capable of establishing a blockade on the South. * lots of girls

Unfortunately it was but it also was the South's first attack on the North that resulted in a Union victory.

This (unexpected) Northern victory gave Lincoln the credibility to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which officially turned the war into a crusade against slavery.

After that, neither Britain nor France could carry out their threat to intervene on the Confederate side, without looking pro-slavery. As both those countries had abolished slavery many years earlier, this was out of the question.

Based on the Confederate reports from the Battle of Antietam, the Union's artillery was most effective against the Rebel forces. Federal infantry assaults were heavily supported by Union artillery. The infantry was also supported by rifled guns on the east bank of Antietam Creek. Also, long range Federal artillery beyond the Creek opened fire shortly after dawn on September 17, 1862. This severely hurt Stonewall Jackson's defensive lines. Confederate corps commanders and officers in charge of Confederate artillery all complained about how the long range Federal artillery hampered Rebel counter attacks.

General Robert E. Lee this is not the same question as "what is the capital of the confederate army"

This was the unexpected Northern victory (after a string of successes by Robert E. Lee) that gave Lincoln the credibility to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that the Union was now waging war on slavery. This made it impossible for Britain to help the Confederates without looking pro-slavery.