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Battle of Antietam
With 23,000 casualties, the Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. It was also the first Civil War battle to take place in Northern territory. The Battle of Antietam was fought on September 17, 1862, in Maryland. It is also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg. Ask questions about Antietam here.
347 Questions
It is capitalized as it is a part of a proper name. It should be written as the Battle of Antietam.
As another example without a capital letter: The Antietam battle was also called Sharpsburg. Note the small "b" here, as it is not in a proper name as with the first case.
What was so significant about the battle of Antietam?
The significance of the Battle of Antietam is that the Union army forced the Confederate Army to retreat behind the Potomac River. See the related link for more information about the Battle of Antietam.
Who fired the first shot in the Battle of Antietam?
Many historians cite September 11, 1862 as the first day of the Battle of Antietam. It is believed that forces under the command of Stonewall Jackson initiated the first attack and the first shots fired at Antietam.
IMPROVEMENT.
The first shots were fired by Gen. Hunt's Union batteries placed on the dominant high ground beyond the Antietam Creek, while Hooker's I Corps attacked the Confederate positions beyond the North Wood, at dawn of Sept.17, 1862, the day when the Battle of Antietam was fought.
Why did Lincoln wait until after the Battle of Antietam to issue the emancipation proclammation?
freeing the slaves
Weapons used in the Battle of Antietam?
Typical weapons used during the Civil War included knives and swords, muskets, breech loaders, and field guns. More modern advances were also seen in battle, such as grenades and machine guns.
The British were watching to see if Lee would succeed in invading the North. If so, they were ready to give the Confederacy official recognition, and send military aid.
The unexpected Northern win at Antietam put that plan on the back-burner, and meanwhile gave Lincoln the opportunity to issue his Emancipation Proclamation, making it impossible for any foreign power to help the South without looking pro-slavery.
What were major battles in WW1?
In 1914: Marne (Aug), 1st Ypres. In 1915: Gallipoli(Feb), 2nd Ypres, Tannenberg (Tannenburg). In 1916: Verdun (Feb-Dec), Jutland (April), Somme (June), Cambrai (Dec). In 1917: 3rd Ypres (Passchendaele) (June).
I would also say that 1918 on the western front was massive as well, some incredible battles were fought, sacrificed and won there.
What was the unions strategy in the battle of Antietam?
The Union strategy in the Battle of Antietam was to assault the under manned Confederate forces of Robert E. Lee. Lee was forced to create a tactical defense in order to have the ability to produce a counter attack against the Union army.
The speech you ask about is the Gettysburg Address. When Lincoln gave it the press was not impressed, but the 265 word speech is one of the greatest speeches ever given by a president.
Why was Antietam so important to the Confederacy?
There was nothing important about Antietam Creek itself.
But the loss of the battle that suddenly blew up there was a devastating blow to the South. Not so much in pure battlefield terms. But Lincoln had been waiting for a Union win before he could credibly issue his Emancipation Proclamation - turning the war into an official crusade against slavery.
This made it impossible for the British to aid the Confederates without looking pro-slavery themselves.
After Confederate General Robert E. Lee's retreat from Sharpsburg and the Battle of Antietam, Lee's extended position gave Union General George B. McClellan the opportunity to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia that he did not take. US President Lincoln along with General Halleck wanted McClellan to have a plan to cross the Potomac River while still keeping Washington DC protected. That however, was not the worst of the situation.As for McClellan, his position, privately, was that his enemies in Lincoln's cabinet should be removed. He added Halleck to the list of his enemies and McClellan believed that he should be appointed general in chief.
Tactically, the deadliest battle in the history of the United States, was a draw, however, Lee had no choice but to withdraw to the safety of Virginia. As far as McClellan was concerned he had "saved" the Union.
Not at all was this the opinion of Lincoln, who was astounded that McClellan had failed to pursue Lee, and allow the Army of Northern Virginia to escape back to Virginia. And, Lee's army would live to fight another day.
As an aside, the failure of a victorious army to pursue was commonplace throughout the war.
While McClellan rested his troops after which was indeed a horrific battle, Confederate JEB Stuart's cavalry forces conducted raids in Maryland and Pennsylvania, virtually unopposed. While it was true that these raids were not of significant importance, it only added fuel to the fire of Lincoln. It was embarrassing that these raids were not stopped at once.
McClellan's dismissal was based on more than Antietam, however. There was a fundamental difference between Lincoln and McClellan on the conduct of the war in general.
With fairness to each man, the differences developed as events unfolded. It should be remembered that both Lincoln and Confederate President Davis expected the "rebellion" to be short lived and total loss of 600,000 plus men in 4 years was not expected. Not only was it unexpected, it would not have been tolerated if the combatants had a crystal ball. Faced with the true extent of the destruction of life and along with it, the reduction of what was considered a part of the Union ( the South ) reasonable leaders would have found another way to salvage a situation that would have substantially weakened the United States,
McClellan was not simply a military man and Lincoln was not simply a political leader. With that said, the entire reason for McClellan's dismissal was also based on his view that the war should not cause any undue harm to the civilian population of the South. He wanted to avoid battles that caused huge losses and would embitter each side against one another.
McClellan believed that a war of strategy and out maneuvering the enemy would lead to the South believing it could not win and sue for peace.
McClellan, in retrospect, to many historians believed that the war conducted by the British in the Revolution, which was not a blood & guts one, could be successful if done with the genius of a McClellan.
The issuance of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamationin the wake of Antietam, as example, was further evidence to McClellan that Lincoln ( as the South thought all along ) was not just waging a war to preserve the Union, but for the abolition of slavery and tearing apart the fabric of Southern society.
Still, Lincoln, did not yet replace McClellan. A cynical view would be that until the assurance that the off- year Congressional elections and vital races for State Governor would favor Republicans, did Lincoln fire McClellan.
Historians differ on this.
What was the bloodiest one day battle that took place on September 7 1862?
The battle to which you refer was actually on September 17, 1862. It took place in western Maryland. The North called it Antietam after a creek that runs through the battlefield. In the South it is called Sharpsburg,the name of the town nearby. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in the entire war with about 23,000 casualties.
Lee's army was allowed to escape after a bloody battle at where?
General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia fought several major bloody battles in the course of the US Civil War. The two most notable were the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg. Even with 20-20 hindsight there is no majority of military historians who have second guessed the non-pursuit of Union generals McClellan and Meade. Some do criticize them and may point to certain statistics. Even with that information, they were not at the scene of these battles.
On October 26, 1862 the Army of Northern Virginia crossed the Potomac River and found shelter and supplies in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. They had retreated from the terrible fighting at Antietam in Maryland.
In which state did the Battle of Antietam take place?
The Battle of Antietam took place in the state of Maryland near the town of Sharpsburg. It is also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg and was fought September 17, 1862. It was the costliest single day in casualties of the US Civil War.
Antietam was considered a Northern victory.
What role did Union General Ambrose Burnside play in the Battle of Antietam?
General Ambrose Burnside was the commander of Union's IX Corps. About noon he attacked the Confederate right flank and managed to drive back Longstreet's Confederate units to the southern end of Sharpsburg. The battle was decisively going in favor of Union Army. But Confederate division under General Ambrose P. Hill, coming from Harper's Ferry stroke the Federals in the flank driving back them to Antietam Creek, saving Lee's army and ended the battle.
The US Civil War required that proper training and drilling exercises were vital to success on the battlefield. A perfect example of this was when a number of Union regiments were raised in the Summer of 1862. Often times new recruits were placed on battlefields before they were ready. During the Battle of Antietam, the Union's Twelve Corps received three new Pennsylvania regiments, this amounted to one half of a brigade. When these troops were ordered to maneuver from a column formation into a line formation within 70 yards of Rebel forces, the troops could not do it. This was a five week-old regiment that had received no training in this maneuver. The groups colonel was shot immediately after giving the order and in a few minutes the collapsed. They were taken out of the battle because of poor training.
What general in the Battle of Antietam got shot five times and lived?
The Confederate General John Gordon was wounded five times - once through the face! - and he lived.
