Battle of Antietam

The September 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single day in American military history, stopping the Confederates’ first drive north of the Potomac River and leading to the issuance of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

The Battle of Antietam began at dawn on September 17, 1862 when Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s First Corps attacked the Confederate left flank, commanded by Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. Heavy fighting took place in Miller’s Cornfield, the East Woods and the West Woods, near which sat the Dunker Church. Confederate lines withstood the series of attacks. In the late morning the battle shifted to the Confederate center where units from Union Maj. Gen. Edwin Summer’s Second Corps attacked the Sunken Road, which afterwards became known as Bloody Lane. Repeated Union assaults broke Confederate lines at the Sunken Road, but Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan failed to exploit the breakthrough. In the afternoon, the action moved to the Confederate right flank. Union forces commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside had spent 3 hours trying to storm the Lower or Rohrbach Bridge, now known as Burnside Bridge, before finally succeeding at about1:00 p.m.Rather than advance and roll up the Confederate flank, it took Burnside two hours to cross his corps and then reorganize it for an advance. The delay allowed time for Confederate Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill’s Light Division to arrive on the field of Harpers Ferry, which checked Burnside’s advance. The following day the opposing sides remained in position, but neither took the offensive. That evening Lee began to withdraw to Virginia.

Although the battle was a tactical draw, McClellan had thwarted Lee’s invasion of the North. President Lincoln considered this enough of a victory to issue the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which decreed that on January 1, 1863 slaves residing in those states in rebellion would be free. Of the approximately 110,000 troops on both sides during the battle, over 23,000 become casualties, which made the Battle of Antietam the bloodiest single day in American military history.