Antietam: The Bloodiest Day: Line of Battle, #1

By Nick Vulich

Antietam: The Bloodiest Day outlines the battle and explains how it came about. In less than an hour, you will meet the main participants, understand Union and Confederate troop movements, and learn why Abraham Lincoln thought McClellan's great victory was a lost opportunity. For those readers who want to know more and understand how contemporary readers learned about the battle, we included the original accounts printed in the New York Herald and the New York Tribune.

It's not the complete story, but enough to bring you up to speed, understand the issues of the day, and maybe encourage you to explore more on your own.

Each book includes a timeline to help you see the bigger picture so you can watch events unfold

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Whether you are a Civil War buff or are just looking for a simple overview of the battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg, you will enjoy this book. It is written in a simple, conversational style that makes it easy to understand the complex troop movements of the Union and Confederate armies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Vulich
• Release date: Mar 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215718124

Book preview

Antietam: The Bloodiest Day

Line of Battle – Book 1

Copyright © 2019 / 2023 Nick Vulich

Table of Contents

Introduction

Timeline

Participants

Antietam, The Deadliest Day

New York Tribune Account

New York Herald Account

Footnotes

Introduction

The Battle of Antietam (North) or Sharpsburg (South) was the bloodiest single day of fighting recorded during the American Civil War. Nearly 23,000 men were recorded on the casualty roster of both armies.

It all came about after the Battle of Chantilly; Robert E. Lee decided to change up his strategy. Rather than fight the Union troops in Virginia and spend all his energy defending Richmond, Lee moved the battle closer to Washington.

On September 4th, he led the Army of Northern Virginia into Maryland. Once across the border, Lee made a risky move and divided his army into four parts. General James Longstreet traveled to Boonsboro and Hagerstown to put down a supposed threat. D. H. Hill and JEB Stuart stood guard in the rear at South Mountain, while Stonewall Jackson marched his division to Harper’s Ferry, where they hoped to capture the Union arsenal. 

The Union army hit the Holy Grail on September 13th when Corporal Barton Mitchell of the 27th Indiana Infantry found a copy of Lee’s Special Order 191 wrapped around three cigars. It provided McClellan with a roadmap to the Confederate’s Maryland Campaign.

The next day Union forces faced Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in the Battle of South Mountain. It consisted of three separate battles: Crampton’s Gap, Turner’s Gap, and Fox’s Gap. Union troops turned the Confederates back at Crampton’s Gap. After stubborn fighting, Lee withdrew his forces from Turner’s and Fox’s Gap and moved his men to Sharpsburg for a final stand.

General James Longstreet said his command and that of D. H. Hill arrived at Sharpsburg on the afternoon of September 15th. Union troops appeared on the heights above Antietam Creek later that afternoon. The number increased, and larger and larger grew the field of blue until it seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see... It was an awe-inspiring spectacle.[1]

While all this was happening, Stonewall Jackson captured the garrison at Harper’s Ferry and took 12,000 Union troops captive. After he learned about the capture of Harper’s Ferry, Lee ordered Jackson to march to Sharpsburg. Longstreet wanted to call it quits. It was then evident we could not hope to concentrate in time to do more than make a respectable retreat, he wrote, whereas by retiring before the battle, we could have claimed a very successful campaign.[2] But, of course, Robert E. Lee wouldn’t hear any of that talk. He was itching for a battle.

The next day, September 17th, 1862, the two armies met at Antietam Creek. When it was over, the two armies would record almost 23,000 casualties—over 5,500 occurred on the sunken road, ever since known as Bloody Lane.

Both sides considered Antietam a victory. Robert E. Lee because he held Sharpsburg at the end of the day. George McClellan because Lee abandoned the field and returned to Virginia.

Most historians consider Antietam a drawn battle. It was considered a strategic victory for the Union because Confederate troops withdrew from the field first, but it was tactically inconclusive.

Abraham Lincoln considered the victory as a mixed blessing. It gave him the juice he needed to release his partial Emancipation Proclamation, but nothing else sat right with him.

McClellan may have won the battle, but he lost the war. If McClellan had fought another battle, Lincoln felt the Confederacy might have collapsed. But try as he might, he couldn’t get Little Mac to follow Lee’s troops into Virginia. Finally, Lincoln was tired of arguing with McClellan and replaced him with General Ambrose Burnside on November 7th.

This book is a quick history of the Antietam campaign. In less than an hour, you will meet the major players, learn how the battle came about, and understand the significance of Antietam. For readers who want to know more, I’ve included the first complete reports of the battle as they appeared in the New York Herald and the New York Tribune. While not entirely accurate, they let you experience the war the same way contemporary readers learned of it.

Let’s get started ...

Timeline

Thursday, September 4.

General Robert E. Lee begins his ill-fated invasion of Maryland. Before engaging in the campaign, he informs Jefferson Davis: We... must endeavor to harass if we cannot destroy the Union army. I am aware that the movement is attended with much risk, yet I do not consider success impossible.

Friday, September 12.

Union troops stumble across a copy of Robert E. Lee’s Special Order 191 wrapped around three cigars. The order gives McClellan a preview of the Confederate battle plan for the Maryland campaign.

McClellan gets cocky and tells General Gibbon, Here is a paper with which, if I cannot whip Bobby Lee, I will be willing to go home.

Sunday, September 14.

Union forces faced Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in the Battle of South Mountain. It consisted of three separate battles: Crampton’s Gap, Turner’s Gap, and Fox’s Gap. Union troops turned the Confederates back at Crampton’s Gap. After stubborn fighting, Lee withdrew his forces from Turner’s Gap and Fox’s Gap the next morning.

Monday, September 15.

McClellan’s failure to press Lee after the battle of South Mountain gave Lee time to shift his forces to Harper’s Ferry and Antietam. The move doomed Harper’s Ferry and allowed A. P. Hill the opportunity to march his troops to Sharpsburg on September 17th. He would arrive in time to push back Ambrose Burnside’s forces as they made their way along the Sharpsburg Road.

McClellan’s troops begin arriving in the area of Sharpsburg. McClellan spends all day on the 15th and 16th perfecting his plan of attack.

Mistakenly believing the Confederate forces opposing him outnumber his troops at least two to one, McClellan puts off his attack. The next day he orders General Hooker to cross Antietam Creek, seemingly to test the waters while locating a place to launch his attack from on the 17th.

Confederate forces captured the Union arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. 12,500 Federal soldiers were taken prisoner, the largest number captured in any civil war battle.

Tuesday, September 16.

Fighting Joe Hooker crossed Antietam Creek and launched the battle sometime after 4:00 pm. By 10:00, the fighting had ended. The men slept on their arms, expecting the battle for the Republic the next morning.

Wednesday, September 17.

Fighting Joe Hooker launches the battle, this time at the break of dawn. General Ambrose Burnside fights the decisive battle of the day, making his way across stone bridge number 3 and then to Sharpsburg. The arrival of A. P. Hill’s troops, fresh from the battle at Harper’s Ferry, stop his advance. Still, Burnside held the bridge, something McClellan felt was a key to the battle.

At the end of the day, McClellan holds the field but is unsure what the next day will bring.

It turns out to be the bloodiest day of the civil war, with nearly 23,000 men killed, wounded, and missing on both sides.

Thursday, September 18th.

No fighting takes place. The two sides call an armistice to collect their wounded and bury the dead.

McClellan spends the day planning his next move. Finally, he resolves to resume fighting the next morning.

Friday, September 19.

Union troops woke up to discover Robert E. Lee pulled a fast one and used the armistice to move his troops across the Potomac River and back into Virginia.

V Corps, led by General Fitz John Porter, is the only Union force to chase after