Antietam
• Union General: George B. McClellan
• Confederate Generals: Robert E. Lee
Stonewall Jackson
I. Fast Facts
• Union Army – Over 90,000 soldiers
• Confederate Army – 45,000 soldiers
• This battle took place September 17th 1862
• Bloodiest single day battle in American history with
23,000 casualties
• Lincoln dismisses General McClellan after this battle
and placed Ambrose Burnside in command of the
Union Army of the Potomac
• Antietam was the first major battle in the Civil War to
take place on Northern soil.
Why did General Lee go on the Offensive and
conduct the Maryland Campaign
• This was the first of General Robert E. Lee's two
attempts to carry the war into the North.
• Lee's Army of Northern Virginia had entered Maryland
following their recent victory at the Battle of Second
Bull Run.
• His plan was to attain new supplies and fresh men from
Maryland, which had pockets of Confederate
sympathizers, and to impact public opinion in the
North.
• Encourage European support with a victory in enemy
territory.
• Lee wanted to give Virginia a chance to recuperate from
the constant fighting in the state.
• Virginia had been stripped of most of its food resources
and this campaign would give the farmers a chance to
harvest their crops and use them to help feed the local
population.
Antietam
II. Prior to The Battle
• General Lee’s battle plans were discovered by the
Union Army before the battle took place
– Two Union soldiers (Corporal Barton W. Mitchell
and First Sergeant John M. Bloss of the 27th
Indiana Volunteer Infantry) discovered Lee’s
detailed battle plans-Special Order 191-wrapped
around three cigars.
– McClellan did not act on this information for 18 hours, and
ended up missing the opportunity, that had been laid at his
feet, to defeat Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia.
Antietam
III. The Battle
• The battle of Antietam unfolded in 3 Phases
– Phase One- 6:00 am: The Union, under the command of
Joseph Hooker attacked Lee’s left flank – by the Dunkers
Church
– Phase Two- 10:00 am: the Confederates protect their center at
the Sunken Road, later they get trapped in the road by Union
Soldiers and get slaughtered.
• The Sunken Road become known as the “Bloody Lane”
– Phase Three – After Noon: Union General Burnside attacks
Lee’s right Flank by crossing Antietam Creek Bridge.
• The Union ultimately won the battle of Antietam and
forced Lee to retreat back in to Northern Virginia.
The Emancipation
Proclamation
IV. After the Battle of Antietam,
President Lincoln issues the
Emancipation Proclamation.
– This Proclamation Freed all slaves in the states
rebelling against the Union.
– It does not free the slaves in the Border States.
– This was an attempt to further undermine the
South’s economy and ability to make war.
– This will also add 180,000 African American
Soldiers into the Union Army.