Introduction: The Battle of Antietam at Sharpsburg on September 17, 1862 is considered the severest battle of the Civil War. It was General Robert Lee’s first invasion of the North which concluded as the Battle of Antietam in Maryland or Sharpsburg. This war took place just after a fortnight of the Confederate victory at Second Manassas, about 40 miles to the southeast in Virginia.

It all started with the great victory of Robert Lee at Manassas in August which made him march his Army of Northern Virginia into Maryland in order to obtain quality men for his army as well as supplies. The battle is rather unique as it opened at dawn on the 17th of September and was all over by afternoon. In the dawn of 17th Union General Joseph Hooker’s artillery attacked upon Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson’s men in the Miller cornfield north of the town.

This was the Morning Phase which was spread out from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. By 7 a.m. in the morning of the same day, Jackson was reinforced and succeeded in driving the Federals back. An hour later Union troops under Gen. Joseph Mansfield attacked and by 9 a.m. the troop has recovered some of the lost ground. Then in order to extract some of Mansfield’s men from their positions at the Dunker Church, Gen. John Sedgwick’s division of Edwin V. Sumner’s corps penetrated into the West Woods. Here again the Confederate troops struck Sedgwick’s men resulting in severe casualties. [Overview, 2004]

Around the same time, Gen. William H French’s division of Sumner’s corps joined Sedgwick’s troop but swerved south into Confederates under Gen. D. H. Hill who was posted along an old road which divided the Roulette and Piper farms. The Midday Phase ranged from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. From 9.30 a.m. to about 1 p.m. (nearly 4 hours) there was severe fighting which took place along the road which afterwards came to be known as Bloody Lane as French backed by Gen. Israel B. Richardson’s division along with Sumner’s corps fought to drive the Southerners back. Eventually the battle came to an end owing to confusion and exhaustion among the troop members.

Around the same time at the southeast of town, Union Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside’s troops were also trying to cross the bridge which was built over Antietam Creek since 9.30 a.m. However, about 400 Georgians were driving them back each time until 1 p.m. when the Federals finally were successful in crossing the bridge which is now commonly called as the Burnside Bridge. The afternoon phase was spread from 1 p.m. to 5 .30 p.m. which had the fiercest part of the battle. By late afternoon they had driven the Georgians back to Sharpsburg threatening to cut off the line of retreat for Lee’s troop. By 4 p.m. Gen. A. P. Hill’s division, arrived at the field and entered the fight. Burnside’s troop were defeated and driven back to the heights near the bridge. The Battle of Antietam came to an end. The next day Lee commanded his army to move away from the Potomac River. [Antietam Battle Description, 2004]

Analysis: The Battle of Antietam which took place on September 17, 1862 had more men being killed or wounded than on any other single day of the Civil War. As much as 12,410 lives were lost by Federal, Confederate losses amounted to 10,700 lives. Though none of the sides had a complete victory, Lee’s failure in managing the war and carrying the war effort effectively into the North was noticeable. This resulted in the Great Britain taking a decision to postpone recognition of the Confederate government. This battle which became an embarrassment made President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation which on January 1, 1893 freed all slaves in States.

One single day of September 17, 1862 resulted in nine times as many Americans killed or wounded as on June 6, 1944 which was the D-Day or the longest day of World War II making it the bloodiest single day war in the American history. It also had more soldiers either killed or wounded than the deaths of all Americans in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War and Spanish-American War all combined together. The War not only stopped Lee’s bold invasion of the North but also upset his plans to force Lincoln to sue for peace. [Battlefield Information, 2004]
Conclusion: Though one of the fiercest of the Wars, the Battle of Antietam had a positive aspect. It provided Lincoln an ideal opportunity to announce the abolition of slavery in the South. He was successful in broadening the base of the war and may have prohibited England and France from lending support to the country that was involved in human bondage.