Battle of Antietam

Battle of Antietam –  Interesting Facts

1. Most history books use the Northern names for the battles because the victors write the history books. Many Civil War battles had a Northern name and a Southern name.  Northerners tended to name battlefields after natural landmarks like rivers because they were memorable for the mainly city boys.  Southerners, being mostly rural, tended to remember the local town or city.  In this case, the South called the battle Sharpsburg.  The Union named it after Antietam Creek.
2. Sept. 17, 1862 is the bloodiest day in American History as 7,650 soldiers were killed in the battle.
3. It was the first battle fought on Union soil. Maryland was a slave state that had not seceded.
4. Clara Barton nursed on the battlefield.
5. It may have been the most important battle of the Civil War, as England and France decided not to support the Confederacy.
6. As a result of this win, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which did not set any slaves free, but made the abolition of slavery a Northern war goal.
7. The Civil War should have ended on Sept. 18 because although Union Gen. McClellan had squandered the advantage of having a copy of Lee’s plans, his army had battered Lee’s army on the 17^th and he still possessed a sizable numerical advantage. Incredibly, he did not launch an attack the next day and allowed Lee to cross the Potomac River safely and carry on the war.
8. The sketch is of Burnside’s Bridge. In the late afternoon, Gen. Burnside finally assaulted the bridge.  His men charged across under heavy fire and headed for Sharpsburg to win the battle.  Unfortunately for the ending of the war, Gen. A.P. Hill’s Confederate division arrived after a long march and blunted the attack, ending the battle in a stalemate.
9. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/battle-antietam
   

   Burnside’s Bridge – Library of Congress