The Battle of Antietam
Bloodiest Day in American History
By
Dustin Fogel
Period 2
The Battle The Civil War, up until the end of the Battle of Antietam (also called the Battle of Sharpsburg), had been a war fought to save the Union of the United States of America. The Battle of Antietam has been known as the bloodiest single day in American history and is known as such due to the nearly twenty-three thousand lives that were lost, both Union and Confederate, on that September 17, 1862. The Battle of Antietam consisted of three main engagements between the nearby town of Sharpsburg and the Antietam Creek. The areas in which the two forces engaged most prominently were at the cornfields at the exit of the North Woods, the “Bloody Lane”…show more content… The Battle of Antietam may not have had a decisive victor, but the battle is generally regarded as a victory for the Union forces since the Confederate forces needed to retreat, yet it is still easy to say that the battle as a whole was a complete stalemate because the total amount of losses throughout the battle was so great. Some of the leaders that allowed this battle to reach such notable heights included the Generals Robert E. Lee and George B. McClellan, leaders of the Confederate and Union forces respectively. These men, while each had a few blunders-- Lee allowing his Special Orders to fall into McClellan’s hands and McClellan for being overly-cautious even when he knew exactly what the Confederates had planned—served magnificently in the war as outstanding generals. Other major participants were those like Generals Hooker and Burnside for the Union, who each led crucial attacks during the battle, and Generals Stonewall Jackson and Longstreet, who led the defenses against the Union forces under Lee’s…show more content… The event has popped into mind several times since eighth grade, and I have always thought that it would be cool to learn more about it, but I had never taken the initiative to research the battle because I am generally a pretty lazy person. Nevertheless, I have still found this topic to be interesting for several years and am very glad to have taken the time out of my life to research the Battle of Antietam, though I probably could have gone without writing an essay. Antietam’s legacy is something that inspired me to want to know more about the two armies fighting each other at this pivotal point in the war and what made it so important. My personal stance on the Battle of Antietam stay pretty much where they were before I put any effort into researching the topic: I think that the battle was an amazing feat for the American military, even though it saw many thousands of men die in the battlefield or to infection after the battle. I believe that the Battle of Antietam changed the course of the Civil War and made it possible for the North to succeed thanks, probably most prominently, to