The Battle of Antietam (known as the Battle of Sharpsburg in the South), fought on Wednesday, September 17, 1862 near Sharpsburg, Maryland, was the first major battle of the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with over 23,000 casualties, but also has unique significance as the [partial] victory that gave President Abraham Lincoln the confidence to announce his Emancipation Proclamation.
Prelude - Battle of Antietam
Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia—40,000 men—had entered Maryland following their recent victory at Second Battle of Bull Run. Lee's strategy was to seek new supplies and fresh men (from the border, slave-holding state of Maryland, which had considerable pockets of Confederate sympathies) and to impact public opinion in the North and influence potential European allies.
While Major General George B. McClellan's 87,000-man Army of the Potomac was moving to intercept Lee, a Union soldier discovered a mislaid copy of the detailed battle plans of Lee's army—General Order number 191—wrapped around some cigars. The order indicated that Lee had divided his army and dispersed portions geographically (to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia and Hagerstown, Maryland), thus making each subject to isolation and defeat in detail if McClellan could move quickly enough. McClellan waited about 18 hours before deciding to take advantage of this intelligence and position his forces based on it, thus endangering a golden opportunity to defeat Lee decisively.
There were two significant engagements in the Maryland campaign prior to the major battle of Antietam: Lieutenant General Stonewall Jackson's capture of Harper's Ferry and McClellan's assault through the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Battle of South Mountain.
Battle of Antietam
Near of the town of Sharpsburg, Lee deployed his army behind Antietam Creek along a low ridge. Jackson defended the left (north) flank, anchored on the Potomac River, James Longstreet the right (south) flank, anchored on the Antietam. This was a precarious position because the Confederate rear was blocked by the Potomac River and only a single ford was available should retreat be necessary. Although McClellan arrived in the area on September 16, his trademark caution delayed his attack on Lee, which gave the Confederates more time to prepare defensive positions at the Battle of Antietam and allowed Longstreet's corps to arrive from Hagerstown and Jackson's corps, minus A.P. Hill's division, to arrive from Harper's Ferry.
The Battle of Antietam can be viewed as essentially three separate, mostly uncoordinated, battles: morning in the northern end of the battlefield, mid-day in the center, and afternoon in the south. This lack of coordination and concentration of McClellan's forces almost completely nullified the two-to-one advantage the Union enjoyed and allowed Lee to shift his defensive forces to parry each thrust during the Battle of Antietam.
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