Sept. 17 1862 The Bloodiest Day In American History. The Battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg

[Valin]

Battle Of Antietam

Facts About The Battle Of Antietam (a.k.a. Battle Of Sharpsburg) during the American Civil War.

 

Battle Of Antietam Summary:

The Battle of Antietam, a.k.a. Battle of Sharpsburg, resulted in not only the bloodiest day of the American Civil War, but the bloodiest single day in all of American history. Fought primarily on September 17, 1862, between the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, it ended Gen. Robert E. Lees first invasion of a northern state.

 

Prelude to Antietam

 

Shortly after routing the Union Army of Virginia under Maj. Gen. John Pope in the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Battle of Manassas) in August, 1862, Lee led his own Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac into Maryland. Reasons for this invasion included taking pressure off the Shenandoah Valley"The Breadbasket of the Confederacy"at harvest time; encouraging European support for the Confederacy by winning a battle on Northern soil; and demoralizing Northerners to reduce their support for the war while encouraging the slave-holding state of Maryland to secede and join the Confederacy.

 

Believing the routed Union army would require time to rebuild, Lee took the bold step of dividing his own army, sending portions of it to capture various objectives. Primarily, these objectives involved using part of Lieutenant General Thomas "Stonewall" Jacksons corps to capture the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), while the largest corps, that of Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, proceeded on the road toward Sharpsburg. Lee informed his commanders of their routes and objectives in Order No. 191 on September 9.

 

 

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Battle of Antietam

Date: September 17, 1862

 

Location: Maryland

Confederate Commander: Robert E. Lee

Union Commander: George B. McClellan

Confederate Forces Engaged: 51,844

Union Forces Engaged: 75,316

Winner: Inconclusive (Strategic Union Victory)

Casualties: 26,134 (12,410 Union and 13,724 Confederate)

[Valin]

[Draggingtree]

Lee's General Orders No. 102

These are the orders issued to Lee's army on the eve of the Maryland Campaign.

HDQRS. ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
Leesburg, Va., September 4, 1862.
(Received at Richmond, Va., Sept. 17, 1862.)

I. It is ordered and earnestly enjoined upon all commanders to reduce their transportation to a mere sufficiency to transport cooking utensils and the absolute necessaries of a regiment. All animals not actually employed for artillery, cavalry, or draught purposes will be left in charge of Lieutenant-Colonel Corley, chief quartermaster Army of Northern Virginia, to be recruited, the use of public animals, captured or otherwise, except for this service, being positively prohibited. Division, brigade, and regimental commanders, and officers in charge of artillery battalions, will give special attention to this matter. Batteries will select the best horses for use, turning over all others. Those batteries with horses too much reduced for service will be, men and horses, temporarily transferred by General Pendleton to other batteries, the guns and unserviceable horses being sent to the rear, the ammunition being turned in to reserve ordnance train. All cannoneers are positively prohibited from riding on the ammunition chests or guns.

 

II. This army is about to engage in most important operations, where any excesses committed will exasperate the people, lead to disastrous results, and enlist the populace on the side of the Federal forces in hostility to our own. Quartermasters and commissaries will make all arrangements for purchase of supplies needed by our army, to be issued to the respective commands upon proper requisitions, thereby removing all excuse for depredations.

 

III. A provost guard, under direction of Brig. Gen. L. A. Armistead, will follow in rear of the army, arrest stragglers, and punish summarily all depredators, and keep the men with their commands. Commanders of brigades will cause rear guards to be placed under charge of efficient officers in rear of their brigades, to prevent the men from leaving the ranks, right, left, front, or rear, this officer being held by brigade commanders to a strict accountability for proper performance of this duty.

 

IV. Stragglers are usually those who desert their comrades in peril. Such characters are better absent from the army

Edited September 17, 2013 by Draggingtree

[Valin]

 

Lee's General Orders No. 102

 

These are the orders issued to Lee's army on the eve of the Maryland Campaign.

 

 

Thanks Shotgun's Home of the American Civil War is one of my favorite Civil War Sites.

Chock full of really good stuff!

[Draggingtree]

Sep 18, 1862:

McClellan lets Lee retreat from Antietam

Confederate General Robert E. Lee's army pulls away from Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and heads back to Virginia. The day before, at the Battle of Antietam, Lee's force had engaged in the bloodiest one-day battle of the Civil War against the army of General George B. McClellan. The armies struggled to a standstill, but the magnitude of losses forced Lee to abandon his invasion of Maryland.

 

The significance of the battle was not Lee's withdrawal, but McClellan's lack of pursuit. When Lee settled into a defensive line above Antietam Creek on September 16, he had only about 43,000 troops. McClellan had around 50,000 in position on September 17, with many more on the way.

 

On September 18, the armies remained in their positions without fighting. By this point, Lee was highly vulnerable. His army had its back to the Potomac River, just a few miles away, and a quarter of his force had been lost in the previous day's battle. And after more than two weeks of marching, his men were tired. McClellan, on the other hand, welcomed thousands of additional troops on September 18. But, although he outnumbered Lee's troops by almost three times, McClellan did not pursue Lee. In fact, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mcclellan-lets-lee-retreat-from-antietam