Battle tactics and strategies for both Union and Confederate armies, at Antietam. Political outcomes of this battle; emancipation proclamation.

1. The Battle of Antietam
or Sharpsburg

2.  Many battles are known by more than one name
 The Union chose to name some after the closest body of
water
 The Confederates named them after the nearest town
or landmark
 Examples:
 Antietam (creek)/Sharpsburg (town)
 Pittsburg Landing (river)/Shiloh (church)
 Bull Run (stream)/Manassas (town)

3.  Union Army: Ready to go into disaster-mode
in the north because of poor leadership, while
out west, they are experiencing success under
General Grant
 Confederate Army: One victory away from
seeming invincible.
 To everyone’s surprise, the war last longer than
a month

4.  Brilliant organizer
 Lacked killer instinct
 Suffered from a God complex
 Loved his men
 Nicknames
 “Little Mac”
 “The Young Napoleon”

10.  Brilliant defensive strategist
 Loved by his men
 Thought he was too old to fight
 “I’ve heard of Jesus Christ,
but I’ve seen Robert E. Lee.”
-Mary Chestnut

11.  Lee persuades Jefferson Davis to let him invade the border state of
Maryland (“The army is not properly equipped for an invasion of
an enemy's country…”)
 Wants to incite rebellion in the already divided state
 Feels that if he can win a battle on Northern soil, they will
surrender
 Would be the CSA’s first offensive of the war
 Lee’s proclamation to the people:
 "....This, citizens of Maryland, is our mission, so far as you are concerned.
No constraint upon your free will is intended; no intimidation will be
allowed within the limits of this army at least. Marylanders shall once
more enjoy their ancient freedom of thought and speech. We know no
enemies among you, and will protect all, of every opinion. It is for you to
decide your destiny freely and without constraint. This army will respect
your choice, whatever it may be; and while the Southern people will
rejoice to welcome you to your natural position among them, they will
only welcome you when you come of your own free will."

12.  Issued by Jefferson Davis prior to the invasion:
 1st Article: “That the Confederate Government is waging this war solely
for self-defense; that it has no design of conquest, or any other purpose
than to secure peace and the abandonment by the United States of their
pretensions to govern a people who have never been their subjects, and
who prefer self-government to a union with them.”
 2nd Article: “That this Government, at the very moment of its
inauguration, sent commissioners to Washington to treat for a peaceful
adjustment of all differences, but that these commissioners were not
received, nor even allowed to communicate the object of their mission;
and that, on a subsequent occasion, a communication from the President
of the Confederacy to President Lincoln remained without answer,
although a reply was promised by General Scott, into whose hands the
communication was delivered.”

14.  Lee’s secret plan of invasion, given only to
Generals Longstreet, Jackson, and Hill
 They are all told to essentially burn after
reading
 Somehow, one of the copies ended up in Union
hands

15.  "I have the whole rebel force in front of me, but am
confident, and no time shall be lost. I have a difficult
task to perform, but with God's blessing will
accomplish it. I think Lee has made a gross mistake,
and that he will be severely punished for it. The army
is in motion as rapidly as possible. I hope for a great
success if the plans of the rebels remain unchanged. I
have all the plans of the rebels, and will catch them in
their own trap if my men are equal to the emergency. I
now feel that I can count on them as of old. All forces
of Pennsylvania should be placed to co-operate at
Chambersburg. My respects to Mrs. Lincoln. Received
most enthusiastically by the ladies. Will send you
trophies. All well, and with God's blessing will
accomplish it.” (Sept. 13, 1862)

16.  With the two armies converging near
Sharpsburg, McClellan orders his generals to
attack Confederate positions simultaneously
 The order is botched, and the attacks are
delayed and separate
 Joseph Hooker’s I corps are to attack from the north
 Edwin Sumner’s II corps are to move west
 Fitz John Porter’s V corps and William Franklin’s VI
corps are to remain in reserve

18.  Lee places Jackson and his men near the
Dunker Church to protect the flank and line
from caving in if attacked
 After the battle begins, Lee is seen riding
amongst his men. Several times, soldiers break
rank and run over to him, telling him he
should move to the rear
 Forced to get creative: due to being
outnumbered, he has to maneuver his soldiers
to meet the Union wherever they attack

19.  All forces now converge on Sharpsburg
 McClellan poises himself on the eastern side of
Antietam Creek
 Lee has only 18,000 men (another 20,000 on the
way), with McClellan having more than
100,000 but he does not attack, fearing a trap

20.  Major fighting begins with Hooker’s advance
near the Dunker Church
 He marches his men across the Miller Cornfield
and towards the church
 Confederates, under Longstreet, lose 1,500 men
in the first half hour
 Hooker’s men are pushed back into the
cornfield, where both sides began shelling with
artillery

21.  Union and Confederate 20-pounders exchange
barrages near the church
 “…artillery hell.”- Col. Stephen Lee

22.  Over the course of the next three hours, 8,000
men would be killed or wounded in the 40 acre
cornfield
 There would be fifteen combined charges
between the two sides
 He fighting was back and forth, pointless, and
bloody
 It was said after the battle that a person could
not walk from one end of the field to the other
without stepping on a dead body

27.  “Every stalk of corn in the northern and greater part of the field
was cut as closely as could have been done with a knife, and the
Confederates slain lay in rows precisely as they had stood in their
ranks a few moments before.”- Union General Joseph Hooker
 “...the most deadly fire of the war. Rifles are shot to pieces in the
hands of the soldiers, canteens and haversacks are riddled with
bullets, the dead and wounded go down in scores.”- Capt.
Benjamin Cook

28.  The fighting in the cornfield ceases when
Hooker is shot in the foot and has his men pull
out
 Sumner’s men move toward the Dunker
church and are caught in a cross fire between
Jackson’s CSA troops and Howard’s USA
troops
 General Oliver Howard is soon shot, and
orders a retreat

32.  With the first two attacks failing, McClellan
sends the III corps to take a sunken farm road
 Lee moves his men to meet them and arrives
first
 The Confederates are hidden behind the road
and the Union is easily picked off as they have
to march through it uphill
 Soon both sides were trying to push each other
up and down the road

33.  The 69th New York infantry, otherwise known
as the Irish Brigade, led by Gen. Thomas
Meagher, soon joins the fight, along with a
German regiment
 However, the fighting at the sunken road
would soon end because the soldiers could no
longer advance due to how many bodies there
were in the road
 It was said that the men left standing were
ankle deep in blood, which was causing them
to slip

34.  Used “Buck and Ball” Ammunition
 During the fighting, Irish brigade Chaplin
Father William Corby was seen riding up and
down the lines of men, blessing them
 At the end of the day, an Irish soldier was
found dead, sitting up against a tree, holding
his regiment’s flag in his hands up against his
chest. The cloth was shredded to tatters while
the wooden staff was cracked in half.
 Commander: General Thomas Meagher
(pronounced ‘Mah-her’)

38.  Union general Ambrose Burnside is ordered to
cross Antietam Creek at the Rohrbach Bridge
 The bridge is too narrow and the creek is too
deep, so he delays
 Confederate sharpshooters position themselves
on the hill overlooking the bridge
 Soldiers that attempt to cross are picked off one
by one
 The bridge begins to fill with the bodies of
dead and dying soldiers

39.  Concerned that the men are too afraid to cross,
a sergeant from Brooklyn gives free rum to any
man that will volunteer to cross with him
 Within minutes, 500 men volunteer and they
make a charge that finally breaks through

43.  “I do not know the name of the creek, but I
have named it the creek of death. Such a
slaughter I hope to never witness again.”- a
Union soldier

44.  With the Confederates running out of ammo,
Longstreet orders them to forage off dead
soldiers
 When evening came, McClellan still had 70,000
fresh soldiers available but did not use them
 The Confederates were waiting in position with
nothing but bayonets on their rifles, expecting an
attack
 Had the Union attacked, the war could have been
over

45.  Though all military officers, including
McClellan would have studied On War by Carl
Von Clauswitz, his advice was not heeded:
 “Once the great victory is gained, the next question
is not about rest, not about taking breath, not about
considering, not about reorganizing, etc., etc., but
only of pursuit of fresh blows wherever necessary, of
the capture of the enemy’s capital, of the attack of
the armies of his allies, or of whatever else appears
to be a rallying point for the enemy.”

46. Report on the Battle of Antietam, George. McClellan, 1862

47.  At the end of the day, the Union was given
credit for the victory, because they held the
field and forced Lee to withdraw
 In a mere twelve hours of fighting, the casualty
figures were enormous:
 USA: ~13,000 (25% of fighting force)
 CSA: ~10,000 (31%)

48.  “WEDNESDAY EVENING, Sept. 17.-- p.m.--
This has been an eventful day in the history of
the rebellion. A battle has taken place, in which
the Army of the Potomac has again been
victorious, and which exceeds in extent any
battle heretofore fought on this continent.””
 “…The enemy's dead, which nearly all fell into
our hands, were thickly strewn over the fields,
laying in heaps in many places…”

52.  After being pressured to free the slaves,
Lincoln says he will only do so after a victory
 Although Antietam was not what he had
hoped for, he announces his Emancipation
Proclamation to be effective January 1, 1863
 The document is still misunderstood to this
day, because it did not free all the slaves

53. Civil War
Photography
Published in the New York Times, in
1862:
“The dead of the battlefield come
up to us very rarely, even in
dreams. We see the list [of dead]
in the morning paper at
breakfast, but dismiss it’s
recollection with the coffee. Mr.
Brady has done something to
bring us the terrible reality and
earnestness of the War. If he has
not brought us bodies and laid
them at our doorstep and along
streets, he has done something
very like it.”

54.  On the night of Sept. 17, 1862, John Wilkes Booth was performing
Hamlet at McVicker’s Theater in Chicago:
 “Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death and danger dare,
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honor's at the stake. How stand I then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain? O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!”