What is the significance of battle of antietam

JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it. Search The ScholarShip. This Collection. View Google Analytics Statistics. Show full item record. The Battle of Antietam was the single bloodiest day of the American Civil War and is considered one of the major turning points of the war.

This battle was the first of two attempts by Robert E. Lee to go on the offensive and take the war onto northern soil and into the Union. Unfortunately for the Union, this temporal advantage in the center is not followed up with further advances and eventually the Union defenders must abandon their position. In the afternoon, the third and final major assault by Maj. Ambrose E. Burnside's Ninth Corps pushes over a bullet-strewn stone bridge at Antietam Creek.

Just as Burnside's forces begin to collapse the Confederate right, Maj. There are more than 22, casualties at the Battle of Antietam. Doctors at the scene are overwhelmed. In spite of his diminished ranks, Lee continues to skirmish with McClellan on September 18, while removing his wounded south of the Potomac River. Late that evening and on September 19, after realizing that no further attacks are coming from McClellan, Lee withdraws from the battlefield and slips back across the Potomac into Virginia.

McClellan sends Maj. Fitz John Porter to mount a cautious pursuit, which is repulsed at the Battle of Shepherdstown. While the Battle of Antietam is considered a tactical draw, President Lincoln claims a strategic victory.

Lincoln has been waiting for a military success to issue his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. He takes his opportunity on September The Proclamation, which vows to free the slaves of all states still in rebellion as of January 1, , will forever change the course of the war and the nation by marrying the Union cause with an attack on the institution of slavery.

Hesitant to support a pro-slavery regime, England and France decline to form an alliance with the Confederate States of America. After McClellan fails to pursue Lee on his retreat south, Lincoln loses faith in his general.

Weeks later, he names Burnside commander of the Army of the Potomac. Lincoln and McClellan had a tortured relationship.

He believed McClellan spent too much of his command drilling troops and little of it pursuing Lee. Though well-liked by his men, McClellan could be vain and boastful.

I feel Gen. The president relieved McClellan of his duties on November 7 and appointed Maj. Ambrose Burnside to be his replacement. After losing his command, McClellan took up a new career—politics.

In the election he was the Democratic nominee for president of the United States. His opponent, Abraham Lincoln, was reelected for another term. Despite having no prior experience and receiving no payment for her services, she bravely drove her cart of medical supplies into the fray at many battles, including Antietam.

She saw the desperation of the wounded and dying and did what she could to aid and comfort them. James Dunn, a surgeon at the Battle of Antietam lauded her efforts:. The rattle of , muskets, and the fearful thunder of over cannon, told us that the great battle of Antietam had commenced. While Sedgwick's division was attempting to turn the Confederate left flank, Union General William French led his division against the center of the Confederate position. Confederates, under the command of General D.

Hill, had taken a position along a sunken road. Years of use by farmers and their wagons had caused the road to be several feet lower than the surrounding terrain. The Confederates also placed fence rails along one side of the road to provide additional cover from Union fire. Between a. Each time the Confederates stopped the attack. Shortly before 1 p. From this position, the Union soldiers were able to fire into the heart of the road.

The Confederates quickly withdrew. By the time that the fighting was completed in this part of the battlefield, approximately 5, Union and Confederate soldiers lay dead or dying along the sunken road. The Confederates began to retreat towards Sharpsburg. After the fierce fighting earlier in the day, McClellan did not order his men to pursue the Confederates. Some historians believe that Robert E. Lee might have had to surrender his entire army if McClellan had continued his attack.

Fighting also was raging along the Confederate right flank. General Ambrose Burnside led twelve thousand Union soldiers against this portion of the Confederate line. The Union soldiers had to cross Antietam Creek. A group of Confederates defended the bridge across the creek. Despite having more men, the Union force did not succeed in crossing the bridge until nearly 1 p.

The Union soldiers then rested for two hours. Around 3 p. Confederate General A. Hill's division arrived at approximately the same time from Harper's Ferry. With these reinforcements, the Confederates were able to drive Burnside's force back to the bridge.

The Battle of Antietam drew to a close. On September 18, both armies remained on the battlefield.