The Civil War Turning Points in the East E-Book

• Herausgeber: Charles River Editors
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

The bloodiest day in American history took place on the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution. On September 17, 1862, Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia fought George McClellan’s Union Army of the Potomac outside Sharpsburg along Antietam Creek. That day, nearly 25,000 would become casualties, and Lee’s army would barely survive fighting the much bigger Northern army. Although the battle was tactically a draw, it resulted in forcing Lee’s army out of Maryland and back into Virginia, making it a strategic victory for the North and an opportune time for President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the rebellious states.

For those reasons, Antietam is remembered as one of the major turning points of the Civil War, but it is often overlooked that the bloody battle only represented the climactic culmination of a 3 week campaign that saw George McClellan cautiously pull a fragmented Union army together and begin tracking Lee’s army into Maryland. Sizing up McClellan, Lee had split his army up during its invasion, including sending Stonewall Jackson’s men to Harpers Ferry, but the whole course of the campaign and possibly the war changed when the Union Army somehow found a copy of Lee’s marching orders, telling them where the Confederate army would be and when. To Lee’s surprise, McClellan’s army began advancing far more rapidly, including attacking them at South Mountain before cornering them along Antietam Creek outside of Sharpsburg.

Without question, the most famous battle of the American Civil War took place outside of the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which happened to be a transportation hub, serving as the center of a wheel with several roads leading out to other Pennsylvanian towns. From July 1-3, Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia tried everything in its power to decisively defeat George Meade’s Union Army of the Potomac, unleashing ferocious assaults that inflicted nearly 50,000 casualties in all.

Day 1 of the battle would have been one of the 25 biggest battles of the Civil War itself, and it ended with a tactical Confederate victory. But over the next two days, Lee would try and fail to dislodge the Union army with attacks on both of its flanks during the second day and Pickett’s Charge on the third and final day. Meade’s stout defense held, barely, repulsing each attempted assault, handing the Union a desperately needed victory that ended up being one of the Civil War’s turning points.

After the South had lost the war, the importance of Gettysburg as one of the “high tide” marks of the Confederacy became apparent to everyone, making the battle all the more important in the years after it had been fought. While former Confederate generals cast about for scapegoats, with various officers pointing fingers at Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, and James Stuart, historians and avid Civil War fans became obsessed with studying and analyzing all the command decisions and army movements during the entire campaign. Despite the saturation of coverage, Americans refuse to grow tired of visiting the battlefield and reliving the biggest battle fought in North America.

The Civil War Turning Points in the East comprehensively covers the entire Pennsylvania campaign, analyzes the decisions made by the battles' most important leaders, and explains the aftermath of the Union victory and the legacies that were made and tarnished by the battles. Along with bibliographies, maps of the battles, and pictures of important people and places, you will learn about the battles like you never have before.

Leseprobe

The Civil War Turning Points in the East: The Battle of Antietam and the Battle of Gettysburg

By Charles River Editors

The Union Line facing Pickett’s Charge, Gettysburg National Battlefield

About Charles River Editors

Charles River Editors was founded by Harvard and MIT alumni to provide superior editing and original writing services, with the expertise to create digital content for publishers across a vast range of subject matter. In addition to providing original digital content for third party publishers, Charles River Editors republishes civilization’s greatest literary works, bringing them to a new generation via ebooks.

Introduction

Antietam

Illustration of the fighting around Burnside’s Bridge during Antietam

The bloodiest day in American history took place on the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution. On September 17, 1862, Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia fought George McClellan’s Union Army of the Potomac outside Sharpsburg along Antietam Creek. That day, nearly 25,000 would become casualties, and Lee’s army would barely survive fighting the much bigger Northern army. Although the battle was tactically a draw, it resulted in forcing Lee’s army out of Maryland and back into Virginia, making it a strategic victory for the North and an opportune time for President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the rebellious states.

For those reasons, Antietam is remembered as one of the major turning points of the Civil War, but it is often overlooked that the bloody battle only represented the climactic culmination of a 3 week campaign that saw George McClellan cautiously pull a fragmented Union army together and begin tracking Lee’s army into Maryland. Sizing up McClellan, Lee had split his army up during its invasion, including sending Stonewall Jackson’s men to Harpers Ferry, but the whole course of the campaign and possibly the war changed when the Union Army somehow found a copy of Lee’s marching orders, telling them where the Confederate army would be and when. To Lee’s surprise, McClellan’s army began advancing far more rapidly, including attacking them at South Mountain before cornering them along Antietam Creek outside of Sharpsburg.

The Civil War Turning Points in the East comprehensively covers Antietam and the entire Maryland campaign, including Lee’s strategy, the fighting at Harpers Ferry and South Mountain, the discovery of the infamous Lost Orders, and the climactic fighting at Antietam. Along with bibliographies, maps of the battle, and pictures of important people and places, you will learn about the Maryland Campaign like you never have before.

The Battle of Gettysburg

Barlow Knoll, on the northernmost section of the battlefield

Without question, the most famous battle of the American Civil War took place outside of the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which happened to be a transportation hub, serving as the center of a wheel with several roads leading out to other Pennsylvanian towns. From July 1-3, Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia tried everything in its power to decisively defeat George Meade’s Union Army of the Potomac, unleashing ferocious assaults that inflicted nearly 50,000 casualties in all.

Day 1 of the battle would have been one of the 25 biggest battles of the Civil War itself, and it ended with a tactical Confederate victory. But over the next two days, Lee would try and fail to dislodge the Union army with attacks on both of its flanks during the second day and Pickett’s Charge on the third and final day. Meade’s stout defense held, barely, repulsing each attempted assault, handing the Union a desperately needed victory that ended up being one of the Civil War’s turning points.

After the South had lost the war, the importance of Gettysburg as one of the “high tide” marks of the Confederacy became apparent to everyone, making the battle all the more important in the years after it had been fought. While former Confederate generals cast about for scapegoats, with various officers pointing fingers at Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, and James Stuart, historians and avid Civil War fans became obsessed with studying and analyzing all the command decisions and army movements during the entire campaign. Despite the saturation of coverage, Americans refuse to grow tired of visiting the battlefield and reliving the biggest battle fought in North America.

The Civil War Turning Points in the East comprehensively covers the entire Pennsylvania campaign, analyzes the decisions made by the battle’s most important leaders, and explains the aftermath of the Union victory and the legacies that were made and tarnished by the battle. Along with bibliographies, maps of the battle, and pictures of important people and places, you will learn about the Battle of Gettysburg like you never have before.

The Civil War Turning Points in the East: The Battle of Antietam and the Battle of Gettysburg

About Charles River Editors

Introduction

The Maryland Campaign

Chapter 1: The Results of Second Bull Run

Chapter 2: Lee Decides to Invade Maryland

Chapter 3: Initial Movements

Chapter 4: The Lost Order

Chapter 5: Harpers Ferry

Chapter 6: South Mountain

Chapter 7: Dispositions Before the Battle of Antietam

Chapter 8: The Beginning of the Battle

Chapter 9: The Center

Chapter 10: Burnside’s Attack

Chapter 11: Lee’s Retreat and the Aftermath

Bibliography

The Pennsylvania Campaign

Chapter 1: The Chancellorsville Campaign

Chapter 2: The Battle of Brandy Station

Chapter 3: Lee Invades Pennsylvania

Meade Takes Command

Chapter 4: July 1, 1863

Chapter 5: July 2, 1863

Longstreet’s Assault

Ewell’s Attack

Chapter 6: July 3, 1863

Lee’s Plan

East Cavalry Field

Pickett’s Charge

Farnsworth’s Charge

Chapter 7: Controversy over Lee’s Retreat

Chapter 8: Who’s to Blame?

Lee?

Longstreet?

Stuart?

The Army of the Potomac?

Meade Bibliography

Hancock Bibliography

Chamberlain Bibliography

Lee Bibliography

Longstreet Bibliography

Stuart Bibliography

The Maryland Campaign

Chapter 1: The Results of Second Bull Run

After Robert E. Lee was installed as the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia during the Peninsula Campaign in June 1862, he quickly rallied the Confederate forces around Richmond and beat back George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac later that month in a series of battles known as the Seven Days’ Battles. As McClellan retreated up the peninsula, Lee reorganized the Army of Northern Virginia into the structure it is best remembered by. Stonewall Jackson now took command of a force consisting of his own division (now commanded by Brig. General Charles S. Winder) and those of Maj. General Richard S. Ewell, Brig. General William H. C. Whiting, and Maj. General D. H. Hill. The other wing of Lee’s army was commanded by James Longstreet. On July 25, 1862, after the conclusion of the Seven Days Battles had brought the Peninsula Campaign to an end, JEB Stuart was promoted to Major General, his command upgraded to Cavalry Division.

Lee during the war

Stonewall Jackson

 James Longstreet

JEB Stuart

Even before McClellan had completely withdrawn his troops, Lee sent Jackson’s forces northward to intercept the new army Abraham Lincoln had placed under Maj. General John Pope, formed out of the scattered troops in the Virginia area. Pope had found success in the Western theater, and he was uncommonly brash, instructing the previously defeated men now under his command that his soldiers in the West were accustomed to seeing the backs of the enemy. Pope’s arrogance turned off his own men, and it also caught the notice of Lee.

On June 26, General Pope deployed his forces in an arc across Northern Virginia; its right flank under Maj. General Franz Sigel positioned at Sperryville on the Blue Ridge Mountains, its center columns under Maj. General Nathaniel P. Banks at Little Washington, and its left flank under Maj. General Irvin McDowell at Falmouth on the Rappahannock River. On July 13, Lee responded by sending Jackson with 14,000 men to Gordonsville, with Maj. General A. P. Hill's division of 10,000 men set to join him by July 27.

At the Battle of Cedar Mountain in Culpeper County, Virginia, Major General Hill is credited with coming to the aid of Jackson’s men by launching a Light Division counterattack that stabilized the Confederate left flank, thus preventing it from being routed by Union Maj. General Nathaniel P. Banks. Jackson, who had not reconnoitered properly, was in danger of being beaten back by the vanguard of Banks' force when Hill came rushing in and changed the course of the battle, leading to a collapse of the Union right.

Though outsiders thought Hill and Jackson worked like a “well oiled war machine,” in reality, the two were maintaining an increasingly contentious relationship, one that would have a major impact upon the subsequent Maryland Campaign. During the entirety of the Northern Virginia/Second Bull Run Campaign, Hill was involved in numerous disputes with Stonewall Jackson concerning Jackson's marching orders to Hill. Jackson had made several subordinates bristle because of his secrecy and his refusal to communicate objectives to them when on the march. By some accounts, Jackson sought to have Hill moved to another command, with most historians concurring that at a minimum, Jackson had Hill placed under arrest as his division entered Maryland in the fall of 1862, and subsequently had to be released by Lee's direct order so that he could participate in the capture of Harpers Ferry in September.

A.P.Hill

The fact the two generals were at each other’s throats was somewhat ironic, given that both of them were stern men. One of the men in his regiment recalled Hill’s actions during the battle:

“I saw A.P. Hill that day as he was putting his ‘Light Division’ into battle, and was very much struck with his appearance. In his shirtsleeves and with drawn sword he sought to arrest the stragglers who were coming to the rear, and seeing a Lieutenant in the number, he rode at him and fiercely inquired: "Who are you, sir, and where are you going?" The trembling Lieutenant replied: "I am going back with my wounded friend." Hill reached down and tore the insignia of rank from his collar as he roughly said: "You are a pretty fellow to hold a commission -- deserting your colors in the presence of the enemy, and going to the rear with a man who is scarcely badly enough wounded to go himself. I reduce you to the ranks, sir, and if you do not go to the front and do your duty, I'll have you shot as soon as I can spare a file of men for the purpose." And then clearing the road, he hurried forward his men to the splendid service which was before them.”

Following the Battle of Cedar Mountain, General Jackson amassed his corps and divisions, including Hill’s Light Division, and marched (without opposition) to the Rappahannock River in eastern Virginia.

Once certain McClellan was in full retreat, Lee joined Jackson, planning to strike Pope before McClellan’s troops could arrive as reinforcements. In late August 1862, in a “daring and unorthodox” move, Lee divided his forces and sent Jackson northward to flank them, ultimately bringing Jackson directly behind Pope’s army and supply base. This forced Pope to fall back to Manassas to protect his flank and maintain his lines of communication. Recognizing Lee’s genius for military strategy, General Jackson quickly became Lee’s most trusted commander, and he would later say that he so trusted Lee’s military instincts that he would even follow him into battle blindfolded.

When Pope’s army fell back to Manassas to confront Jackson, his wing of Lee’s army dug in along a railroad trench and took a defensive stance. The Second Battle of Manassas or Bull Run was fought August 28-30, beginning with the Union army throwing itself at Jackson the first two days. By daybreak on August 28, Major General Hill was positioned on the Confederate left along the “unfinished railroad,” showing for the first time his ability to not only be a good offensive fighter but a good defensive fighter by holding the line against repeated Union attacks while three horses were shot out from under him. But regardless of his successes, his contentious relationship with Jackson proceeded to escalate, overshadowing his accomplishments.

When Longstreet's men finally arrived around noon on August 29, Lee informed Longstreet of his plan to attack the Union flank, which was at that time concentrating its efforts on General Jackson. Longstreet initially rejected Lee’s suggestion to attack, recommending instead that a reconnaissance be conducted to survey the field. And although Longstreet's artillery was ultimately a major factor in helping Jackson resist the Union attack on August 29, his performance that day was described by some Lost Cause advocates as slow, and they considered his disobedience of General Lee insubordination. Lee's most famous biographer, Douglas Southall Freeman, later wrote: "The seeds of much of the disaster on July 2, 1863, at the Battle of Gettysburg were sown in that instant—when Lee yielded to Longstreet and Longstreet discovered that he would."1

Nevertheless, the Second Battle of Bull Run or Manassas is considered one of Longstreet’s most successful, While Jackson’s men defended themselves the first two days, Lee used Longstreet’s wing on August 30 to deliver a devastating flank attack before reinforcements from the retreating Army of the Potomac could reach the field. Longstreet’s attack swept Pope’s army off the field. Fought on the same ground as the First Battle of Manassas nearly a year earlier, the result was the same: a decisive Confederate victory that sent Union soldiers scrambling back to the safety of Washington.

Chapter 2: Lee Decides to Invade Maryland

After two days’ fighting, Lee had achieved another major victory, and he now stood unopposed in the field 12 miles away from Washington D.C. While Joseph Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard had stayed in this position in the months after the First Battle of Bull Run, Lee determined upon a more aggressive course: taking the fight to the North.

In early September, convinced that the best way to defend Richmond was to divert attention to Washington, Lee had decided to invade Maryland after obtaining Jefferson Davis’s permission. On September 3, the famous general reported to the Confederate president:

HEADQUARTERS ALEXANDRIA AND LEESBURG ROAD,

Near Dranesville, September 3, 1862.

His Excellency President DAVIS,

Richmond, Va.:

Mr. PRESIDENT: The present seems to be the most propitious time since the commencement of the war for the Confederate Army to enter Maryland. The two grand armies of the United States that have been operating in Virginia, though now united, are much weakened and demoralized. Their new levies, of which I understand 60,000 men have already been posted in Washington, are not yet organized, and will take some time to prepare for the field. If it is ever desired to give material aid to Maryland and afford her an opportunity of throwing off the oppression to which she is now subject, this would seem the most favorable.

After the enemy had disappeared from the vicinity of Fairfax Court House, and taken the road to Alexandria and Washington, I did not think it would be advantageous to follow him farther. I had no intention of attacking him in his fortifications, and am not prepared to invest them. If I possessed the necessary munitions, I should be unable to supply provisions for the troops. I therefore determined, while threatening the approaches to Washington, to draw the troops into Loudoun, where forage and some provisions can be obtained, menace their possession of the Shenandoah Valley, and, if found practicable, to cross into Maryland. The purpose, if discovered, will have the effect of carrying the enemy north of the Potomac, and, if prevented, will not result in much evil.