The March to Antietam E-Book

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

Seitenzahl: 68

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

"Those in whose judgment I rely tell me that I fought the battle splendidly and that it was a masterpiece of art. ... I feel I have done all that can be asked in twice saving the country. ... I feel some little pride in having, with a beaten & demoralized army, defeated Lee so utterly." - George McClellan

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 March to Antietam: The History of the Confederate Invasion of Maryland Before the Bloodiest Day of the Civil War looks at the events that led up to the Battle of Antietam, one of the crucial turning points of the Civil War. Along with bibliographies, maps of the battle, and pictures of important people and places, you will learn about the march to Antietam like never before, in no time at all.

Leseprobe

The March to Antietam: The History of the Confederate Invasion of Maryland Before the Bloodiest Day of the Civil War

By Charles River Editors

Illustration depicting the fighting at Fox’s Gap, South Mountain

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

Illustration of the fighting around Burnside’s Bridge during Antietam

The Maryland Campaign

"Those in whose judgment I rely tell me that I fought the battle splendidly and that it was a masterpiece of art. ... I feel I have done all that can be asked in twice saving the country. ... I feel some little pride in having, with a beaten & demoralized army, defeated Lee so utterly." - George McClellan

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 March to Antietam: The History of the Confederate Invasion of Maryland Before the Bloodiest Day of the Civil War looks at the events that led up to the Battle of Antietam, one of the crucial turning points of the Civil War. Along with bibliographies, maps of the battle, and pictures of important people and places, you will learn about the march to Antietam like never before, in no time at all.

The March to Antietam: The History of the Confederate Invasion of Maryland Before the Bloodiest Day of the Civil War

About Charles River Editors

Introduction

Chapter 1: 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 and Dispositions Before Antietam

Chapter 7: Antietam and Its Aftermath

Bibliography

Chapter 1: 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.

A.P.Hill

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.

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."