Photo by Alexander Gardner, 1862. Courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum

 

History

The Battle of Antietam was fought on September 17, 1862. Although neither side could claim a decisive victory from the carnage, Union Gen. George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac did succeed in thwarting Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s first attempt to carry the war into the North. As Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia retreated south, Great Britain delayed its recognition of the Confederate Government and Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, outlawing slavery in all areas currently under rebellion. These consequences dealt a serious blow to the legitimacy of the Confederate Government, hampered its war effort, and helped ensure that a conflict that began as a campaign to preserve the Union would end as a moral crusade against slavery. Battle was joined at dawn when Union Gen. Joseph Hooker's artillery fired on Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson's men in the Miller cornfield north of the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland. Actions here culminated in nearly four hours of bitter fighting, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., along an old sunken road, the infamous “Bloody Lane.”  The loss of life was staggering as some 5,500 men fell in this short time.