Antietam Battlefield

Tuesday, Sept 12, 2011


23,000 Americans were killed in about 12 hours at the battle of Antietam during the Civil War. It was the first attempt of the South to take the battle to the North. At the time, September, 1862, the South was winning and a decisive win on Northern soil would lead to a quick end of the war. Lincoln told his general, George B McClellan, to destroy the Southern Army. So he set out to do just that.

I always thought Antietam was a town in Maryland. Nope, it is a creek. In fact, the South called it the Battle of Sharpsburg (which was in Virginia at the time). The terrain in the area is mostly rolling hills

Here is information on the battle from the National Park Service –

After his victory at the Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run), Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee decided to move his army out of war-torn Virginia. On September 4, 1862, he led is over 40,000 Confederates across the Potomac River and through the lush Maryland countryside to Frederick.


Lee intended to keep moving north into Pennsylvania, but his line of supply and communication into Virginia was threatened by the 12,500-man Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, VA (now West Virginia). {more on this tomorrow}.


On Sept 13 a Union soldier found a copy of Lee’s Special Order 191, his plan of operations for the campaign. This “Lost Order” as it has become known, was taken to McClellan, who realized that his was the time to strike Lee’s divided forces. On the morning of September 14, Union soldiers engaged Confederates guarding the gaps on South Mountain. The day-long battle ended with the Confederates being forced from the gaps. Lee considered returning to Virginia, but on September 15, after learning that Harpers Ferry had fallen, he reevaluated his plans. He would make a stand at Sharpsburg, MD, a quiet, 100-year-old farming community of some 1,200 residents.

On Sept 15, 1862, Lee positioned is army along a ridge west of Antietam Creek. Confederate Gen. James Longstreet commanded the line’s center and right, and Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson held its left. Behind them a Potomac River ford allowed retreat to Virginia. On September 15 and 16 Union Gen. McClellan deployed his forces east of the creek. His plan: attack Lee’s left and when “matters looked favorably’ attack the Confederate right. Succeeding in either he hoped to strike Lee’s center. His plan was good but his instructions to commanders ambiguous.


The 12-hour battle began at dawn, September 17. Three morning Union attacks struck the Confederate left, north to south. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s First Corps made the initial assault, followed by Gen. Joseph Mansfield’s Twelfth Corps. Part of Gen. Edwin Sumner’s Second Corps made the final attack. McClellan’s battle plan broke down in uncoordinated advances.

From 6 am until 10 am savage combat raged across the Cornfield, East Woods, and West Woods. By late morning fighting shifted toward the Confederate center (Sunken Road) in a three-hour stalemate that left the road forever known as “Bloody Lane”. Most contested of the three bridges Union forces used to cross Antietam Creek was the lower. At 10 am Union Gen. Ambrose Burnside’s Ninth Corps began its assaults on the Lower Bridge. By 1pm Federals had driven Confederates from the bluff overlooking the creek. Over the next two hours Burnside moved his men across the bridge and deployed them. When he again advanced on the Confederate right, Gen. A.P. Hill’s reinforcements, arriving in late afternoon from Harpers Ferry, stopped him. The battle ended about 6 pm. The lines of battle had not shifted significantly from that morning. Of nearly 100,000 soldiers engaged in battle, about 23,000 were killed, wounded, or missing. Late on September 18, Lee forded the Potomac to Virginia. The Union Army held the field.


Here are some pictures I took.

Dunker Church – Built in 1852, this modest house of worship for pacifist German Baptist Brethren became a focal point for Union attacks the morning of the battle.

Cornfield – This 24-acre cornfield saw some of US history’s most horrific fighting. For nearly three hours Hooker and Mansfield’s Union forces battled Jackson’s Confederates. Many regiments on both sides were cut to pieces. Hays’ Louisiana Brigrade suffered 60-percent casualties in 30 minutes.  (there is no corn in the field today and the famhouse you see did not exist at the time)

West Woods - Around 9:30 am Gen. Edwin Sumner’s Union soldiers advanced into the West Woods. The combined firepower of Confederate artillery and attacking infantry drove them back. In 20 minutes over 2,200 Union soldiers were killed or wounded.

Mumma Farm – The only deliberate destruction of property during the battle was the burning of this farm. Confederate Soldiers were ordered to burn these structures to prevent their use by Union sharpshooters. Fortunately, Samuel Mumma and his family had fled to safety before the battle. They rebuilt the home in 1863. (The bright white building is the springhouse, which survived the fire)

Sunken Road (Bloody Lane) – This farm lane served as a breastwork for the Confederate center. For about three hours 2,200 Confederate, later reinforced by additional troops, held off the attacks of a combined Union force numbering nearly 10,000. Finally, just after noon, this thin gray line collapsed and fell back several hundred yards to the Piper Farm. The Union attackers had suffered too many casualties to pursue their advantage.

Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge) – 500 Confederate soldiers held the area overlooking the Lower Bridge for three hours. Burnside’s command finally captured the bridge and crossed Antietam Creek, which forced the Confederates back towards Sharpsburg.

I was surprised at the amount of time we spent here. We listened to a Park Service Ranger talk, saw a movie, checked out the museum, and drove through the battlefield. It was very informational and very sad.

Here are all the pictures I took.

I also took a couple of pics of the campground we are at. As you can see, the sites are pretty close together.