battle of antietam?

Question

does anyone know a brief summary of the battle of antietam

Answer 1

Lee understood early on that staying on the strategic defensive was bad for the Confederacy. The only real hope for the survival of the CSA was for him to take the war to the northern states, both to remove the pressure from the occupied and fought-over state of Virginia and to increase the chance of foreign (ie British and/or French) recognition and military support of the Confederacy by means of a victory on Union soil. His first shot at that came right after Second Manassus. At that point, the Union armies had been defeated in the Seven Days battles that tumbled McClellan out of the peninsula and then again defeated in a close, but morale-shattering loss in the same area as the Bull Run/Manassus battle at the start of the war. Lee knew his army was about at its peak in terms of manpower, he was confident that his commanders and men were both better soldiers than the Union forces, and he understood that it would pretty much be all downhill from that point unless he was able to sway some border states, like Maryland, to the Confederate cause.
A quick swing up to the north of DC would allow him to catch McClellan off-guard, and since Lee knew McClellan was very slow to move, and hyper-cautious in command, it seemed like a good chance to pick his spot and defeat the demoralized army and their demoralized commander for hopefully the key time. Unfortunately, a copy of Lee's general orders was found and brought to McClellan, who then, knowing exactly what Lee was going to do, and when, and how, only took twice as long as any reasonable commander to respond, and still almost screwed it up. Jackson's corps, which had been reduced to throwing rocks at the Union troops at Second Manassas after running out of ammunition while waiting for Longstreet to get around to supporting them, got brutally hammered again by repeated attacks of vastly greater forces. The only thing that saved Lee's army from destruction was the timely arrival of A.P. Hill's detachment which had quick-marched up from Harper's Ferry and managed to hold off the triumphant Federals until nightfall. Almost any other general than McClellan would have essentially won the war for the Union that day. Even Braxton Bragg couldn't have screwed that one up as badly!

Answer 2

Summary Of Antietam

Answer 3

The battle of Antietam occured in the middle of September 1862 in Maryland in a place near Sharpsburg. It was the bloodiest battle up to that time and the Northerners won a very narrow victory because it stopped Lee's drive to the North and a delay in the South being recognized as an independent nation. It gave Lincoln the political opportunity that he was desperate for, namely to issue the Emancipation Proclamation which did not free any slave but it gave the North a booster shot to carry on believing that they were fighting a righteous cause to end slavery.

It was a deadly setting because of the huge cornfields being ready to be harvested in preparation of winter and made for good cover to ambush. therefore the armies on the defensive who held their positions had the advantage but both sides suffered immense carnage. The victory did not come by whom shed more or less blood but the North kept the South out of the North for nearly a year and gave Lincoln hope of somehow better days were ahead.

Answer 4

After the victories of the Army of Northern Virginia in the Seven Days and Second Bullrun/Mananas, Lee invaded Maryland. George McClellan in command of the Army of the Potomac pursued him and had the luck of finding a copy of Lee's movement plans left by a member of A.P. Hill's staff. After meeting at Antietam Creek Maryland, Little Mac ordered piecemeal assaults against Lee's army, despite the North's great numerical superiority. Lee was only just able to hold off these assaults and was saved at the end of the day by the arrival of A.P. Hill's "Light Division" from Harper's Ferry. Although it was a tactical stalemate, the North claimed victory as Lee was forced to withdraw and this allowed Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Answer 5

The only thing I can add to the 2 answers above was the Antietam was the bloodiest day in American military history. That Lee was master of the Battlefield, and left McClellan incompetent and needed to be relieved from duty. That the tactics of Napoleon were history, and the rifle, mass production, railroads, and trenches were in the future of warfare. That the Civil War had another 2 years of bloodshed.

The price for the sin of slavery has already been paid.

Answer 6

Do you ever get tired of seeing of Wikipedia links?

" The Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg) would become know as "the bloodiest day of the war." The Confederates suffered about 11,000 casualties, the Union attackers more than 12,000. But Lee's Confedeate Army of Northern Virginia could not afford such losses.
After the grisly fighting McClellan, who continued to believe in the inflated estimate of Lee's army, decided once more to play it safe. An opportunity for what might have been a decisive and finishing blow to the Army of Virginia and the hopes of the Confederacy was lost. Despite possessing superior numbers as well as Lee's plans (Special Order 191 - the "Lost Order"), McClellan acted tenatively, allowing Lee to escape across the Potomac."

'Don't Know Much About The Civil War', Kenneth C. Davis, Harper Perrennial, 1996

Answer 7

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
battle of antietam?
does anyone know a brief summary of the battle of antietam

Answer 8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_antietam