Description: On September 16, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan confronted
Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at Sharpsburg, Maryland. At dawn September
17, Hooker’s corps mounted a powerful assault on Lee’s left flank that
began the single bloodiest day in American military history. Attacks and
counterattacks swept across Miller’s cornfield and fighting swirled around
the Dunker Church. Union assaults against the Sunken Road eventually pierced
the Confederate center, but the Federal advantage was not followed up.
Late in the day, Burnside’s corps finally got into action, crossing the
stone bridge over Antietam Creek and rolling up the Confederate right.
At a crucial moment, A.P. Hill’s division arrived from Harpers Ferry and
counterattacked, driving back Burnside and saving the day. Although outnumbered
two-to-one, Lee committed his entire force, while McClellan sent in less
than three-quarters of his army, enabling Lee to fight the Federals to
a standstill. During the night, both armies consolidated their lines. In
spite of crippling casualties, Lee continued to skirmish with McClellan
throughout the 18th, while removing his wounded south of the river. McClellan
did not renew the assaults. After dark, Lee ordered the battered Army of
Northern Virginia to withdraw across the Potomac into the Shenandoah Valley.
Result(s): Inconclusive (Union strategic victory.)
Antietam E-Mail Center Antietam/Sharpsburg
Listed below are links to moving pictures of the fighting at Antietam/Sharpsburg
Harpers Ferry September 12-15 1862. click here for Harpers Ferry W.V.
The battle of Antietam click here for the Dunker Church
The battle of Sharpsburg click here for the Dunker Church
The battle of Antietam click here for behind the Dunker Church
The battle of Sharpsburg click here for the Roulette Farm
The battle of Antietam click here for the North Woods Area
The battle of Sharpsburg click here for the Cornfield
The battle of Antietam click here for the West Woods Area
The battle of Sharpsburg click here for the Burnside Bridge
The battle of Antietam click here for A.P. Hills Stand
The battle of Sharpsburg click here for the Mumma Cemetary
The battle of Antietam click here for the Sunken Road
Summary of the battle of Sharpsburg;
The morning of September 17th came with a low mist covering the farms and woods surrounding the little town of Sharpsburg, Maryland. As the sun rose that morning, 125,000 officers and common soldiers were preparing to fight and die in those woods and across those farms. Before nightfall some 25,000 of them would be dead or wounded.
Robert E. Lee had extended his Confederate army of 26,000 in a thin defensive line from the Nicodemus Farm north of the West Woods, through the East Woods, south to the sunken road, along the ridge that bisected the Boonsboro Pike near the Middle Bridge, across the Boonsboro Pike, then along Antietam Creek south along the high ridge to cover the Lower Burnside's Bridge, and on to Snavely's Ford due south of the town. Lee had given Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson command of the defenses along the West and East Woods. D. H. Hill was to defend the middle of the field, along the sunken road. Longstreet had been given the task of defending the Boonsboro Pike and the southern approaches to Sharpsburg, including the Lower Bridge. Lee expected the divisions of McLaws and R. H. Anderson to arrive shortly after dawn. Lee also hoped that A. P. Hill, 17 miles away at Harpers Ferry, could arrive by nightfall. All told, Lee could hope to muster 40,000 men on the battlefield that day, including stragglers. His only advantage was that almost all of them were battle-hardened veterans.
George McClellan had over 85,000 Federal troops west of Sharpsburg that morning, but many of them were inexperienced, having been in the army for only a month or so. McClellan also mistakenly estimated that his opponent had over 100,000 men in the field. Nevertheless, McClellan prepared to attack. During the afternoon and evening of September 16th, he sent Joseph Hooker's I Corps and Joseph Mansfield's XII Corps across the creek to the north and into position along the Hagerstown Pike, North Woods and East Woods. Edwin Sumner's II Corps would cross the creek shortly after the battle commenced at the same ford, and follow Hooker and Mansfield into the attack. This would be McClellan's primary point of attack. In the center, McClellan would hold Fitz John Porter's V Corps and Afred Pleasonton's Cavalry Corps in general reserve, to be used as needed. The VI Corps, under William Franklin, was moving up from Crampton's Gap, and was expected to arrive about noon. The IX Corps, under Ambrose Burnside, had been given the task of taking the Lower Bridge and capturing the town. This would, in effect, trap Lee's Army before it could escape back across the Potomac River into Virginia.
As the sun rose that morning and the mist burned away, rifle and cannon fire began to blanket the field. To the north, Hooker led his I Corps through the North Woods and down the Hagerstown Pike to the West Woods. His goal was the Dunker Church, 1,000 yards to the south. Jackson's men took heavy losses in the woods and the cornfield at first, but quickly and viciously counterattacked. Hooker's troops were veterans, but the Rebels' musket fire was deadly, and was supported by J. E. B. Stuart's horse artillery pounding the Union advance from the safety of the Nicodemus Heights west of the pike. I Corps was forced back to the protection of the North Woods with heavy losses.
After the first wave of attacks, Mansfield led his XII Corps onto the field through the East Woods. He was a new field commander, having just arrived from a desk in Washington. He tried to lead his mixture of veterans and green troops onto the field in column formations. The veterans would not have it, however, and quickly formed into battle lines. It did not matter much to Mansfield. Before he could even begin to lead the attack he was mortally wounded in the East Woods. Now leaderless, XII Corps surged through the East Woods and across the Cornfield. The rebels were pushed back once again to the Hagerstown Pike and West Woods. Soon Lee began to send what reinforcements he could to Jackson, who once again launched a counterattack. Some units of XII Corps reached the West Woods and managed to hold on against the scattered Confederate regiments, but the rest of the Union assault sputtered and died. Most of the XII Corps was forced to retreat. Some of the green Union regiments were larger than entire Confederate brigades, but many of these new units broke as soon as they came under fire.
The third and final assault on this part of the field was led by Sumner. John Sedgwick's division of Sumner's II Corps advanced west out of the East Woods and across the Cornfield and plowed fields toward the Dunker Church. Some of the XII Corps men still held on there. Sedgewick's men, led by Sumner, marched resolutely into the West Woods in parade-ground style, scattering the rebels before them. However, McLaws' and Anderson's divisions had arrived that morning, and Lee sent them to Jackson. They hit Sedgwick's Federals on their "open" left flank, as well as from front and rear, quickly causing a terrible rout. The Union soldiers did not know which way to attack or retreat. The remnants of II and XII Corps came streaming out of the West Woods, the men retreating to the protection of the East Woods. There they remained, covered by the deadly Union artillery. As far as these men were concerned, the fight was over. Aside from sporadic rifle fire and artillery duels, the first phase of the battle ended.
As this part came to a close, the second began. William French's division of Sumner's II Corps advanced to attack the West Woods; but instead of marching west, he turned south. French's men moved across the Roulette Farm, and as they came over a low rise they found the Confederates lying in wait along a sunken farm road. The resulting fight was incredibly brutal. Wave after wave of Union troops attempted to take the "Bloody Lane" from D. H. Hill's North Carolinians and Alabamians. The Union Irish Brigade was shot to pieces, though it still managed to deal out horrible punishment at point blank range to the Rebels in the sunken road. Success came only after Robert O'Neal's 5th Alabama misunderstood an order and retreated from the lane, leaving a hole in the center of the Confederate line. The rest of Hill's men were quickly forced to retreat by the Union troops who were now able to flank and fire down the North Carolinians' line.
Hill's men retreated into the orchard on the Piper farm south of the Bloody Lane. The Union soldiers attempted to continue the assault, but were beaten back by the Confederates' obstinate defense in the orchard and along the Hagerstown Pike. At one point D. H. Hill led a ragtag counterattack that helped to stall the Union attack. General Longstreet and his staff also assisted by manning a cannon that was under-crewed due to the heavy losses taken by the rebel artillery. French and Sumner finally pulled back, content to hold the lane. With this, the second phase of the battle came to an end.
By mid-afternoon, Burnside's IX Corps was supposed to be in Sharpsburg, blocking Lee's retreat. Instead, it was still trying to capture the Lower Bridge. Robert Toombs' Georgians were spread very thinly to defend the bridge, but were greatly aided by the excellent defensive terrain. The high bluff overlooking the bridge was heavily wooded and had been used as a quarry at one time. This allowed for many well-protected rifle pits and sniper positions in trees. As a result, Burnside's men had taken many more casualties then they had expected, and had gotten cold feet.
Finally, Burnside passed the challenge to brigade commander Edward Ferrero, whose 51st New York and 51st Pennsylvania regiments thereupon assaulted the bridge. Ferrero's men finally carried the bridge and drove Toombs' men back toward Sharpsburg. Burnside quickly began sending his men across the bridge under accurate Confederate artillery fire. Once across, the advance halted for nearly two hours as the Federals regrouped and requisitioned supplies. It was not until after 3 pm that the advance resumed, much to McClellan's dismay. Once underway, however, they advanced rapidly across the farms and fields above the bridge.
The Confederate defense was obstinate but their lines were sparsely manned, sometimes by regiments consisting of less than 25 men! The Confederates gradually gave way in the face of the superior Union numbers. Burnside's men had advanced as far as the outskirts of the town, when suddenly General A. P. Hill's division smashed into their left flank. Hill's troops had marched 17 miles from Harpers Ferry since setting out around 7 am, and they went over to the attack without pause when they reached the antietam battlefield. The Union advance was stopped dead in its tracks. Before Burnside's corps could recover, night fell, and the battle of Antietam came to an end.
From South Mountain to Antietam, Lee's army had suffered 13,609 killed and wounded. Even with such losses, however, he waited throughout the night and next day before retreating, when McClellan showed no signs of renewing the attack. Lee returned to Virginia via the Potomac River ford at Sheperdstown, despite a minor attempt by McClellan to stop him. A week later, near Martinsburg, Virginia, enough stragglers had returned to the army to bring Lee's strength back to about 36,000 men. He and his army had survived what should have been a disaster.
During the fighting from South Mountain to Antietam, McClellan's forces had lost nearly 15,000 killed and wounded. He himself felt that he had delivered a hard blow to a numerically superior Confederate army and driven it back across the Potomac out of Maryland. The battle was a victory of sorts for the Union, but a better Union commander might have destroyed Lee's army and ended the war. Washington seemed to feel that way, for soon after the battle Lincoln again removed McClellan from command, this time permanently. Command of the army was given to Ambrose Burnside.
September 17, 1862, stands even today as the bloodiest day in American history