Download Bloodiest day in American history: The battle of Antietam

Bloodiest day in American history: The battle of Antietam
The Confederates moved past Washington D.C. and the Feds followed them to Antietam.
They fought hard under command of Gen. E. Lee and Gen. McClellan with many losses in
September 1862. About 3,650 people were killed, 17,300 were wounded and no one won,
but Gen. E. Lee withdrew to Virginia. The Civil War made this happen , this bloodiest day
in American history.
This picture shows us a road with a fence on the right side. The road is just a grass field with
tracks, which was used by vehicles and soldiers. When soldiers passed this road, there were
sometimes battles, like in this picture. They fought against each other and the persons who
were killed just lay there for days, because no one cared for them and there were not many
graveyards. You often see these corpses in roads like in this; everything is cruel and brutal.
Those situations make everything more horrible than it already is.
This picture was taken between September and October 1862, which was the time of the
Battle of Antietam, near Sharspsburg, Maryland. This is Hagerstown Road, where A. P.
Hill´s and Reynold´s and Doubleday´s armies were positioned. These persons on the photo
and in the battle fight for the abolution of slavery for us or for the Confederates to be free
from the Union. The persons who died for us want us to keep fighting and be successful.
But now I want you to ask yourself, is that worth it?
Written by Imran Kabul
Sources
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/tl1862.html (1862 – Antietam)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Antietam
http://www.mikelynaugh.com/VirtualCivilWar/GhostsOfTheField/tour2.htm
The bloodiest day of the civil war
What happened in Antietam on September 17th,1862?
by Jill Brakemeier
It was September 17th,1862, the second year of the civil war. All citizens of the North thought it
would be an easy war against the South, because the North had more soldiers than the South.
“But the South had a better strategy.” one soldier said. The Confederate General Robert E. Lee
besieged the Union and so both armies met at Antietam Creek. To be exact: on the Hagerstown
Road. There was a fence between the Northern and the Southern troops.
This is a picture which is representative of the whole Civil War. It shows how many people died in
it. This is just a small part of the battlefield of Antietam Creek and so you can imagine how many
people died in Antietam and in the whole war.
No one tried to climb the fence because the enemy was on the other side and if they had done this
they had a bigger chance to get killed. So they stayed on their side. Martin McGregor, a Union
Solider, told me: ”A friend of mine tried to climb the fences. He came to the space between the two
fences, but then he was shot. Everyone saw this and so no one tried it again.” In this picture, called
„Antietam, Md. Confederate dead by a fence on the Hagerstown road“, you can see at least 20
dead Confederates. One is farer away than the others. He tried to run away. He didn't want to die.
The Confederates and the Union fought a cruel battle. 23,000 people died, most of them
Confederates. The Union general was Geoge B. McClellan and his enemy was the best
Confederate general - Robert E. Lee. Most Union soldiers were afraid of fighting against him,
because most troops lost against his army. After this battle the Union had better chances, because
they killed many Confederates.
Sources:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/I?cwar:2:./temp/~ammem_TihH::displayType=1:m856sd=cwpb:m856sf=01097:@@@
http://www.mikelynaugh.com/VirtualCivilWar/GhostsOfTheField/tour2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bloodylane.JPG
Confederates gathered for burial
It was September 17th, 1862. Lots of Confederate soldiers were killed by the Union in the
battle of Antietam, which is called the bloodiest day of the Civil War, too.
This photo was taken near Sharpsburg, Maryland, by Alexander Gardner after the
„bloodiest day of the civil war“.
In this photo you can see Confederate soldiers which are gathered for burial. I think here
are about 40 dead soldiers. So you can see it was a very bad day in the history of
America. In the background you can see lots of trees and shrubs. But it’s horrible because
these soldiers lie there in the sun, so there must be a very bad smell. But where were they
buried? All the dead soldiers were buried at a special cemetery just for the soldiers from
the Confederate States.
To see this photo feels very bad because it was just one day in which so many were killed.
In my opinion that’s the worst day in the American history and I hope something like this
doesn’t happen again.
An article by Felix Meyer
Sources: memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
www.nkc.lifton.com/Our_Sold_Cem/indexolds.html
A fternoon daily
Standoff betw een Confederals and U nions
By Stefan Schulz
T he Confederates destroyed the railroad bridge in Antietam in September to O ctober
1862, because they w anted to stop the advance of the Federals. N obody except the
soldiers know s w ho exactly destroyed the bridge.
This photo show s a destroyed railroad bridge w here the piers, w hich consist of stone,
are free of damage. The bridge is reduced to rubble. In the foreground there are blow n
up rails, some plants and a
fixed shore. A nd in the
background there is a tow n
beneath a hill w ith a small
mural. The top of the hill is
forested and there aren't any
buildings. You can see small
islands in the w ater of the
river.
The photo w as taken in the
Civil W ar betw een 1862 and
1865 at the Antietam Creek
near Sharpsburg, M aryland.
At that time there w as the battle of Antietam and H arper’s Ferry. L ots of soldiers
fought on the battlefield and G enerals L ee and M cCellan com manded the armies.
Later in the battle General L ee w ithdrew to V irginia and 4,808 soldiers w ere killed
and 18,578 w ere w ounded.
It w as a standoff and a lot of soldiers on both sides died for noting. U nder these
conditions everybody assumes that the Confederates destroyed the bridge, because they
w anted to stop the F ederal’s advance to centre of the tow n.
Sources: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_antietam
Was this the last day of battle in Gettysburg?
By Chiara - Ayline Winter
Today, 3rd July 1863, many dead people from the Confederate States were found after the end
of the 3rd day of the battle in Gettysburg. The battle began on the 1st July, it was fought
because of the Confederate army which wanted to have shoes of the Northerners. But the
Union soldiers noticed that the Southerners tried to pinch stuff from them. After noticing this,
the Federals attacked the Confederates.
During the following three days, 3155 Union soldiers and 4708 men of the Confederate army
were killed, if we take a look at these numbers we can see that this is too much and too bad.
You can see this on the picture, too. This is one place in Gettysburg (the southern edge of the
Rose Woods) and unfortunately this is not the only place where you can find corpses! Almost
everywhere you can find them like on the picture, it is a very bad situation at Gettysburg. We
can hope for all, especially for the all the soldiers, that the war is near the end now!
[Sources: en.Wikipedia.org]
The Bloody Wheatfield
At the second day of the battle of
Gettysburg, the army of General
Kershaw (CSA) neared Rose
farmhouse. General Sweitzer’s
Union army marched behind them
and drove the Confederates around
the Wheatfield. This Wheatfield
would be remembered as a ground
of fantastic warfare. The photograph
was taken on 5th July 1863 at the
Wheatfield, bordered by Rose
Woods and Stony Hill in the west.
Dead Confederate bodies, who are
wearing uniforms, are lying on the
ground.
On 2nd July 1863, the Confederate
army neared Rose farmhouse. The
Union army drove the Confederates,
who were already hurt from fighting
at Stony Hill. A commander of the Union army pushed them back to the edge of Rose Woods,
where this photo of the dead bodies was taken. The last chance for the Confederates to win was to
cross the river near the field. But they could not do that because they were too weak and exhausted,
to do that. So the Union army won this little fight and eventually the whole battle at Gettysburg.
The photograph can give a feeling how cruel a battle or a war can be because after a battle like that
dead bodies are lying everywhere. But it can also show how good a commander has to be to have a
chance to win. Union General Trobriand wrote of this fight: ´´I had never seen any men fight with
equal obstinacy.´´
By Vivien Herbeck
Was it really worth that?
It is the 4th July 1863. The Confederates retreat. We are in the worst time after the
battle of Gettysburg.
The number of dead soldiers is infinitely high. 46462 healthy soldiers pulled into the
battle, now only 23231of them are still alive. The losses on both sides are high. The
Confederates lost 4708 men, 12693 were wounded and 5830 are still missing. 3155
soldiers of the United States were killed, 14531 wounded and 5369missing.
The sunless morning relentlessly shows the “harvest of death”.
Dead soldiers without their shoes lie on the battleground, because these are needed by
the survivors. The battle has ended, but now the worst time for the American people
begins. Most families lost their breadwinners. They are either dead or crippled. Many
children will have to grow up without their fathers.
How will it go on with the American people now - was it really worth it?
by Lisa Reineke
Sources: the Library of Congress American Memory, Wikipedia, www.sunofthesouth.net
Gettysburg - the most important battle of America
by Michael Gutknecht
Fighting soldiers, thousands of weapons, dead people, too much blood and many battles.
This is what the cruel American Civil War is about. But the people who died in the battle of
Gettysburg from 1st to 3rd July 1863 did not die for nothing. The Battle of Gettysburg changed
Americas whole situation. When the first battles of the war were over, things seemed hopeless for
the Northern states, but then the Confederate States, commanded by General Lee, started to fight
against them at Gettysburg, which was a big
mistake for the South.
This Picture, taken by Timothy O’Sullivan on
5th, shows several dead Confederate soldiers
killed on 3rd July 1863, the last day of the
Battle of Gettysburg and it proves the truth of
the lines written above. They were all found
in the southwest of Gettysburg, in Rosewood,
where the soldiers were shot by General Hugh
Kilpatrick’s troops while they fought under
command of General James Longstreet.
Because lacking money, Longstreet led an
army not only fighting with men, but also
with hunger, and that’s the reason why the
Confederates lost that battle so heavily. The
wooden fence behind the dead soldiers was
built by the Confederates for protection but it
didn’t do its job well. It got hardly damaged
during the fight and now looks like it might break down any moment. On that picture you can see
no dead Union soldier which also affirms that the Southern states lost far more people than the
Northern states.
After that great victory, the Union soldiers are more motivated then ever before, and they are
remembering what they are fighting for. They want all the states to reunite, they want to abolish
slavery for ever, and they will do it for sure if they keep fighting as good as in the Battle of
Gettysburg. On top of this the odds are high that the Confederate States will give up, because of the
big hunger and the lack of money.
Sources:
en.wikipedia.org
- Battle of Gettysburg
- James Longstreet
- Hugh Judson Kilpatrick
Picture: memory.loc.gov [Gettysburg, Pa. Confederate dead gathered for burial at the southwestern edge of the Rose woods, July 5, 1863]
The uncertainty in the life of the soldiers in the
Civil War
by Lea Flötotto
In the American civil war the soldiers fight though they don´t know what will happen to them.
The photograph shows a barn and a few tents around it. There are some horses and carriages as
well. In front of the barn are a few persons: two men, two women and two boys.
The barn is used as a hospital for the Union soldiers after the battle of Antietam. The two women
are nurses, as they weren´t allowed to fight. In the battle of Antietam, 2100 soldiers of our Union
were wounded. All these wounded people had to be cared for in this one barn. In the barn, the
doctor treated the wounded people, but it was very insanitary. „My arm is cut off and I have nothing
to clean it or to guard my wound against dirt.“, one soldier said.
This photograph is exemplary for the life of the soldiers who fight in the civil war. On the one hand
it shows the uncertainty of the soldiers. They don´t know if they have a place to sleep after the
battle or if they have something to eat and to drink. Is there a doctor to care for them when they get
wounded in the battle? Is there a room where they can be treated? Is it clean, so that the wound
might not get infected? They don´t know anything. Everything is blurry. The soldiers have to be
flexible, because when their officers say that they have to sleep in a tent, they have to do it. They
just get to now that they have to fight. But what about the time after it? They have to fight without
looking into the future. On the other hand they can die every time in every battle. Day or night.
Many soldiers have a family at home. They have to sustain their families. Sometimes the can not do
their jobs after the war when they loose a leg or an arm.
___________________________________________________________________________
Sources: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlacht_von_Antietam
http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
Civil W arar O verview about the soldier's life
By Lukas Koch
When will the Civil war finally end?
Everybody has the same question but can it
end at all?
This is the question we have to ask when
we see the horrible pictures of battlefields
after the fights. And now there was a new
battle in North Anna. The picture on the
left shows the Northern army in their
trenches before the fight. And first of all it
shows the miserable living conditions of
the soldiers. They have to sleep in these
dirty trenches and if they are lucky they
can cover the trench with a tarp. If they are
hurt they don't get medicine. If they are
lucky they can go home with only one leg
or arm left because it has been cut off. The
food they get is really bad and often
moldy. But sometimes they don't even get
food for three or four days although they
have to march or fight! Their situation is
really bad but when will the generals realize that? They only say: „Go and fight“ but they don't
know how hard it is.
We can only hope that this war is over soon and that the two nations are reunited. We are all
Americans, we fought together for our independence and now everything has changed? No, it
cannot be like this. We are all brothers and we have to treat each other like that. The politicians have
to finish this war. A brother cannot fight against his brother, that is impossible.
Sources: wikipedia.org
memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
Horror work after battle!
By Patric Spenst
Black Americans, who are not slaves, dig for bones near a forest at Cold Harbor,
Virginia, with shovels and stretchers in 1865. They want to bury the Union
soldiers killed in General Grant’s campaign of May – June 1864.
In 1864 there was a big military campaign called “General Grant’s Wilderness Campaign”. A lot of
soldiers, mostly Union soldiers, died during the battles in which General Grant’s men fought against
the troops of General Robert E. Lee. One of the fights took place at Cold Harbor, Virginia, and
while Lee won this battle, General Grant won the capital, Richmond. Lee had to evacuate it and
Virginia became a Northern state.
One year later, Black Americans, who were not slaves anymore, dig for bones of dead soldiers on
this field. They want to put them in proper graves. This was a horrible work for these people,
because they found skulls or a leg or just some bones every day. But they wanted to help, they
didn’t have to help! The white people must thank them! It hadn’t been allowed for black people to
be friends with white people, but President Abraham Lincoln wanted to change that. He gave a
speech in 1863 which should give slaves a normal life. He said that he couldn’t do anything for
them, but he hoped that they should get a normal life and are not used as slaves any more. So as a
thank you these black people thought everybody of Lincoln’s soldiers should get their own grave,
even if it is a horrible task.
Source: memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
FEDERALS WON
CIVIL--WAR
CIVIL
The real reason why the Federals won the
Civil War!
The Federals won the Civil
War because of their much
better equipment. They had
better weapons, more provisions
and more resources.
For example on the left you can
see a photo of the military
railroad depot near Petersburg,
Virginia. This photo was taken
while the Federals besieged the
town. It shows many different
types of cannons they had. Some
get prepared for battle and some
get repaired by Federal workers.
In the background, parts of the army are training.
At this time the Confederates around Gen. Robert E. Lee planned to break
through the Federal lines. They started fighting and marching towards the
Federal lines. They even managed to break through the lines at one point,
but then the Corps IX under Maj. Gen. John G. Parke started firing from
the military railroad depot with its very big, modern and good artillery.
With these cannons the Federals stopped the Confederate forces and drove
them back to their lines.
This wasn‘t the only victory the Federals achieved because of their better
equipment. There were a lot more of these victories. So the better material
is the real reason why the Federals won the Civil War!
written by: Sven Bebermeier
works cited:
[http//:en.wikipedia.org]
[http//:memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html ]
The cruelty of the Civil War
The Civil War is over now and a lot of our fellow citizens fought in the numerous battles, many of
them died, some in the hospitals.
This picture of the cemetery in Alexandria, near Washington, is a good symbol for how cruel the
civil war was. It was a new cemetery and after the first battle, at Bull Run, was already full. In the
picture there are a lot of graves everywhere and in the background are a church and many trees.
On the right is a flag.
After this battle, there were a lot more battles in the Civil War, where more soldiers died than in the
first battle at Bull Run. There was even another battle at the same point later in the war.
We are happy that America is united again, but was it necessary that we lost so many men for it?
[by Morten Biermann]