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Lecture Notes – BATTLE OF ANTIETAM Battle of Sharpsburg September 17, 1862 BLOODIEST SINGLE DAY OF THE CIVIL WAR Pre-Battle – – – Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia entered Union territory (Maryland) on September 3, 1862 After major victory at 2nd Battle of Bull Run @ 55K men strong Goals – Battle victory on northern soil = successful invasion o Maybe gain recognition and financial support from France and GB Gain support form Confederate sympathizers in border states. McClellan and the Army of the Potomac were 90 K strong Moved to intercept Lee Two Union soldiers found 3 cigars wrapped in writing paper Cigars belonged to Robert E. Lee Paper was a listing of the Confederate army battle plans Known as “Special Order 191” o Orders indicated Lee had split his army and sent portions to three separate areas Harpers Ferry, WV (Jackson) Hagerstown, MD (Longstreet) Stayed with Lee McClellan spent 18 hours sitting on the orders before moving Had a chance (if he moved fast enough) to hit all three section separately Could have destroyed Lee and the Confederate main army Significant engagements before Antietam Stonewall Jackson captured Harper’s Ferry Attending to the surrender of the Union garrison there Made him late for the beginning of the battle at Antietam McClellan passes through the Blue Ridge Mountains and ends up in a small skirmish (Battle of South Mountain) Keeps McClellan at bay for a bit allowing Lee to concentrate his forces in Sharpsburg, MD ARMIES – Confederate – ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA Commander – Robert E. Lee Two main divisions o MG James Longstreet o MG Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson One cavalry division o J.E.B. Stuart – Union – ARMY OF THE POTOMAC Commander – George McClellan Six divisions o MG Joseph Hooker o MG Edwin Sumner o MG Fitz John Porter o MG William Franklin o MG Ambrose Burnside o MG Joseph Mansfield – – Located near the town of Sharpsburg, MD, Lee was able to deploy defensive forces behind Antietam Creek Set up along a low ridge Began on September 15th Effective, but not impregnable Benefits o Rail and stone fences o Limestone outcroppings o Antietam Creek to the front of them Possible problems o Potomac River to the rear could make retreat a major problem Only one place to retreat (Boteler’s Ford) was available to cross the Potomac o Antietam Creek was fordable in many places and crossed by three stone bridges each one mile apart Lower bridge = Burnside Bridge o Separation of Confederate forces meant Lee only had @ 18 K men with him on September 15th. First Union troops arrived (afternoon) September 15th Bulk of the remainder of the union troops arrives that evening McClellan had a HUGE advantage (troop wise) on the morning of September 16th Of course, as was his history, McClellan moved far too slow Believed Lee had over 100 K men (where is he getting this information you ask? Allan Pinkerton) Allows Lee’s men to arrive and move into position o Jackson takes the Confederate left (north) A.P. Hill’s division is late – had been left behind to secure Harper’s Ferry o Longstreet takes the Confederate right (south) Corps for the confederates would overlap considerably as the battle progressed th September 16 McClellan orders Hookers men to cross the Antietam Creek and test where the confederate positions were. Small skirmishes ensued, causing some artillery fire from both sides BATTLE – – – McClellan positioned the majority of his troops to the north o Lower bridge was dominated by artillery for the Confederates on a bluff o Middle bridge could be hit by Confederate artillery from the bluffs by the town of Sharpsburg o Upper bridge was 2 miles from Confederate artillery McClellan planned to overwhelm the Confederate left (north) o Would use diversionary attacks on the CSA right and center if needed o The test skirmishes by McClellan gave away his plan to Lee, who shifted his troops accordingly There would be terrible coordination of troops for McClellan Resulted in three “separate” battles for the day o North – morning o Center – mid-day o South – afternoon Had his command post a mile behind the battle front – made communication difficult/impossible This lack of coordination/communication allowed CSA to nullify the Union troop advantage September 17th – battle begins @ 5:30am Hooker moves in from the north along the Hagerstown Turnpike Goes through the North Woods and towards the cornfield Target – Dunker Church As the Union emerges from the North Woods, artillery fire greets them from their right and their front o J.E.B. Stuart along Nicodemus Hill (to Union right) o Col. Stephen Lee to Union front (across road from Dunker Church) Union returns fire from artillery set behind the North Woods o Heavy casualties on both sides o Lee – “artillery hell” Hooker sees glint from Confederate bayonets waiting in the cornfield Halts infantry and brings in four batteries of artillery Fire shot and canister into the field o Absolutely ripped the field, and the men hiding inside it, apart Confederates reorganize and train artillery also on the cornfield Both sides take terrible casualties here Union reinforcements had a hard time arriving o One Colonel even got scared, dismounted his horse, and fled to the back of the troops (William A. Christian) CSA eventually sends the Louisiana “Tiger” Brigade into the Cornfield Knock back the Union at first o Cause 12th Massachusetts Infantry to take 67% casualty rate Eventually cut down, literally, by direct point-blank fire into the cornfield o Lose 323 of 500 men (dead – not injured) Cornfield remains a stalemate – Union is still doing well on the far right Union flank John Gibbons “Iron Brigade” is able to push through the men of Stonewall Jackson o Stalled when met with 1150 men from Starke’s CSA brigade 30 yards away Fierce return fire causes the CSA to pull back Starke is killed in action o Iron Brigade continues advance on Dunker Church CSA receives reinforcements around 7am John Bell Hood’s men enter the fight through the West Woods and push the Union back through the Cornfield o Assisted by D.H. Hill & Jubal Early Fire returned by John Gibbon’s “Iron Brigade” Hood’s men took a 60% casualty rate o Able to prevent the crumble of the CSA defense and repel the Union o When asked by a fellow officer where his division was, Hood replied simply “dead on the field” Hookers men paid heavily for the morning fight 2 hours + 2500 casualties = no net gain for Union Called for support from Mansfield’s 12th Corps (7200 men) o Mansfield had 40 years of experience, but none as commander of such a large unit o Marched his men in a tight formation (10 ranks instead of normal 2) EASY potential target for CSA artillery CSA is unable to stop their advance though Mansfield is killed on the field by a sniper Command passes the Alpheus Williams Mansfield’s men were raw recruits, but fought hard Able to actually break through the CSA forces, causing them to pull back 2nd Division of the 12th Corps (Mansfield’s men) under George Greene able to make it to Dunker Church able drive off the CSA artillery Hooker tries to gather the remnants of the 1st corps and reorganize o Shot through foot by a confederate sharpshooter o Command falls to General George Meade With Hooker gone, nobody left to rally both the 1st & 12th Corps Greene’s men from the 12th Corps com under serious fire from the West Woods Have to abandon Dunker Church One final attack of the morning came from the Union 2nd Corps (Edwin Sumner) Cross Antietam Creek, hit the CSA right, and force them south into an attack from Burnside – Became separated from the rest of the Corps o Assaulted by 3 divisions of CSA troops o Forced to retreat in disorder o Took over 2200 casualties Morning phase ends with little movement by either side 13 K casualties total (both sides) o 3 Union commanders Mansfield (killed) Hooker (wounded) Ricketts (wounded) September 17th – mid-day battle Action had shifted to the center of the CSA line French’s division had lost contact with Sumner and Sedgwick and began to move south French found a few skirmishers and ordered his men forward Would be told by Sumner’s aide (once he found him) to divert CSA attention and attack the center of the CSA line o Hoped to take CSA troops from defending the West Woods French moves to confront D.H. Hill’s division Hill – 2500 men (less than half the number of French’s) o Much of his division had be decimated by the morning fighting Theoretically, this was the weakest part of Longstreets line o Hill’s men had a good defensive position though Atop a ridge in a sunken road Later known as “Bloody Lane” French launches a series of attacks on this position o First attack - BG Max Weber’s men Cut down by heavy rifle fire o 2nd attack – Col. Dwight Morris Subjected also to heavy fire Able to beat back a counterattack by an Alabama brigade rd o 3 attack – BG Nathan Kimball 3 veteran regiments Fell to fire from the sunken road o Reinforcements came on both sides CSA right to try and overtake the Union left flank Union left (last of Sumners troops) to cover their casualties thus far o 4th attack – Irish brigade of BG Thomas Meagher Had a priest (most of them were Irish catholics) shouting absolution as they strode ahead Lost 540 men before ordered to withdraw o 5th attack – BG John Caldwell Able to turn the momentum of the battle – Took control of a small knoll that allowed them to drop fire into the sunken road on the Confederates A mistaken command by the CSA caused them to turn and abandon the road they had held Union was in pursuit when assembled artillery was able to turn them back to the sunken road Stopped the collapse of the CSA line, especially the center of their line 2 Union commanders were wounded, placing Winfield Hancock in division command The change of command sapped Union momentum Union lost around 3 K men in the mid day fighting, CSA 2600 Union was VERY close to breaking the CSA Union had @ 25K men in reserve o 22K infantry o 3500 cavalry MG William Franklin and MG Winfield Hancock wanted to call up the reserves and attack Sumner disagreed – called upon McClellan to make the final decision o He backed Sumner o Union loses another opportunity th September 17 – afternoon battle Action moves to the south end of the battlefield Plan calls for Ambrose Burnside to launch a diversionary attack Pull attention away from the main attack of Joe Hooker in the north Orders did not reach Burnside until 10am o He waited for EXPLICIT orders to attack o Upset with McClellan he had taken away his “wing command” of all corps on his end Burnside had @ 12,500 men and 50 guns on his side of Antietam Creek CSA had only 3K men and 12 guns o Many troops had been diverted to help at bloody lane Bridge between them was Rohrbach’s Bridge (to become known as Burnside’s Bridge) 125 feet long Dominated with a 100 foot bluff held by the CSA on the west side Also had old boulders allowing for infantry and sharpshooters to take cover o DANGEROUS for Union Antietam Creek was 75-100’ feet wide Barely waist deep o Burnside is WIDELY criticized for ignoring this, although the terrain on the opposing side could be dangerous. Burnside planned to storm the bridge, while crossing the river a half mile downstream at a ford built by McClellan’s engineers Could not work with the banks on the river – too high Ended up having to set up the Ford 2 miles downstream Takes multiple assaults to cross the bridge o Continued to send men ACROSS THE BRIDGE funneling them into fire by the CSA o McClellan sends multiple couriers to Burnside telling him to MOVE One said “If it even costs you 10 K men, you must go now” o Burnside is able to get his men to within 25 yards of the CSA CSA ammo is running low and begins to pull back Still, they had held the CSA at bay for over 3 hours, both at the bridge and at the Ford below o Burnside’s troops bottleneck the bridge with ammo and artillery crossing 2 hour delay – used by Robert E. Lee to bolster the CSA right Orders up every available unit Counts on the arrival of A.P. Hill’s division o Reaches the field at 2:30pm and saves Lee Union attacks are able to push the CSA back to within 200 yards of Sharpsburg o Streets of Sharpsburg are clogged with retreating CSA members A.P. Hill engages his men at 3:30pm o Sends 2 brigades SE to guard the flank o The rest (@ 2k men) go straight into the fighting and try to counterattack o Many of the CSA members of Hill’s troops were wearing Union blue troops captured from Harper’s Ferry Able to overrun the union troops and push them back to Antietam Creek th Burnsides 9 corps still had twice the number of CSA men facing them Burnside was so unnerved by the collapse of his flank, he ordered everybody BACK ACROSS the creek o Requested more men from McClellan o McClellan says he has no more men to give In actual, he had 2 fresh corps who had seen no action Porter’s V Franklin’s VI Refused to use them due to fear of a massive counter attack from Lee Burnsides men spent the rest of the day guarding the bridge AFTERMATH – – – – – Battle was over by 5:30pm Casualties Union – 12,401 (25% of their troops) CSA – 10, 318 (31% of their troops) More Americans died on this day (3,654) than any other in US military history to that point September 18th Lee prepares to defend against a Union assault Never comes Improvised truce for both sides to recover wounded Lee begins withdrawing across the Potomac that evening Lincoln is disappointed with McClellan Moved too slowly, poor coordination of actions Caused a “draw” with the CSA instead of dealing them a MAJOR DEFEAT September 17 – October 26 McClellan refuses to pursue Lee across the Potomac into Virginia o Refuses requests from the War Department and the President himself o Lincoln relieves McClellan of command on November 7, basically ending his military career Side note – McClellan runs for President in 1860 and carries a couple states Some people question the designation of a “Union strategic victory” McClellan screwed up the campaign Lee does a great job leading his troops and holding his own against a Union army that GREATLY outnumbered him However – CSA loses more people (percentage wise) Lee withdraws from the field first, the technical definition of a LOSS in battle Despite these issues, this is a turning point for the war Ends Lee’s first invasion of the north Allows Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation Frees all slaves in the SOUTH only o Intended to do this earlier, but did it after a Union win to avoid looking desperate Plays a MAJOR role in stopping recognition of the south from France & GB Basically, puts the CSA on their own