Antietam Scenes

THIS CLIP CONTAINS RECREATED SCENES OF WAR FROM THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. During America's civil war, troops from the North and South.
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However, Burnside was instructed to wait for explicit orders before launching his attack, and those orders did not reach him until 10 a. He was disgruntled that McClellan had abandoned the previous arrangement of "wing" commanders reporting to him. Implicitly refusing to give up his higher authority, Burnside treated first Maj. Reno killed at South Mountain and then Brig. Cox of the Kanawha Division as the corps commander, funneling orders to the corps through him. Burnside had four divisions 12, troops and 50 guns east of Antietam Creek. Facing him was a force that had been greatly depleted by Lee's movement of units to bolster the Confederate left flank.

At dawn, the divisions of Brig. Jones and John G. Walker stood in defense, but by 10 a. Anderson's Georgia brigade had been removed. Jones had only about 3, men and 12 guns available to meet Burnside. Four thin brigades guarded the ridges near Sharpsburg, primarily a low plateau known as Cemetery Hill. The remaining men—the 2nd and 20th Georgia regiments, under the command of Brig.


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Robert Toombs, with two artillery batteries—defended Rohrbach's Bridge, a three-span, foot 38 m stone structure that was the southernmost crossing of the Antietam. The bridge was a difficult objective. The road leading to it ran parallel to the creek and was exposed to enemy fire. The bridge was dominated by a foot 30 m high wooded bluff on the west bank, strewn with boulders from an old quarry, making infantry and sharpshooter fire from good covered positions a dangerous impediment to crossing. Confederate staff officer Henry Kyd Douglas [62]. Antietam Creek in this sector was seldom more than 50 feet 15 m wide, and several stretches were only waist deep and out of Confederate range.

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Burnside has been widely criticized for ignoring this fact. George Crook's Ohio brigade prepared to attack the bridge with the support of Brig. Samuel Sturgis's division, the rest of the Kanawha Division and Brig. Crook's assault on the bridge was led by skirmishers from the 11th Connecticut, who were ordered to clear the bridge for the Ohioans to cross and assault the bluff. After receiving punishing fire for 15 minutes, the Connecticut men withdrew with casualties, one-third of their strength, including their commander, Col.

Kingsbury, who was fatally wounded. While Rodman's division was out of touch, slogging toward Snavely's Ford, Burnside and Cox directed a second assault at the bridge by one of Sturgis's brigades, led by the 2nd Maryland and 6th New Hampshire. They also fell prey to the Confederate sharpshooters and artillery, and their attack fell apart. He sent a succession of couriers to motivate Burnside to move forward.

He ordered one aide, "Tell him if it costs 10, men he must go now. Sackett , to confront Burnside, who reacted indignantly: The third attempt to take the bridge was at It was led by the 51st New York and the 51st Pennsylvania , who, with adequate artillery support and a promise that a recently canceled whiskey ration would be restored if they were successful, charged downhill and took up positions on the east bank. He ordered a withdrawal. His Georgians had cost the Federals more than casualties, giving up fewer than themselves. And they had stalled Burnside's assault on the southern flank for more than three hours.

Additional Antietam Scenes

Burnside's assault stalled again on its own. His officers had neglected to transport ammunition across the bridge, which was itself becoming a bottleneck for soldiers, artillery, and wagons. This represented another two-hour delay. Lee used this time to bolster his right flank. He ordered up every available artillery unit, although he made no attempt to strengthen D. Jones's badly outnumbered force with infantry units from the left. Instead, he counted on the arrival of A. The Federals were completely unaware that 3, new men would be facing them. Burnside's plan was to move around the weakened Confederate right flank, converge on Sharpsburg, and cut Lee's army off from Boteler's Ford, their only escape route across the Potomac.

Farther to the left, Rodman's division advanced toward Harpers Ferry Road. Its lead brigade, under Col. Rush Hawkins, came under heavy shellfire from a dozen enemy guns mounted on a ridge to their front, but they kept pushing forward. There was panic in the streets of Sharpsburg, clogged with retreating Confederates. Of the five brigades in Jones's division, only Toombs's brigade was still intact, but he had only men. Hill's division arrived at 3: Hill divided his column, with two brigades moving southeast to guard his flank and the other three, about 2, men, moving to the right of Toombs's brigade and preparing for a counterattack.

The Connecticut men had been in service for only three weeks, and their line disintegrated with casualties. The 4th Rhode Island came up on the right, but they had poor visibility amid the high stalks of corn, and they were disoriented because many of the Confederates were wearing Union uniforms captured at Harpers Ferry.

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They also broke and ran, leaving the 8th Connecticut far out in advance and isolated. They were enveloped and driven down the hills toward Antietam Creek. A counterattack by regiments from the Kanawha Division fell short. Unnerved by the collapse of his flank, Burnside ordered his men all the way back to the west bank of the Antietam, where he urgently requested more men and guns. McClellan was able to provide just one battery. He said, "I can do nothing more. I have no infantry.

Burnside's men spent the rest of the day guarding the bridge they had suffered so much to capture. The battle was over by 5: On the morning of September 18, Lee's army prepared to defend against a Federal assault that never came. After an improvised truce for both sides to recover and exchange their wounded, Lee's forces began withdrawing across the Potomac that evening to return to Virginia. The Union had 12, casualties with 2, dead. Overall, both sides lost a combined total of 22, casualties in a single day, almost the same amount as the number of losses that had shocked the nation at the 2-day Battle of Shiloh five months earlier.

Several generals died as a result of the battle, including Maj. Mansfield and Israel B. Rodman on the Union side, and Brig. Branch and William E. Starke on the Confederate side. Anderson was shot in the ankle during the defense of the Bloody Lane. He survived the battle but died later in October after an amputation. Antietam is sometimes cited as the bloodiest day in all of American history, but the deaths from the Galveston Hurricane of are significantly higher. The bloodiest battle in American history was Gettysburg , but its more than 46, casualties occurred over three days.

Antietam ranks fifth in terms of total casualties in Civil War battles, falling behind Chickamauga , Chancellorsville , and Spotsylvania Court House. President Lincoln was disappointed in McClellan's performance. He believed that McClellan's overly cautious and poorly coordinated actions in the field had forced the battle to a draw rather than a crippling Confederate defeat. Halleck wrote in his official report, "The long inactivity of so large an army in the face of a defeated foe, and during the most favorable season for rapid movements and a vigorous campaign, was a matter of great disappointment and regret.

He was replaced on November 9 by General Burnside. Some students of history question the designation of "strategic victory" for the Union. After all, it can be argued that McClellan performed poorly in the campaign and the battle itself, and Lee displayed great generalship in holding his own in battle against an army that greatly outnumbered his. Casualties were comparable on both sides, although Lee lost a higher percentage of his army.

Lee withdrew from the battlefield first, the technical definition of the tactical loser in a Civil War battle. However, in a strategic sense, despite being a tactical draw, Antietam is considered a turning point of the war and a victory for the Union because it ended Lee's strategic campaign his first invasion of Union territory. American historian James M. No other campaign and battle in the war had such momentous, multiple consequences as Antietam. In July the dual Union triumphs at Gettysburg and Vicksburg struck another blow that blunted a renewed Confederate offensive in the East and cut off the western third of the Confederacy from the rest.

In September Sherman's capture of Atlanta electrified the North and set the stage for the final drive to Union victory. These also were pivotal moments. But they would never have happened if the triple Confederate offensives in Mississippi , Kentucky , and most of all Maryland had not been defeated in the fall of The results of Antietam also allowed President Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, which gave Confederate states until January 1, to return or else lose their slaves.

Although Lincoln had intended to do so earlier, he was advised by his Cabinet to make this announcement after a Union victory to avoid the perception that it was issued out of desperation. The Union victory and Lincoln's proclamation played a considerable role in dissuading the governments of France and Britain from recognizing the Confederacy; some suspected they were planning to do so in the aftermath of another Union defeat. When the issue of emancipation was linked to the progress of the war, neither government had the political will to oppose the United States, since it linked support of the Confederacy to support for slavery.

Both countries had already abolished slavery, and the public would not have tolerated the government militarily supporting a sovereignty upholding the ideals of slavery. The battle is commemorated at Antietam National Battlefield. Conservation work undertaken by Antietam National Battlefield and private groups, has earned Antietam a reputation as one of the nation's best preserved Civil War battlefields.

Few visual intrusions mar the landscape, letting visitors experience the site nearly as it was in Antietam was one of the first five Civil War battlefields preserved federally, receiving that distinction on August 30, War Department also placed over tablets at that time to mark the spots of individual regiments and of significant phases in the battle. The battlefield was transferred to the Department of the Interior in The Antietam National Battlefield now consists of 2, acres.

Brady is considered the father of photojournalism. Many images in this presentation were graphic photographs of corpses, a presentation new to America. This was the first time that many Americans saw the realities of war in photographs as distinct from previous "artists' impressions". Viewers examined details using a magnifying glass. Captain James Hope of the 2nd Vermont Infantry, a professional artist, painted five large murals based on battlefield scenes he had sketched during the Battle of Antietam.

He had been assigned to sideline duties as a scout and mapmaker due to his injuries. The canvasses were exhibited in his gallery in Watkins Glen, New York, until his death in He had prints made of these larger paintings and sold the reproductions. In the s his work was damaged in a flood. The original murals were shown in a church for many years.

In , the National Park Service purchased and restored them. The Battle of Antietam. In Hell on Wheels season 1, episode 8 "Derailed" , the former Union Army lieutenant carries a Confederate saber that he took as a trophy at Antietam, which he termed a "glorious victory". Cullen Bohannon, a former Confederate soldier , disagrees with the blue coat's assessment of what Bohannon calls the Battle of Sharpsburg. The lieutenant, who was with the 51st from Pennsylvania, which stormed the Burnside Bridge, thought they had the Confederate soldiers running scared.

Bohannon corrects him, explaining that the Confederate forces retreated from Burnside Bridge because they ran out of ammunition shooting Union Army soldiers, who kept lining up as if at a firing squad, to be shot like "fish in a bloody barrel". The men's animosity and opposing views of that skirmish reflect their differing philosophies and bode badly for the outcome of their shared mission in this episode. The Massachusetts-based ink manufacturer Noodler's [] carries an ink called Antietam.

The colour is a reddish brown. Edit this page Read in another language Battle of Antietam. For other uses, see Antietam disambiguation. Antietam Union order of battle. Joseph Hooker I Corps. Fitz John Porter V Corps. James Longstreet I Corps. Stonewall Jackson II Corps. Antietam Confederate order of battle. Northern end of the battlefield. Rifles are shot to pieces in the hands of the soldiers, canteens and haversacks are riddled with bullets, the dead and wounded go down in scores. We were shooting them like sheep in a pen. If a bullet missed the mark at first it was liable to strike the further bank, angle back, and take them secondarily.

Go and look at [Burnside's Bridge], and tell me if you don't think Burnside and his corps might have executed a hop, skip, and jump and landed on the other side. One thing is certain, they might have waded it that day without getting their waist belts wet in any place. Confederate guns on the hill above poured fire into the Union ranks at Burnside's bridge.

Photo taken just after the Battle of Antietam, McPherson, Crossroads of Freedom [85]. Confederate soldiers on the Antietam battlefield as they fell inside the fence on the Hagerstown road, September by Alexander Gardner. Harper's Weekly drawing of dead soldiers on Antietam battlefield, based on Gardner photograph. Confederate horses lay dead and artillery caissons destroyed on Antietam battlefield [99].

Dead on Antietam battlefield []. Confederate dead at Bloody Lane, looking east from the north bank. Confederate dead at Bloody Lane, looking northeast from the south bank.

Federal burial party by Alexander Gardner []. Antietam Battlefield photograph by Alexander Gardner []. The Lutheran Church just east of Sharpsburg marks the extent of the Union offensive during the Battle of Antietam, American Civil War portal. Hill 's division, which arrived in the afternoon. Luvaas and Nelson, p. Harsh, Sounding the Shallows , pp. Carman a battlefield historian who influenced some of these sources used "engaged" figures; the 38, excludes Pender's and Field's brigades, roughly half the artillery, and forces used to secure objectives behind the line. Confederate casualties are estimates because reported figures include undifferentiated casualties at South Mountain and Shepherdstown ; Sears remarks that "there is no doubt that a good many of the 1, men listed as missing were in fact dead, buried uncounted in unmarked graves where they fell.

He states that more than 2, of the wounded on both sides died from their wounds. Although most histories, including the Official Records , refer to these organizations as Corps, that designation was not formally made until November 6, , after the Maryland Campaign. Lee referred in official correspondence to these as "commands". See, for instance, Luvaas and Nelson, p. Lee used this term because a Confederate law forbade the creation of army corps. It had been intended as a states' rights measure to ensure that governors would retain some control over the troops from their state, and Lee lobbied strongly for repeal of this law.

Hill was temporarily in command of a "Center Wing" with his own division commanded initially by Brig. Ripley , and the divisions of Maj. Lafayette McLaws and Brig. The other references list him strictly as a division commander. McClellan issued the order at 9: Retrieved August 10, Accessed May 22, Historian With a Camera. There are hundreds of photos in the National Archives taken by Brady and his associates from numerous Civil War sites. Archived from the original on October 21, Pictures of the Dead at Antietam". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, Secondary sources Armstrong, Marion V.

Disaster in the West Woods: Sumner and the II Corps at Antietam. Western Maryland Interpretive Association. A Military History of the Civil War. West Point Atlas of American Wars. The collection of maps without explanatory text is available online at the West Point website. A Confederate Companion for the Maryland Campaign of Kent State University Press, Taken at the Flood: Lee and Confederate Strategy in the Maryland Campaign of McWhiney Foundation Press, The Civil War Battlefield Guide.

Luvaas, Jay, and Harold W. Guide to the Battle of Antietam. University Press of Kansas, Oxford University Press, The Union Army, — Organization and Operations. Indiana University Press, In Heidler, David S. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History. Service with the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers. University of Nebraska Press. First published by E. Douglas, Henry Kyd I Rode with Stonewall: Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. The Artillery Service in the War of the Rebellion, — War Department, The War of the Rebellion: Government Printing Office, — University of Alabama Press, The Maryland Campaign of September Edited by Thomas G.

El Dorado Hills, CA: Edited by Joseph Pierro. Antietam Rest Publishing, Essays on the Maryland Campaign. The Maps of Antietam: The Maryland Campaign of The Johns Hopkins University Press, The Gleam of Bayonets: The Battle of Antietam and the Maryland Campaign of Louisiana State University Press, Jamieson and Bradford A. Wineman, The Maryland and Fredericksburg Campaigns, — Turning Points of the Civil War. Reardon, Carol and Tom Vossler.

A Field Guide to Antietam: The Long Road to Antietam: How the Civil War Became a Revolution. After pursuing the Confederate general Robert E. Lee into Maryland , Maj. At dawn on September 17, Maj. Joseph Hooker 's corps mounted a powerful assault on Lee's left flank. 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. In the afternoon, Union Maj. Ambrose Burnside 's corps entered the action, capturing a stone bridge over Antietam Creek and advancing against the Confederate right. At a crucial moment, Confederate Maj. Hill 's division arrived from Harpers Ferry and launched a surprise counterattack, driving back Burnside and ending the battle.

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 September 18, while removing his battered army south of the Potomac River.

Despite having superiority of numbers, McClellan's attacks failed to achieve force concentration , which allowed Lee to counter by shifting forces and moving along interior lines to meet each challenge. Therefore, despite ample reserve forces that could have been deployed to exploit localized successes, McClellan failed to destroy Lee's army. McClellan's persistent but erroneous belief that he was outnumbered contributed to his cautiousness throughout the campaign. McClellan had halted Lee's invasion of Maryland, but Lee was able to withdraw his army back to Virginia without interference from the cautious McClellan.

Although the battle was tactically inconclusive, the Confederate troops had withdrawn first from the battlefield, and abandoned their invasion, making it a Union strategic victory. It was a sufficiently significant victory to give Lincoln the confidence to announce his Emancipation Proclamation , which discouraged the British and French governments from pursuing any potential plans to recognize the Confederacy. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia —about 55, men [10] [11] [12] —entered the state of Maryland on September 3, , following their victory at Second Bull Run on August Emboldened by success, the Confederate leadership intended to take the war into enemy territory.

Lee's invasion of Maryland was intended to run simultaneously with an invasion of Kentucky by the armies of Braxton Bragg and Edmund Kirby Smith. It was also necessary for logistical reasons, as northern Virginia's farms had been stripped bare of food. Based on events such as the Baltimore riots in the spring of and the fact that President Lincoln had to pass through the city in disguise en route to his inauguration, Confederate leaders assumed that Maryland would welcome the Confederate forces warmly.

They sang the tune " Maryland, My Maryland! Civilians generally hid inside their houses as Lee's army passed through their towns, or watched in cold silence, while the Army of the Potomac was cheered and encouraged. Some Confederate politicians, including President Jefferson Davis , believed that the prospect of foreign recognition would increase if the Confederacy won a military victory on Union soil; such a victory might gain recognition and financial support from the United Kingdom and France, although there is no evidence that Lee thought the Confederacy should base its military plans on this possibility.

Mitchell and First Sergeant John M. Bloss [15] [16] of the 27th Indiana Volunteer Infantry discovered a mislaid copy of Lee's detailed battle plans— Special Order —wrapped around three cigars. The order indicated that Lee had divided his army and dispersed portions geographically to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia , and Hagerstown, Maryland , thus making each subject to isolation and defeat if McClellan could move quickly enough. McClellan waited about 18 hours before deciding to take advantage of this intelligence and reposition his forces, thus squandering an opportunity to defeat Lee decisively.

There were two significant engagements in the Maryland campaign prior to the major battle of Antietam: The former was significant because a large portion of Lee's army was absent from the start of the battle of Antietam, attending to the surrender of the Union garrison; the latter because stout Confederate defenses at two passes through the mountains delayed McClellan's advance enough for Lee to concentrate the remainder of his army at Sharpsburg.

The I Corps , under Maj. Joseph Hooker , consisted of the divisions of:. The II Corps , under Maj. Sumner , consisted of the divisions of:. The V Corps , under Maj. Fitz John Porter , consisted of the divisions of:. The VI Corps , under Maj. Franklin , consisted of the divisions of:.

The IX Corps , under Maj. Cox exercised operational command during the battle , consisted of the divisions of:. Mansfield , consisted of the divisions of:. The Cavalry Division of Brig. Alfred Pleasonton consisted of the brigades of Maj. Farnsworth , Richard H. Rush , Andrew T. McReynolds , and Benjamin F. General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was organized into two large infantry corps. The First Corps, under Maj. James Longstreet , consisted of the divisions of:. The Second Corps, under Maj. The remaining units were the Cavalry Division , under Maj.

Stuart , and the reserve artillery, commanded by Brig. The Second Corps was organized with artillery attached to each division, in contrast to the First Corps, which reserved its artillery at the corps level. Near the town of Sharpsburg, Lee deployed his available forces behind Antietam Creek along a low ridge, starting on September While it was an effective defensive position, it was not an impregnable one.

The terrain provided excellent cover for infantrymen, with rail and stone fences, outcroppings of limestone , and little hollows and swales. The creek to their front was only a minor barrier, ranging from 60 to feet 18—30 m in width, and was fordable in places and crossed by three stone bridges each a mile 1. It was also a precarious position because the Confederate rear was blocked by the Potomac River and only a single crossing point, Boteler's Ford at Shepherdstown , was nearby should retreat be necessary.

The disposition of Union forces during the battle made it impractical to consider retreating in that direction. And on September 15, the force under Lee's immediate command consisted of no more than 18, men, only a third the size of the Federal army. The first two Union divisions arrived on the afternoon of September 15 and the bulk of the remainder of the army late that evening.

Although an immediate Union attack on the morning of September 16 would have had an overwhelming advantage in numbers, McClellan's trademark caution and his belief that Lee had as many as , men at Sharpsburg caused him to delay his attack for a day. Hill's division, to arrive from Harpers Ferry. As the battle progressed and Lee shifted units, these corps boundaries overlapped considerably. Meade's division cautiously attacked Hood's troops near the East Woods. After darkness fell, artillery fire continued as McClellan positioned his troops for the next day's fighting.

McClellan's plan was to overwhelm the enemy's left flank. He arrived at this decision because of the configuration of bridges over the Antietam. The lower bridge which would soon be named Burnside Bridge was dominated by Confederate positions on the bluffs overlooking it. The middle bridge, on the road from Boonsboro , was subject to artillery fire from the heights near Sharpsburg.

McClellan planned to commit more than half his army to the assault, starting with two corps, supported by a third, and if necessary a fourth. He intended to launch a simultaneous diversionary attack against the Confederate right with a fifth corps, and he was prepared to strike the center with his reserves if either attack succeeded. He shifted men to his left flank and sent urgent messages to his two commanders who had not yet arrived on the battlefield: Lafayette McLaws with two divisions and A. Hill with one division. McClellan's plans were ill-coordinated and were executed poorly.

He issued to each of his subordinate commanders only the orders for his own corps, not general orders describing the entire battle plan. The terrain of the battlefield made it difficult for those commanders to monitor events outside of their sectors, and McClellan's headquarters were more than a mile in the rear at the Philip Pry house, east of the creek , making it difficult for him to control the separate corps.

Therefore, the battle progressed the next day as essentially three separate, mostly uncoordinated battles: This lack of coordination and concentration of McClellan's forces almost completely nullified the two-to-one advantage the Union enjoyed and allowed Lee to shift his defensive forces to meet each offensive. The battle opened at dawn about 5: Hooker's objective was the plateau on which sat the Dunker Church, a modest whitewashed building belonging to a local sect of German Baptists.

Hooker had approximately 8, men, little more than the 7, defenders under Stonewall Jackson, and this slight disparity was more than offset by the Confederates' strong defensive positions. Jackson's defense consisted of the divisions under Alexander Lawton and John R. Jones in line from the West Woods, across the Turnpike, and along the southern end of Miller's Cornfield. Four brigades were held in reserve inside the West Woods. As the first Union men emerged from the North Woods and into the Cornfield , an artillery duel erupted. Confederate fire was from the horse artillery batteries under Jeb Stuart to the west and four batteries under Col.

Lee on the high ground across the pike from the Dunker Church to the south. The conflagration caused heavy casualties on both sides and was described by Col. Lee as "artillery Hell. Seeing the glint of Confederate bayonets concealed in the Cornfield, Hooker halted his infantry and brought up four batteries of artillery, which fired shell and canister over the heads of the Federal infantry into the field. A savage battle began, with considerable melee action with rifle butts and bayonets due to short visibility in the corn.

Officers rode about cursing and yelling orders no one could hear in the noise. Rifles became hot and fouled from too much firing; the air was filled with a hail of bullets and shells. Meade's 1st Brigade of Pennsylvanians, under Brig. As Walker's men forced Seymour's back, aided by Lee's artillery fire, Ricketts's division entered the Cornfield, also to be torn up by artillery. Christian—had difficulties reaching the scene. Hartsuff was wounded by a shell, and Christian dismounted and fled to the rear in terror.

When the men were rallied and advanced into the Cornfield, they met the same artillery and infantry fire as their predecessors. Cook of the 12th Massachusetts Infantry, on the attack by the Louisiana Tigers at the Cornfield [33]. While the Cornfield remained a bloody stalemate, Federal advances a few hundred yards to the west were more successful.

John Gibbon's 4th Brigade of Doubleday's division recently named the Iron Brigade began advancing down and astride the turnpike, into the cornfield, and in the West Woods, pushing aside Jackson's men. The Confederate brigade withdrew after being exposed to fierce return fire from the Iron Brigade, and Starke was mortally wounded.

Although the cost was steep, Hooker's corps was making steady progress. Confederate reinforcements arrived just after 7 a. The divisions under McLaws and Richard H. Anderson arrived following a night march from Harpers Ferry. Anderson's Georgia brigade from the right flank of the army to aid Jackson.

The Texans attacked with particular ferocity because as they were called from their reserve position they were forced to interrupt the first hot breakfast they had had in days. They were aided by three brigades of D. Hill's division arriving from the Mumma Farm, southeast of the Cornfield, and by Jubal Early's brigade, pushing through the West Woods from the Nicodemus Farm, where they had been supporting Jeb Stuart's horse artillery.

Artillery, and Gibbon himself saw to it that his previous unit did not lose a single caisson. When asked by a fellow officer where his division was, Hood replied, "Dead on the field. Hooker's men had also paid heavily but without achieving their objectives. After two hours and 2, casualties, they were back where they started. It was estimated that the Cornfield changed hands no fewer than 15 times in the course of the morning. Dawes , who assumed command of Iron Brigade's 6th Wisconsin Regiment during the battle, later compared the fighting around the Hagerstown Turnpike with the stone wall at Fredericksburg , Spotsylvania's "Bloody Angle", and the slaughter pen of Cold Harbor , insisting that "the Antietam Turnpike surpassed them all in manifest evidence of slaughter.

Half of Mansfield's men were raw recruits, and Mansfield was also inexperienced, having taken command only two days before. Although he was a veteran of 40 years' service, he had never led large numbers of soldiers in combat. Concerned that his men would bolt under fire, he marched them in a formation that was known as "column of companies, closed in mass," a bunched-up formation in which a regiment was arrayed ten ranks deep instead of the normal two. As his men entered the East Woods, they presented an excellent artillery target, "almost as good a target as a barn.

The new recruits of Mansfield's 1st Division made no progress against Hood's line, which was reinforced by brigades of D. Hill's division under Colquitt and McRae. The 2nd Division of the XII Corps, under George Sears Greene, however, broke through McRae's men, who fled under the mistaken belief that they were about to be trapped by a flanking attack.

This breach of the line forced Hood and his men, outnumbered, to regroup in the West Woods, where they had started the day. Federal forces held most of the ground to the east of the turnpike. Hooker attempted to gather the scattered remnants of his I Corps to continue the assault, but a Confederate sharpshooter spotted the general's conspicuous white horse and shot Hooker through the foot. Ricketts, had also been wounded. But with Hooker removed from the field, there was no general left with the authority to rally the men of the I and XII Corps.

Greene's men came under heavy fire from the West Woods and withdrew from the Dunker Church. In an effort to turn the Confederate left flank and relieve the pressure on Mansfield's men, Sumner's II Corps was ordered at 7: Sedgwick's division of 5, men was the first to ford the Antietam, and they entered the East Woods with the intention of turning left and forcing the Confederates south into the assault of Ambrose Burnside's IX Corps. But the plan went awry. They became separated from William H. French's division, and at 9 a. They were assaulted first by Confederate artillery and then from three sides by the divisions of Early, Walker, and McLaws, and in less than half an hour Sedgwick's men were forced to retreat in great disorder to their starting point with over 2, casualties, including Sedgwick himself, who was taken out of action for several months by a wound.

Armstrong's recent scholarship, however, has determined that Sumner did perform appropriate reconnaissance and his decision to attack where he did was justified by the information available to him. The final actions in the morning phase of the battle were around 10 a. Walker, newly arrived from the Confederate right.

They fought in the area between the Cornfield in the West Woods, but soon Walker's men were forced back by two brigades of Greene's division, and the Federal troops seized some ground in the West Woods. The morning phase ended with casualties on both sides of almost 13,, including two Union corps commanders. By midday, the action had shifted to the center of the Confederate line. Sumner had accompanied the morning attack of Sedgwick's division, but another of his divisions, under French, lost contact with Sumner and Sedgwick and inexplicably headed south. Eager for an opportunity to see combat, French found skirmishers in his path and ordered his men forward.

By this time, Sumner's aide and son located French, described the terrible fighting in the West Woods and relayed an order for him to divert Confederate attention by attacking their center. Hill commanded about 2, men, less than half the number under French, and three of his five brigades had been torn up during the morning combat.

This sector of Longstreet's line was theoretically the weakest. But Hill's men were in a strong defensive position, atop a gradual ridge, in a sunken road worn down by years of wagon traffic, which formed a natural trench. French launched a series of brigade-sized assaults against Hill's improvised breastworks at around 9: The first brigade to attack, mostly inexperienced troops commanded by Brig. Max Weber, was quickly cut down by heavy rifle fire; neither side deployed artillery at this point.

The second attack, more raw recruits under Col. Dwight Morris, was also subjected to heavy fire but managed to beat back a counterattack by the Alabama Brigade of Robert Rodes. The third, under Brig. Nathan Kimball, included three veteran regiments, but they also fell to fire from the sunken road.

French's division suffered 1, casualties of his 5, men in under an hour. Reinforcements were arriving on both sides, and by Lee sent his final reserve division—some 3, men under Maj. Anderson—to bolster Hill's line and extend it to the right, preparing an attack that would envelop French's left flank.

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But at the same time, the 4, men of Maj. Richardson's division arrived on French's left. This was the last of Sumner's three divisions, which had been held up in the rear by McClellan as he organized his reserve forces. Leading off the fourth attack of the day against the sunken road was the Irish Brigade of Brig. As they advanced with emerald green flags snapping in the breeze, a regimental chaplain, Father William Corby , rode back and forth across the front of the formation shouting words of conditional absolution prescribed by the Roman Catholic Church for those who were about to die.

Corby would later perform a similar service at Gettysburg in The mostly Irish immigrants lost men to heavy volleys before they were ordered to withdraw. Richardson personally dispatched the brigade of Brig. Caldwell into battle around noon after being told that Caldwell was in the rear, behind a haystack , and finally the tide turned.

Anderson's Confederate division had been little help to the defenders after Gen. Anderson was wounded early in the fighting. Other key leaders were lost as well, including George B. Anderson no relation; Anderson's successor, Col. Tew of the 2nd North Carolina, was killed minutes after assuming command [53] and Col. Gordon of the 6th Alabama. Gordon received 5 serious wounds in the fight, twice in his right leg, twice in the left arm, and once in the face. He lay unconscious, face down in his cap, and later told colleagues that he should have smothered in his own blood, except for the act of an unidentified Yankee, who had earlier shot a hole in his cap, which allowed the blood to drain.

These losses contributed directly to the confusion of the following events. Sergeant of the 61st New York [55]. As Caldwell's brigade advanced around the right flank of the Confederates, Col. Barlow and men of the 61st and 64th New York saw a weak point in the line and seized a knoll commanding the sunken road.

Battle of Antietam

This allowed them to get enfilade fire into the Confederate line, turning it into a deadly trap. In attempting to wheel around to meet this threat, a command from Rodes was misunderstood by Lt. Lightfoot, who had succeeded the unconscious John Gordon. Lightfoot ordered his men to about-face and march away, an order that all five regiments of the brigade thought applied to them as well. Confederate troops streamed toward Sharpsburg, their line lost. Richardson's men were in hot pursuit when massed artillery hastily assembled by Gen.

Longstreet drove them back. A counterattack with men led by D. Hill got around the Federal left flank near the sunken road, and although they were driven back by a fierce charge of the 5th New Hampshire, this stemmed the collapse of the center. Reluctantly, Richardson ordered his division to fall back to north of the ridge facing the sunken road. His division lost about 1, men. Barlow was severely wounded, and Richardson mortally wounded. Hancock assumed division command. Although Hancock would have an excellent future reputation as an aggressive division and corps commander, the unexpected change of command sapped the momentum of the Federal advance.

The carnage from 9: And yet a great opportunity presented itself. If this broken sector of the Confederate line were exploited, Lee's army would have been divided in half and possibly defeated. There were ample forces available to do so. There was a reserve of 3, cavalry and the 10, infantrymen of Gen. Porter's V Corps, waiting near the middle bridge, a mile away. The VI Corps had just arrived with 12, men. Franklin of the VI Corps was ready to exploit this breakthrough, but Sumner, the senior corps commander, ordered him not to advance.

Franklin appealed to McClellan, who left his headquarters in the rear to hear both arguments but backed Sumner's decision, ordering Franklin and Hancock to hold their positions.


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    • Later in the day, the commander of the other reserve unit near the center, the V Corps, Maj. Fitz John Porter, heard recommendations from Maj. George Sykes, commanding his 2nd Division, that another attack be made in the center, an idea that intrigued McClellan.