Battle Of Antietam Research Paper

The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single day battle to every occur on American soil. Approximately 22,700 men were killed, wounded, captured, or missing. (Brochure) The fighting began on September 17, 1862 in Sharpsburg, Maryland. The opposing armies, The Army of the Potomac, consisting of about 90,000 troops, and The Army of Northern Virginia, consisting of about 45,000 troops. The Battle of Antietam, or The Battle of Sharpsburg, was actually the ending battle of General Robert E. Lee’s Campaign. (MacDonald, 56) Lee had decided that he wanted to take the war to the Union; the Confederacy had a policy of only fighting to protect their own land. (MacDonald, 56) Lee had decided that the best way to hurt the Union was to attack Maryland; she was a border state, and many of Maryland’s occupants were already sided with the Rebels. So General Lee guessed that the presence of the Rebel army in Maryland would be a good way to win the state over. (MacDonald, 56) …show more content…
Lee was in the town of Federick, he was trying to convince the people of Maryland to join his cause. (Brochure) They gave him a cold shoulder. (Brochure) Lee stayed there for a few days, until he found out that Lee was keeping a garrison in the nearby town of Harpers Ferry, which was about 12,000 strong. (Brochure) Lee decided that this garrison would be a threat to him when he wanted to move further into northern territory. This is when Lee made the plan Special Orders 191. Lee sent Major General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson with 3 columns of men to eradicate the garrison. He sent Major General James Longstreet’s corps to the South Mountain, and he put Major General D.H. Hill’s division in charge of guarding the supplies.