A large part of U.S. history is embedded with the rich history of Virginia. There is a wide variety of topics we could cover like Jamestown, the Battle of Yorktown, and the American Civil War. Today, we will be looking at one particularly overlooked battle in the Civil War. The Battle of Antietam remains the single bloodiest day of fighting in American history. It’s significance is just as important as the famous Battle of Gettysburg.
Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861 and its capital, Richmond, was the new capital of the Confederacy. While slavery remains the prominent cause to the outbreak of civil war, it is noteworthy that it was the struggle to abolish slavery that led Southern states to fear that their state rights were being disregarded. Hence, the South believed the only way to keep their slaves was to secede. A year had passed, and both sides remained at a stalemate. While Ulysses S. Grant was taking control of the Mississippi to split the South in two, the Confederates were repelling every invasion of Virginia. Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general, assured that Richmond would not be taken. However, he knew that the South could not withstand prolonged warfare as the Union’s blockade of southern ports crippled their economy. But, Lee also knew that Abraham Lincoln lacked public support for the war, and midterm elections were coming up. If Lee could threaten Washington D.C. he could influence the North into voting a new president that was sympathetic to the South.
As Lee marched his army into Maryland, his Special Order 191 was intercepted by two Union soldiers. This revealed to Union General George B. McClellan that Lee had spread out his army. This made Lee vulnerable, and Lee rushed to reunite all his forces near Sharpsburg. In the first eight hours of fighting, 15,000 men were killed or injured. The carnage ensued, as Union troops continuously assaulted the Confederate lines. Fighting was ferocious and gory, especially at a farm lane at the center of the battlefield called Bloody Lane. As night fell, the battle died out. 23,000 casualties were recovered as each side regrouped. Having been checked, Lee retreated back to Virginia. McClellan, who could have chased Lee and destroy his army, did nothing.
While the battle was essentially a stalemate, it appeared as a decisive Union victory. While the battle delayed the war for another few years, it allowed for the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The document was prepared by Lincoln before the battle, but his cabinet advised to wait until a victory for it to be received with support from the people. The Emancipation Proclamation promised to free all slaves in the U.S. once the civil war was won. Not only did it act as a beacon of hope for African Americans and a great leap forward for the country, but it also deterred foreign powers from supporting the South. Nations such as France and Britain were not content with their cotton trade being halted and liked to see a strong American nation divided. But the two nations could not bring themselves to support the evil and cruel system of slavery in the Deep South that they’ve already abolished many years prior.
While the Battle of Antietam was a testament to the horrors of war, as seen by Alexander Gardner’s photographs taken after the battle, it prevented the Confederacy from achieving a major victory that could have guaranteed their independence and the continuation of slavery.
- Antonin Ducroux - USA (East Coast)
Dead in Bloody Lane, by Alexander Gardner
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