Day One Con'd -- Antietam or Sharpsburg

The battle in Sharpsburg, MD was the bloodiest single day battle during the war. It happened on September 17, 1862. This was the first attempt of Gen. Lee to carry the war to the north. Lee had about 40,000 troops, compared to the 87,000 Federal troops in the Army of the Potomac, under the command of Gen. George B. McClellan. Lee had recently had a tremendous victory at Manassas in August, and took his Army of Northern Virginia into Maryland to try and get fresh men and supplies. McClellan followed, and they eventually drew battle lines east and west of Antietam creek. This is a good time to point out that the names of battles during the war were different for the south and north. The armies of the north named battles after the landmarks that were in the area of the battle; the south for the closest town or city. Thus, there are many times two names for the same battle, i.e. Sharpsburg(the town) and Antietam(the creek). Another good example is Manassas(town) and Bull Run(creek). I find that I use them interchangeably. Now, at Sharpsburg, Jackson's Stonewall Brigade was absent 2 days prior to the battle, because Lee had sent him to capture Harpers Ferry. Jackson arrived, after the surrender of Harpers Ferry, on the 16th, and Lee consolidated his army on a ridge running north and south of the town. Harry took us through the entire timeline of this battle, covering the locations of the southern and federal troops. Many of the troops were killed in tall cornfields, where the smoke from the musketry and cannonade made visibility impossible. During the war, trench warfare was realized. There were, at the time, many rural roads that ran through the countryside. These roads, after much wagon travel, would become lower than the land around them. They became known as 'sunken roads'. Troops realized that these roads were great cover and protection, and would try to use them whenever possible. Eventually, they would make their own 'sunken roads', later called trenches. The most famous of these roads was in this battle, and became known as 'The Bloody Lane'. For 3 1/2 hours(9:30 to 1p.m.) a fight raged across this sunken lane. Confusion and exhaustion finally ended the battle in this area of the field. Southwest of this area, Gen. Ambrose Burnside had his federal troops trying to cross Antietam creek on a bridge since 9:30 that morning. About 400 Georgia troops held them off each time. The union troops finally got across at around 1 p.m. They drove the Georgians back, nearly to the town, and threatened to cut off Lee's retreat route. Finally around 4 p.m. , A.P.Hill's division arrived from Harper's Ferry and drove Burnside's troops back to the heights near where they crossed the bridge, now known as 'Burnside's Bridge'. The battle was over. On the 18th, Lee began to withdraw across the Potomac River. The day ended with 12,410 dead yankees, and 10,700 dead rebels. I will post some of Dad's photos of this part of the trip, then continue. We loaded the bus, and left Sharpsburg at 5p.m. , headed to Gettysburg. We arrived and entered Gettysburg from the west, following Lee's route into the town, down the Chambersburg Pike road. We got to the hotel around 6p.m. , had dinner, then a quick Bible study and meeting, then hit the rack to get much needed rest for the next day.