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Antietam - THE Pivotal Battle of the Civil War


It is one of the most iconic photos in American history. The President of the United States is sitting in a military tent facing the commander of the United States Army of the Potomac, after a mighty battle. The American flag is draped prominently over a table, the enemy’s flag lies disrespectfully on the ground. The President’s look seems to be one of thoughtfulness and the General looks either wary or maybe contemptuous. The latter sentiment has been his attitude toward the Commander-in-Chief from the beginning of the war, calling him “the original gorilla” in letters to his wife. The President is fully aware of the General’s feelings toward him. His commander will, in fact, run against him for President two years later in 1864. This image conceals all the issues that made that battle, The Battle of Antietam or, to the Southerners, the Battle of Sharpsburg, perhaps the most important one of the Civil War.


Bill Potter interpreting Antietam Battlefield

Historians have marveled that the battle itself came about as a result of Union General McClellan’s finding Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s troop distribution map wrapped around three cigars by a fence in Frederick, Maryland. It was the first great invasion of the Northern states by the undefeated championship army of the Confederacy, and the enemy forces, more than twice as large as Lee’s, now had the opportunity to destroy him piecemeal and with his back against a river.

September 17, 1862 would turn into the bloodiest single day in American history. About 23,000 Americans would fall on the Antietam battlefield; in comparison, about 9,000 fell on D-Day in 1944. General Lee would fight a masterful battle in which the enemy would oblige him by sending the attacks in only one part of the battle line at a time, giving the Confederate commander opportunity to shift the survivors to other parts of the field when the next assault took place. By the end of the day, both armies were in roughly the same positions as when the battle began, both bloodied but unbowed. An entire Corps of Union soldiers were held in reserve and never used—more men than General Lee had standing at the end of the day!


Reenacting the Battle of Antietam

The Confederates left the following night and returned to Virginia, virtually unpursued. Abraham Lincoln was furious that his Commander George McClellan let them get away. He travelled to the battlefield several days later to confront his commanding general, whom he already knew held him in contempt, concerning why such a great victory was wasted by the man he earlier had said “has the slows.” Though the photo op portrayed to the nation two great men sitting in harmony after what they declared was the greatest victory of the war up to that point, in the end President Lincoln sacked McClellan. He then replaced him with perhaps the most incompetent of the Union generals in the battle — Ambrose Burnside.

The President had been waiting for a great Union victory to give occasion for issuing The Emancipation Proclamation which would, on paper, “free the slaves,” thus changing or adding to the reason for the War. It turned out to be a brilliant foreign policy move to keep Britain and France from recognizing the Confederacy and was perceived as adding moral luster to the already sacrificial cause of preserving the Union.


Our group at Burnside’s Bridge

We walk in the very footsteps of the men who fought America’s bloodiest battle. We tell the stories of courage and sacrifice, and we look at the profound implications of what may have been the most important battle of the Civil War. The beautiful green fields of harvest were to see a different harvest in September of 1862.

Tour Antietam Battlefield with Bill Potter

The morning of Day Three of our Heart of American History Tour is spent walking the Antietam Battlefield, reenacting a charge through the cornfield and enjoying a picnic lunch beside Burnsides Bridge. Afternoon venues include the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House / National Cemetery. The Conspirator, an excellent movie about Mary Surratt, the lone female charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination trial of Abraham Lincoln, will be shown that evening at the Hampton Inn.


Arlington National Cemetery


Lincoln Memorial


Tomb of the Unknown Soldier




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