6 0 The American Civil WarBattle of Antietam
or SharpsburgThe climactic clash came on 17 September at
the Battle of Antietam (called Sharpsburg by
most Confederates). Straggling and desertion
had reduced Lee's army to fewer than
40,000 men. McClellan's army numbered
more than 80,000, though a quarter had
been in service only a few weeks. The battle
unfolded from north to south in three
distinct phases. Between about 6 and
9.30 am, Federals from three corps pounded
the Confederate left under Stonewall
Jackson. Lee shifted troops from his right,
commanded by Longstreet, to shore up his
harried left. Particularly vicious action
occurred in a 23-acre (9.3ha) cornfield
owned by a farmer named David R. Miller.
Some 8,000 men, including more than
80 percent of one Texas regiment, fell in the
midst of cornstalks cut down by musketry
and cannon fire. This part of the fighting
ended with the near destruction of a Union
division that stumbled into a deadly crossfire
in woods near a modest brick church that
served a Dunker congregation.
Lee's invasion of Maryland represented the final act in a
three-part drama that opened at the Seven Days,
continued with the Battle of Second Manassas and closed
with the fearful slaughter at Antietam. The entire
campaign from June to September dramatically
reoriented the war in the Eastern Theater Harper's Weekly
depicted Confederates crossing the Potomac into
Maryland on a brightly moonlit night. (Author's collection)The second phase focused on the middle of
Lee's position and lasted from 9.30 am until
about 1 pm. Two Confederate brigades
situated in a sunken country lane held this
section of the line. Together with other units
that came to their aid, these brigades beat
back a series of Union attacks before being
flanked and driven out at great loss. Lee had
no reinforcements at hand, and his army
teetered on the edge of utter defeat. Union
division commander Israel Richardson, whose
soldiers had broken the rebel line, pleaded
with McClellan to send in reinforcements.
Thousands of uncommitted Federals stood
nearby, but McClellan chose not to send them
forward lest he leave himself without a
substantial reserve. A staggering opportunity
slipped away as action died down along what
the soldiers later christened the 'Bloody Lane'.