Lincoln Needed a Push to End Slavery — This Horrific Battle Delivered

Antietam National Battlefield, Maryland

On September 17, 1862, over 23,000 soldiers fell in a single day near the small town of Sharpsburg, Maryland.

The battle changed the course of the Civil War and gave Lincoln the victory he needed to issue his famous proclamation.

Today, rolling fields and old stone bridges one of the most important chapters of American history. This is how one September day reshaped a nation.

General Lee Comes to Maryland

In September 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee made his first attack on Union territory.

He crossed into Maryland with 55,000 troops, hoping a victory on Northern soil would convince European countries to recognize the Confederacy and maybe force Lincoln to make peace.

Union Major General George B. McClellan commanded about 87,000 Union troops, having received amazing luck when his soldiers found Lee’s detailed battle plans wrapped around three cigars at an abandoned Confederate campsite.

Despite knowing Lee’s plans, McClellan’s usual caution kept him from fully using his larger army.

The Dunker Church

The battle happened in three main areas on September 17, 1862. One of them was at this simple white church.

German Baptist Brethren prayed here every Sunday. They called themselves “Dunkers” for their full-immersion baptism practice.

These pacifist farmers opposed all violence. Now their church stood at the center of unprecedented bloodshed.

The Morning Attack at The Cornfield

Dawn broke at 5:30 a.m. with Union General Joseph Hooker’s troops surging forward, aiming for the church on top of the plateau.

Six-foot corn stalks hid soldiers until they crashed into each other at point-blank range.

Men fought, fell, and died among the corn rows. The field changed hands six times in just a few hours, and Union General Joseph Mansfield brought reinforcements as bodies piled up.

By noon, you could walk across the cornfield stepping only on the dead and wounded.

The Struggle at Sunken Road

The center action saw brutal fighting at the sunken road that became known as “Bloody Lane,” where Confederate General Daniel Harvey Hill’s division was wiped out.

Years of wagon traffic had carved this path below the surrounding fields, creating the perfect war trench. Confederate soldiers from North Carolina turned it into a death trap under Brigadier General George B. Anderson.

As the sun climbed higher, Union Major General Israel Richardson led his men straight towards the narrow lane.

Men fired, fell, and died for three hours in this confined space. Bodies stacked three deep in some places along those 800 yards.

Union troops finally broke through, and both Richardson and Anderson suffered fatal wounds here.

Burnside Bridge Crossing

Union General Ambrose Burnside faced a stone bridge on the southern end of the battlefield. Just 12 feet wide, it created an excellent bottleneck.

Confederate General Robert Toombs positioned 500 Georgian sharpshooters on the hills overlooking this crossing. This small force held off thousands for three hours.

Union soldiers finally secured the bridge at 1:00 p.m, but the crossing came at terrible cost in lives. Burnside’s exhausted men spent two hours regrouping.

The pretty stone arch, originally called Rohrback Bridge, would forever bear Burnside’s name.

A.P. Hill’s Arrival

Confederate General A.P. Hill’s division had just captured Harpers Ferry on September 15. He heard the distant thunder of cannon fire from Antietam and ordered an immediate march.

His men covered fifteen miles on September 17, legs aching and feet bleeding. They arrived at 3:30 p.m. at the perfect moment.

Burnside’s troops had reached the edge of Sharpsburg with the Confederate army nearly split. Hill’s men slammed into Burnside’s exposed flank.

The surprise attack drove Union forces back toward the bridge they had fought so hard to take.

Clara Barton on the Battlefield

Clara Barton drove her supply wagon through the chaos. The 40-year-old former patent clerk brought bandages and medicines she had gathered for months.

She worked at a farm where 300 wounded men lay groaning. When no surgeon was available, she removed a bullet from a soldier’s cheek using just a pocket knife.

A bullet tore through her sleeve and killed the wounded man she was helping. Barton kept working without pause.

They later called her the “Angel of the Battlefield.” Her experiences at Antietam inspired her to found the American Red Cross years later.

The Battle’s Aftermath

Guns fell silent after twelve hours of hell. Union forces counted 12,410 men killed, wounded or missing – 14.2% of their army. Lee lost 10,316 men – 27.1% of his smaller force.

He retreated across the Potomac on September 18, his invasion plan shattered. Photographer Alexander Gardner arrived while bodies still covered the fields.

His images shocked Northern citizens who had never seen war’s reality. Lincoln visited in October to see the battlefield and meet with McClellan.

Frustrated by his general’s caution, Lincoln replaced him with Burnside on November 5.

The Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln had kept an emancipation document locked in his desk for months, and his cabinet warned that issuing it after a defeat would seem desperate.

Five days after Antietam, Lincoln released the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Confederate states had 100 days to return to the Union or lose their slaves.

The South refused. Lincoln signed the final proclamation on January 1, 1863, freeing slaves in rebel states and allowing Black men to join the Union Army.

Lincoln later called this “the central act of my administration, and the greatest event of the nineteenth century.”

The war now had a higher purpose than just restoring the Union.

Antietam National Cemetery

The nation needed a proper resting place for Union dead. Congress approved Antietam National Cemetery in 1865, and burials began in 1867.

Workers identified only 40% of Union remains.

The cemetery holds 4,776 Union soldiers, with 1,836 gravestones simply marked “Unknown U.S. Soldier.”

Confederate dead found separate burial grounds in Hagerstown, Frederick, and Shepherdstown.

The cemetery closed to new burials in 1953. Only two exceptions followed: Congressman Goodloe Byron in 1978 and USS Cole victim Patrick Howard Roy in 2000.

Visiting Antietam National Battlefield

Antietam National Battlefield sits at 5831 Dunker Church Road in Sharpsburg, Maryland, 10 miles south of Hagerstown.

The Visitor Center opens daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.

Park grounds remain accessible from sunrise to sunset. Admission costs $10 per person (age 17+) or $20 per vehicle. Annual passes cost $35.

Begin at the Visitor Center to view exhibits and watch the 26-minute orientation film. Park rangers offer interpretive talks throughout the day, and you can drive the 8.5-mile self-guided tour with 11 designated stops.

You can also explore twelve hiking trails range from 0.25 to 1.8 miles. The 1.5-mile Bloody Lane Trail and 1.3-mile Sherrick Farm Trail (ending at Burnside Bridge) offer the most historical features.

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