George B. Mcclellan
The Young Napoleon
By age 35, General George B. McClellan was the commander of all the Northern armies. He forged the Army of the Potomac into a formidable battlefield foe, and fought the longest and largest campaign of the time as well as the single bloodiest battle in the nation's history

Antietam
Sharpsburg
Civil War Maryland

American Civil War
September 16-18, 1862


Advance And Retreat: Personal Experiences In The United States And Confederate States Armies
John Bell Hood entered the Confederate Army at 29, loyal to Confederate Independence. He led his men into the battles of Second Manassas, Gaines's Mill, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and Chickamauga

On September 16, US Major General George B. McClellan confronted Lee's Army of Northern Virginia at Sharpsburg, Maryland. At dawn September 17, Hooker's corps mounted a powerful assault on Lee's left flank that began the single bloodiest day in American military history. Attacks and counterattacks swept across Miller's cornfield and fighting swirled around the Dunker Church.

Union assaults against the Sunken Road eventually pierced the Confederate center, but the Federal advantage was not followed up. Late in the day, Burnside's corps finally got into action, crossing the stone bridge over Antietam Creek and rolling up the Confederate right. At a crucial moment, A.P. Hill's division arrived from Harpers Ferry and counterattacked, driving back Burnside and saving the day.

Although outnumbered two-to-one, Lee committed his entire force, while McClellan sent in less than three-quarters of his army, enabling Lee to fight the Federals to a standstill. During the night, both armies consolidated their lines. In spite of crippling casualties, Lee continued to skirmish with McClellan throughout the 18th, while removing his wounded south of the river.

McClellan did not renew the assaults. After dark, Lee ordered the battered Army of Northern Virginia to withdraw across the Potomac into the Shenandoah Valley.

Result(s): Inconclusive (Union strategic victory.)

Location: Washington County

Campaign: Maryland Campaign (September 1862) next battle in campaign  previous battle in campaign

Date(s): September 16-18, 1862

Principal Commanders: Major General George B. McClellan [US]; General Robert E. Lee [CS]

Forces Engaged: Armies

Estimated Casualties: 23,100 total

Anteitam battle field on the day of the battle September 16,1862. Anteitam Civil War Battle field September 1862


The Antietam Campaign
The Maryland campaign of September 1862 ranks among the most important military operations of the American Civil War.




The Gleam Of Bayonets: The Battle Of Antietam And Robert E. Lee's Maryland Campaign, September, 1862
Antietam turned the tide of the Civil War in favor of the North and delivered the first major defeat to Robert E. Lee's Confederate army. The gentleness and patience of Lincoln, the vacillations of McClellan, and the grandeur of Lee—all unfold before the reader


First and Second Maryland Cavalry, C.S.A
An indepth look at Maryland and her divided loyalties during the Civil War. Brother against brother epitomizes the state of affairs in Maryland. Men, loyal to the South, crossed the Potomac river at great personal peril to join Confederate ranks.







The First and Second Maryland Infantry, C.S.A.
The First Maryland Infantry was formed from Marylanders who chose to cast their lot with the Confederacy against a Union government that had invaded their state and established martial law, forcing those who disagreed with the invasion of the South to join the Confederates or to submit to what they considered as tyranny

State Park Battle Map
State Park Map Anteitam Battle Field


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American Civil War Book Titles

A southern star for Maryland:
Maryland and the secession crisis, 1860-1861
Maryland did not freely choose to remain in the Union at the outbreak of the Civil War, this book argues: the state was held by brute force. A colorful account of the dilemmas faced by Marylanders in the crisis as seen from the Southern point of view.
Maryland In The Civil War
After Fort Sumter, the Lincoln administration could ill afford to lose Maryland, especially its principal city Baltimore, site of the first blood spilled when a mob attacked the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment. Maryland was the site of the greatest single day's carnage in American
A Maryland Boy in Lee's Army: Personal Reminiscences of a Maryland Soldier in the War between the States, 1861-1865
Young George Wilson Booth followed the call of the Confederacy and served four years in the Army of Virginia. During the days of the successes at Manassas battles and in the Peninsula to the Valley
Antietam Expedition Guide
Indespensible asset for understanding the battle that resulted in America's bloodiest day. The automated and time-scaled troup movement maps helps to grasp the scope and scale of the conflict

The Civil War Papers Of George B. Mcclellan: Selected Correspondence, 1860-1865
General-in-chief of the entire Union army at one point, he led the Army of the Potomac through the disaster at Antietam Creek, was subsequently dismissed by Lincoln, and then ran against him in the 1864 presidential campaign. This collection of McClellan's candid letters about himself, his motivations, and his intentions
George B. McClellan and Civil War History: In the Shadow of Grant and Sherman
The complex general who, though gifted with administrative and organizational skills, was unable and unwilling to fight with the splendid army he had created. In this book, Rowland presents a framework in which early Civil War command can be viewed without direct comparison to the final two years of the war
Too Afraid to Cry: Maryland Civilians in the Antietam Campaign
The children, women, and men living in the village of Sharpsburg and on surrounding farms. The dramatic experiences of these Maryland citizens, stories that have never been told, and also examines the political web holding together Unionists and Secessionists, many of whom lived under the same roofs
Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam
James M. McPherson states in his concise chronicle, it may well have been the pivotal moment of the war . The South had reversed the war's momentum during the summer, and was on not only on the "brink of military victory" but about to achieve diplomatic recognition by European nations
Antietam : The Soldier's Battle
by John Michael Priest, Jay Lavass		 Synopsis : A historian tells of this bloody Civil War battle from an entirely new point of view: that of the common enlisted man. Seventy-two detailed maps describe the battle in both hourly and quarter-hourly formats. 37 rare photos.

As the book runs from anectdote to anectdote, the reader is able to get a clearer picture of the battle and what happened there. As a Civil War Reenactor, my unit fought at Antietam, and the anectdotes helped me to be more realistic in my impression. Amazon Reviewer


Civil War History Documentary DVD Movie Titles

Civil War Combat: America's Bloodiest Battles
The violent mayhem of the hornet's nest at Shiloh, the valiant charge on the sunken road at Antietam, the carnage in the wheat field at Gettysburg, and the brutal fighting at Cold Harbor
Lincoln and Lee at Antietam: The Cost of Freedom
The bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil
DVD
Civil War Journal
Collector's Edition 4-DVD Set
Made exclusively for Books Are Fun. Discs include: · Stonewall Jackson · Sherman and the March to the Sea · West Point Classmates-Civil War Enemies · Robert E. Lee · Battle of 1st Bull Run · The 54th Massachusetts · John Brown s War · Destiny at Fort Sumter
Brother Against Brother: The American Civil War
Fort Sumter, to the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Features battle reconstructions and depictions of army life, eyewitness accounts, period photographs and engravings, plus commentary and analyses.

History Channel Presents The Civil War
From Harper's Ferry, Fort Sumter, and First Bull Run to Shiloh, Antietam, and Gettysburg. The most legendary Civil War battles in brilliant detail. A selection of the soldiers and legendary leaders.
The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns
Here is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one
The Blue and the Gray
The Complete Miniseries
The Civil War proved a backdrop for this 1982 miniseries. Complete and uncut three disc set. Two families divided by the War Between the States. A Southerner caught when he becomes a war correspondent for the Northern newspaper. He finds himself  where history's in the making from the Battle of Bull Run to Abraham Lincoln's assassination
Blue Vs. Gray - Killing Fields
Relive the most vicious fighting of the Civil War, in which General Ulysses S. Grant forcibly reversed the tide of the conflict by paying with the blood of thousands. It was a desperate time for the Union

Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress.

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