| The twelve hour Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest | | | | preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Now the |
| day of the Civil War began at dawn on | | | | war had a dual purpose of preserving the Union |
| September 17, 1862. For the next seven hours | | | | and ending slavery. |
| there were three major Union attacks on the | | | | You can now relive the battle of Antietam (in |
| Confederate left, moving from north to south. | | | | Sharpsburg, Maryland), the bloodiest day of the |
| Gen. Joseph Hooker's command led the first Union | | | | Civil War with a driving tour of the significant |
| assault. Then Gen. Joseph Mansfield's soldiers | | | | places of the battlefield. Stop by the Antietam |
| attacked, followed by Gen. Edwin Sumner's men | | | | Visitors Center before you start on this 8.5 mile |
| as McClellan's plan broke down into a series of | | | | driving tour to pick up a copy of the companion |
| uncoordinated Union advances. Savage, | | | | audio CD to highlight the significant events at |
| incomparable combat raged across the Cornfield, | | | | every stop on the tour. |
| East Woods, West Woods and the Sunken Road | | | | This tour will cover the following key historic |
| as Lee shifted his men to withstand each of the | | | | points at Antietam. |
| Union thrusts. After clashing for over eight hours, | | | | Dunker Church - This was the focal point of |
| the Confederates were pushed back but not | | | | repeated clashes as both armies sought to |
| broken, however over 15,000 soldiers were killed | | | | occupy and hold the high ground around it. Leveled |
| or wounded. | | | | by a storm in 1921, the church was rebuilt in 1962. |
| While the Union assaults were being made on the | | | | North Woods - General Hooker launched the initial |
| Sunken Road, a mile-and-a-half farther south Union | | | | Union attack from this point. It was stopped by |
| Gen. Ambrose Burnside opened the attack on the | | | | Jackson's troops in The Cornfield, 1/2 mile south. |
| Confederate right. His first task would be to | | | | East Woods - Union Gen. Joseph Mansfield was |
| capture the bridge that would later bear his name. | | | | fatally wounded here ashe led his XII Corps into |
| A small Confederate force, positioned on higher | | | | battle. |
| ground, was able to delay Burnside for three | | | | The Cornfield - More fighting took place here in |
| hours. After taking the bridge at about 1:00 p.m., | | | | the Miller cornfield than anywhere else at |
| Burnside reorganized for two hours before | | | | Antietam. The battle lines swept back and forth |
| moving forward across the arduous terrain--a | | | | across the field for three hours. |
| critical delay. Finally the advance started only to | | | | West Woods - Union Gen. John Sedgwick's division |
| be turned back by Confederate General A.P. Hill's | | | | lost more than 2,200 men in less than half an |
| reinforcements that arrived in the late afternoon | | | | hour in ill-fated charge into these woods-against |
| from Harpers Ferry. | | | | Jackson's and Longstreet's troops. |
| Neither flank of the Confederate army collapsed | | | | Mumma Farm - Burned by the Confederates to |
| far enough for McClellan to advance his center | | | | prevent their use by Union sharpshooters, the |
| attack, leaving a sizable Union force that never | | | | Mumma farm buildings were the only civilian |
| entered the battle. Despite over 23,000 casualties | | | | property purposely destroyed during the battle. |
| of the nearly 100,000 engaged, both armies | | | | Roulette Farm - Union troops under French and |
| stubbornly held their ground as the sun set on the | | | | Richardson crossed these fields on their way to |
| devastated landscape. The next day, September | | | | meet the Confederates posted in the Sunken |
| 18, the opposing armies gathered their wounded | | | | Road. |
| and buried their dead. That night Lee's army | | | | Sunken Road (Bloody Lane) - For nearly 4 hours, |
| withdrew back across the Potomac to Virginia, | | | | Union and Confederate infantry contested this |
| ending Lee's first invasion into the North. Lee's | | | | sunken country road, resulting in over 5,000 |
| retreat to Virginia provided President Lincoln the | | | | casualties--thus the name "Bloody Lane. |
| opportunity he had been waiting for to issue the | | | | |