Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam was a key turning point in the American Civil War and American history. In short, it turned back Robert E. Lee’s first campaign north of the Potomac River and led to the issuance of the Preliminary—and then, final—Emancipation Proclamation. However, many historians and students of the war refer to the battle fought on September 17, 1862 as a draw. Or, they throw the Army of the Potomac a bone and say while it was tactically a draw, the battle and campaign that it climaxed were a strategic Union victory, throwing back Lee’s first invasion of the North.
A drawn battle implies that, at the end of the battle, neither side held a clear advantage over the other. Instead, after the fighting concluded on September 17, 1862, the Army of the Potomac’s gains after the day’s actions severely restricted the Army of Northern Virginia’s options, giving the Federal army the upper hand in the Maryland Campaign.
Certainly, in the eyes of many visitors to Antietam National Battlefield, the belief that the Army of the Potomac and its commander, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, could have destroyed or at least damaged Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia far more than it did or destroy it does not help lift the Federals’ success above anything more than a draw. Instead, three days after the battle, McClellan wrote his wife, “Our victory was complete & the disorganized rebel army has rapidly returned to Virginia.”[1] Additionally, President Abraham Lincoln’s post-battle frustration with McClellan’s failure to move his army into Virginia until six weeks after the battle seems to indicate the President was displeased with the battle’s outcome. If Lincoln held this belief, the common perception goes, it is difficult to see how Antietam could be anything but a draw. Continue reading →
(Original Press Release from Central Virginia Battlefields Trust)
