Battle Of Antietam Research Paper

The battle of Antietam was a one day battle and is known as the deadliest one-day battle in U.S. military history. The battle of Antietam was fought on September 17th, 1862, on the grounds of Sharpsburg, Maryland. It proved that the union was able to stand their ground against a confederate invasion. The number of people that had fought in the battle is estimated to be around 132,000 people. The Union had the upper-hand because they outnumbered the Confederates, the Union had about 87,000 soldiers engaged in the battle, compared to the 45,000 that sided with the Confederacy. Because this was the deadliest one-day battle, it was expected for both sides to experience heavy casualties, they total up to 22,717 with the Union suffering more than …show more content…
He had decided he wanted to take over the state of Maryland. General Lee wanted Maryland since it was a slave state that remained with the Union, and he believed if he got control over it the people would support the Confederates. But to be able to achieve this he believed he would have to have to fight a couple battles to start his conquest and Antietam had been one of them. In a couple other battles like the battle of South Mountain he lost but he ended up winning in the battle of Harpers Ferry. He had wanted to have at least one other battle and ended up going to the town of Sharpsburg. He knew that the Union would come from the east, so he positioned his army and camps near the creek of Antietam. General George B. McClellan knew the rival General Robert E. Lee had his army on his turf. McClellan had decided to make a move and sent Major General Joseph Hooker’s first corps. He had directed them to go through a creek and find out where General Lee had kept his left flank. While Hooker is trying to look for Lee’s left flank, he ends up meeting the Confederate General, John Bell, unintentionally. They had ended up in a skirmish and were shooting at each other until

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