In this essay, I will be concentrating more on the facts of the Battle of Antietam then the tactical movements, or all the decisions made during this battle. I will however cover some key points that do point to poor leadership and execution of plans. Most of this essay will cover facts of Special Order 191, errors in judgment by General George B. McClellan, the sunken road, the importance of victory needed for General Robert E. Lee, and lastly the overall analysis of the outcome.
At dawn on the morning of September 17, 1862, the nation’s bloodiest battle and bloodiest day in American History occurred. The battle began with an attack by General Joseph Hooker to capture the plateau in which the Dunker Church now called sat upon and a small creek that ran through the battlefield named Antietam Creek; hence, this is where the name The Battle of Antietam originated. One only has to look at the number killed or wounded to
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McClellan, his knowledge of Special Order 191. Special Order 191 was a copy of General Robert E. Lee’s detailed battle plans discovered on the Best Farm in Maryland by Corporal Barton W. Mitchell and First Sergeant John M. Bloss of the 27th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. This order outlined the troop movement and detailed plans of Lee’s Army. The oversight was that it is reported that General McClellan who exclaimed “Here is a paper with which, if I cannot whip Bobby Lee, I will be willing to go home.” (1) Instead the General did not act on this intelligence for 18 hours thus allowing Lee’s army to take Harpers Ferry and to rally his troops at Sharpsburg. Yet another tactical error on the part of General McClellan was not renewing his attack on Lee’s forces on 18 September. Lee’s forces were still in their position and McClellan had that numerical advantage which now included 30,000 fresh troops decided not to attack. This allowed Lees the opportunity and time to retreat across the Potomac and
Known as the bloodiest single-day battle in American History, the Battle of Antietam took place at Antietam creek in Maryland. Strategic plan unveiled and outnumbered, things didn’t start off smoothly for General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate army; yet, even with a copy of the enemy’s plan and a two-to-one advantage, did things work out for Union! With one side disadvantaged and the other wasting their advantages, the battle stayed undecided for hours- that is until violent attacks to General Lee’s troop had the Confederate army retreating. Although, the Battle of Antietam does not have a clear victorious side, the Union declared it as a victory and used the victory to justify the “Emancipation Proclamation”
General Gates had underestimated his troops ability to fight until it was too late to back out. The start of the battle involved
Prior to the “Battle of Chancellorsville” in 1863, the Accomplice Armed forces was organized in a two-corps arrangement, with commanders James Longstreet and “Stonewall” Jackson. When dealing with this altercation, commander Lee had a “hands-off” approach when dealing with these two commanders. An approach
Lincoln’s letter proposed what he could have done if he wanted, not necessarily should have done. Instead, Meade felt that if he counterattacked Lee’s army, he would have made the same military mistake that Lee made by assuming the status of the opponents army without any concrete proof of its status (McPherson,
Lee’s strategically placed troops. Early in the morning with darkness and fog surrounding the soldiers, the attack began. The Union corps assembled a 7 mile long line and advanced. As the confrontation started the Union's corps began to get separated and confused by all of the heavy vegetation and swamplands, losing contact with each other. At this point Lee’s army was able to annihilate the Union troops because of his angled lines of troops.
Lee would use his exquisite leadership in future battles such as the attempt of the Union to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond; he would turn the tables against the Union general George B. McClellan to take
Have confidence that the routed Union army would need time to reorganize, Lee separated his own army by sending portions of it to capture several objectives. Unbelievably a copy of Order No. 191, which
Custer ordered his troops to charge but this wasn’t easy as the setting for this battle was very unforgiving. Primarily woods and shrubs, the Union army couldn’t mobilize that well and lost organization, however; Custer’s troops were far more prepared for battle than those of General Walker, who had not been preparing supper instead of war at the time. Custer and his troops were successful in attacking and capturing the artillery of General Walker and this helped the Union gain ground on the battlefield. With this foothold, the Union now blocked off Lee’s path of retreat. General Lee now had only two options: fight or surrender.
Around April 27th, a few days before the battle, Robert E. Lee had made the decision to steer the location of the battle into the Wilderness by using his regiments to bait the Union army into following his army into the Wilderness. The woody and rough terrain would diminish the Union advantage of large numbers and suit the Confederates more because they would also have homeground advantage and would be able to navigate the Wilderness. The Orange Turnpike and Plank Roads were used by both armies to transport soldiers by way of the road. General Stonewall Jackson turned on the Orange Turnpike Road while marching on his flank attack on General Howard’s XI Corps because the roads provided an easy way and path to march. The Union army had an initial geographical advantage but it was lost to the Confederate army and it helped the Confederates win the Battle of
A key battle that was essential to the outcome of the Civil War was the Battle of Antietam. It was a daylong battle that was fought on September 17, 1862 that resulted in the Confederacy’s withdrawal and casualties of over 23,000 men total (Davidson 460-461). This battle helped Lincoln change the focus of the war and after this victory, he declared the Emancipation Proclamation, a proclamation that stated all slaves would be free in rebelling or Confederate states against the United States (Davidson 464). This led to Europeans favoring the North in the war and African Americans becoming willing to fight in the war for their freedom (Davidson 464-465).
An example from the article by Stan Fanit states, “Lee noticed a hill called Little Round Top that was virtually unoccupied, so he quickly ordered General Ewell to take that hill, if practicable [...] However, Ewell believed that he needed more support from General Longstreet who did not arrive until nightfall. By this time, the Union soldiers had received support and were entrenched on the high ground” (Fan). Another example that supports Lee wasn’t giving his commands cleary and was not very confident is the book Killer Angels. The book Killer Angels states, “To the messenger he said,”I have no force to attack that hill.
The Battle of Gettysburg was a three day fight in which an estimate of 51,000 soldiers were killed in total, but besides all of the casualties, what else makes this battle special? The Battle of Gettysburg was a huge factor in the abolishment of slavery. It is one of the most important battles because it created new war strategies and was the turning point in the Civil War, which led to the Gettysburg Address. The Confederate general, Robert E. Lee, was very confident because of his army utmost victory.
Lincoln called for 500,000 troops on both sides settled for a long battle. Abraham surprised a lot of people by proving to be a more than a capable wartime leader. He learned quickly about strategy and tactics in the early years of the Civil War, and choosing the best commanders. General George McClellan continually frustrated Lincoln with his unwillingness to advance, and when McClellan failed to see Robert Lee’s retreating Confederate Army in the outcome of the Union victory at Antietam in September 1862. Antietam is a creek of north Maryland emptying into the Potomac
The most important battle during the Civil War was the Battle of Gettysburg. This was a battle that took place over three days in the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863. This battle was the turning point of the civil war which successfully stopped the Southern Confederate Armies led by General Robert E. Lee from taking over the north. The Battle of Gettysburg was the most important battle of the Civil War because it was the largest of the civil war battles, successfully pushing back southern armies away from the north, and was the major defeat of the south. The battle of Gettysburg is still considered to historians to not only be the most important battle of the Civil war but the deciding factor towards victory.
He was afraid to risk failure so he never would risk doing anything. On the other hand, the Confederates leaders had General Robert E. Lee, who commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. He was considered a big risk taker. McClellan was not too worried about Lee or his army thinking that Lee was weak and too cautious but Lee was anything but that. General Lee gathered as many men as was available and attacked General McClellan on June 26, 1862 repeatedly for seven days.