The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle of Antietam(Sharpsburg) (9/17/1862) - Sep. 17th, 2003

www.texasrifles.com ^ | July 30, 1995 | Peter Carlson

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C. Sun is shining today but it's cool.

[SAMWolf]

I like gridlocks too. Wish I had thought of it.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Mayor.

It's a long one, but IMHO the article is excellent and provides a greater appreciation of the men who fought at Antietam.

[snippy_about_it]

My lanyard....*big grin*

Thank you.

[gridlock]

The Gettysburg trip is really worth it.

Last time I was there I was more into it, having been a regular reader of the FReeper Foxhole for some time. I did a little research, so I knew what I wanted to see, and I understood the terrain. You stand there on top of Seminary Ridge, and look down on the field where the charge was repulsed, and it is really incredible.

The only thing about Gettysburg is that, to me, the monuments get in the way, and detract from the overall experience. That rudely constructed low brick wall is much more important than the Greek revival five story structure next to it. I think Antietam would be much better in this regard. Much less built-up.

[SAMWolf]

1862 Battle of Sharpsburg (Antietam)-bloodiest day in American history

Casualties at Antietam

Casualties include three categories: 1) dead; 2) wounded; and 3) missing or captured.

Approximate Numbers	Union	Confederate	Total
Killed	2,100	1,550	3,650
Wounded	9,550	7,750	17,300
Missing/Captured	750	1,020	1,770
Total	12,400	10,320	22,720

These are the approximate numbers for September 17th, 1862. No one knows the actual number of men who would later die of their wounds or the number of missing who had been killed. If you take a conservative estimate of 20% of the wounded dying of their wounds and 30% of the missing killed, the approximate number of soldiers that died as a result of this battle are 7,640.

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Casualties at Antietam by Phase of Battle

The casualty numbers below include all three categories. The numbers below are approximations of the casualties that occurred in each phase of the battle. The chaos of battle makes it exceedingly difficult to develop precise numbers for casualties in each phase of the battle. Overall, 1 in 4 soldiers involved in battle that day were killed, wounded, or missing.

	Union		Confederate
	Troops Engaged	Casualties	Troops Engaged	Casualties
Morning Phase
Cornfield	17,000	4,350	11,800	4,200
West Woods	5,400	2,200	9,000	1,850
Total, Morning Phase	22,400	6,550	20,800	6,050
Midday Phase
Bloody Lane	9,700	2,900	6,500	2,600
Afternoon Phase
Burnside Bridge	4,270	500	500	120
Final Attack	9,550	1,850	5,500	1,000
Total, Afternoon Phase	13,820	2,350	6,000	1,120
Battle Total*	56,000	12,400	37,400	10,300

*The total numbers for the battle do not reflect the sum of all three phases due to approximations for numbers in each phase.

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[SAMWolf]

Morning Manna

[SAMWolf]

ROTFLMAO!!

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the history on the Great Library of Alexandria.

Seems knowledge is only allowed to the few in Islam, lot easier to control people if they're kept ignorant and uneducated.

[SAMWolf]

THE VICTOR OF ANTIETAM
By Herman Melville

When tempest winnowed grain from bran;
And men were looking for a man,
Authority called you to the van,
McClellan:
Along the line the plaudit ran,
As later when Antietam's cheers began.

Through storm-cloud and eclipse must move
Each Cause and Man, dear to the stars and Jove;
Nor always can the wisest tell
Deferred fulfillment from the hopeless knell--
The struggler from the floundering ne'er-do-well.
A pall-cloth on the Seven Days fell,
McClellan:
Unprosperously heroical!
Who could Antietam's wreath foretell?

Authority called you; then, in mist
And loom of jeopardy--dismissed.
But staring peril soon appalled;
You, the Discarded, she recalled--
Recalled you, nor endured delay;
And forth you rode upon a blasted way,
Arrayed Pope's rout, and routed Lee's array,
McClellan:
Your tent was choked with captured flags that day,
McClellan:
Antietam was a telling fray.

Recalled you; and she heard your drum
Advancing through the ghastly gloom.
You manned the wall, you propped the Dome,
You stormed the powerful stormer home.
McClellan:
Antietam's cannon long shall boom.

At Alexandria, left alone,
McClellan:
Your veterans sent from you, and thrown
To fields and fortunes all unknown--
What thoughts were yours, revealed to none,
While faithful still you labored on--
Hearing the far Manassas gun!
McClellan:
Only Antietam could atone.

You fought in the front (an evil day,
McClellan)--
The fore-front of the first assay;
The Cause went sounding, groped its way;
The leadsmen quarrelled in the bay;
Quills thwarted swords; divided sway;
The rebel flushed in his lusty May:
You did your best, as in you lay,
McClellan.
Antietam's sun-burst sheds a ray.

Your medalled soldiers love you well,
McClellan:
Name your name, their true hearts swell;
With you they shook dread Stonewall's spell,
With you they braved the blended yell
Of rebel and maligner fell;
With you in shame or fame they dwell,
McClellan:
Antietam-braves a brave can tell.

And when your comrades (now so few,
McClellan--
Such ravage in deep files they rue)
Meet round the board, and sadly view
The empty places; tribute due
They render to the dead--and you!
Absent and silent o'er the blue;
The one-armed lift the wine to you,
McClellan,
And great Antietam's cheers renew.

Had George McClellan been the military genius Melville hails him as in this poem, the War might well have ended on the banks of Antietam Creek on September 17, 1862. Instead, McClellan frittered away numerous opportunities to rout the Army of Northern Virginia despite finding an errant copy of Robert E. Lee's Special Order No. 191 outlining Confederate strategy for the upcoming campaign.

After McClellan floundered badly on the Peninsula in July, the Army of the Potomac was removed from his command a piece at a time, and he was forced to watch from the sidelines as General John Pope bungled the Battle of Second Manassas. The AoP was subsequently reconsolidated under "Little Mac" even though Abraham Lincoln had grave misgivings about his demonstrated unwillingness to bring the army to battle.

Federal troops outnumbered the Confederates by a considerable margin at the Battle of Antietam, but McClellan was exceedingly cautious about commiting his men, in many cases refusing to send them where their presence was sorely needed "in case" something should happen elsewhere on the field. Far from "fighting in the front," as the poet says, McClellan watched the battle unfold from the safety of his hilltop headquarters at the Pry house, some distance from the field.

Although McClellan's army inflicted heavy casualties on the Army of Northern Virginia on the 17th, Lee did not withdraw immediately, believing until the last minute that a counterattack was possible. On September 18, the ANV slipped across the Potomac under cover of darkness and back to the safety of Virginia. McClellan lost yet another golden opportunity to destroy Lee's army by believing his own army too badly crippled to give pursuit.

If Lee had failed to gain the hoped-for foothold in the North, McClellan had failed to destroy the ANV or to win a decisive victory. Still, the quasi-triumph gave the Union the boost that President Lincoln needed to issue the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22.

McClellan's failure to follow up on whatever advantage the North might have gained at Antietam was the final nail in his coffin -- and Lincoln was only too happy to pound it in, relieving McClellan of all command responsibilities after the AoP did nothing in seven weeks of prime campaigning season following the battle. The general retired to private life and ran against his former commander in chief for president on the Democratic ticket in 1864 -- and lost.

Kathie Watson

[SAMWolf]

Morning Johnny. I've been to Chattanooga and Forts Henry and Donaldson. Never had the chance to visit any of the major battlefields. I'd love to visit Gettysburg, Antietam and Shiloh.

[SAMWolf]

Any info on your ancestor you'd care to share with us.

[SAMWolf]

Hard one to read and not get emotional about. I would love to meet Ranger Holsworth.

[SAMWolf]

Morning w_over_w. I hope you have the time to read this one,
Peter Carlson did a great job on this article.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Johnny.

"Spirit of America"

Resembling a bird of prey, the Stealth Bomber or "Spirit", displays it's profile as it streams vapour from it's fuselage and wings. Signed by the artist.

[SAMWolf]

I've heard that complaint about Gettysburg before, it's been too built up and "commercialized"

At least the Gettysburg Tower is gone now.

[gridlock]

That would have been fun to watch.

[Prof Engineer]

I recall reading that when the library at Alexandria burned it set man kind back 500 years.

I've read that as well. What's amazing, is the fact that much of the technology which made the "industrial revolution" possible existed at the time of Christ. If it were assembled into a steam engine at that time, the inventor's work didn't survive.

[Prof Engineer]

Any info on your ancestor you'd care to share with us.

I don't know anything really. I have a photocopy of his discharge, listing the names of the battle he fought in. I've not researched it any further yet. Msdrby loves geneaology. She'll get me on it, if nothing else.

[colorado tanker]

Another terrific post. It's really interesting to combine the modern tour and perspective with the historical facts.

Now, the Confederate line was broken in its center. With one quick push, McClellan could have cut Lee's army in two, then destroyed it. He had fresh troops ready to go. But he never gave the order to attack.

"It would not be prudent," he explained.

McClellan. Grrrrrr!

Why is Antietam overlooked by comparison to Gettysburg? The victory, if you can call it that, was not as clearcut. The Gettysburg story is full of drama, heroics and luck, although there is plenty of all three at Antietam. I think the main reason is that Antietam leaves us with a sense of sadness, the same sadness we feel when we think that Americans were once so divided that fought and killed each other is horrific numbers. Antietam is a story of two armies clawing, hacking and killing each other in what still stands as the bloodiest day in American military history. The tactics were frontal attack, brute force. Little credit goes to either General. Lee was saved by great good luck and McClellan's incompetance. McClellan's dithering prevented a great victory. I think all this is why when people visit Gettysburg they feel exhilerated while at Antietam people feel sadness and become silent.