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Turning Points of the American Civil War
In practical
terms, the Emancipation Proclamation had little immediate impact: it freed slaves only in the Confederate states,
while leaving slavery intact in the border states. And the freedom it promised depended upon Union military
victory. The proclamation, however, allowed the arming of approximately 180,000 blacks for the Union army. Antietam, consequently, was the initial major turning point in the Civil War. (Also see "Subsequent Turning Points" below.)
Battle of Antietam
The battle transpired on Wednesday, September 17, 1862, and less than 3 weeks
after the costly Confederate victory at the Second Battle of Manassas (aka Second Bull Run). The Battle of Antietam, or Sharpsburg, changed
the entire course of the Civil War and not only halted General Robert E. Lee's bold invasion of the North (see Why Lee Invaded Maryland), but thwarted efforts to force Lincoln to
sue for peace. It further provided Lincoln with the victory he needed in order to announce the abolition of slavery.
The Battle of Sharpsburg, Maryland, witnessed eleven solid hours of fierce fighting and a man was
killed or wounded every two seconds. The casualties were 6 Generals killed, 12 Generals wounded, and approximately 23,000 killed, wounded, and missing (9 times the number who fell on the beaches of Normandy).
It was the bloodiest single-day battle of the American Civil War. The First Texas Infantry Regiment lost eighty-two percent
of the 226 engaged at Antietam, and at least four female soldiers (including Sarah Emma Edmundson Seelye) participated in the battle. Antietam also produced twenty Medals of Honor.
"In the time that I am writing, every stalk of corn in the northern and greater part of the field was
cut as closely as could have been done with a knife, and the slain lay in rows precisely as they had stood in their ranks
a few moments before. It was never my fortune to witness a more bloody, dismal battlefield." Maj.
Gen. Joseph Hooker, USA, Commander, I Corps, Army of the Potomac (At the Antietam Battle)
| Burnside Bridge: Antietam |
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| Library of Congress |
The Burnside Bridge was named after Union General Ambrose Burnside
who commanded the Ninth Corps at Antietam. His soldiers made repeated attacks against
the small force of Confederates who defended this crucial Antietam Creek crossing. At approximately 1 p.m. on Sept. 17, the Confederates, outflanked and
outnumbered, and running low on ammunition, began to retreat or withdraw. The Yankees stormed the bridge, finally crossing
the hotly contested Antietam Creek. However, the time taken to cross and resupply the Union troops had provided Lee with the
opportunity to bring his final reserves on the field and turn back Burnside's attack, thus ending the bloody day.
Antietam: Ramifications for the South and North
South: Defensive War Only
During Lee's first invasion of the North in September 1862, some Southerners
deserted the army because they strongly believed in a defensive war only. After
all, the "South was defending its homeland against Northern Aggression." On
June 20, 1863, with strong pro-Unionist sentiment, western Virginia broke from secessionist Virginia and formed the state of West Virginia.
North: Preservation of the Union
Antietam had led to Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation and had reflected that
the "pen is mightier than the sword." However, with the proclamation,
Northern soldiers also deserted the army and many stated that "I am not fighting
to free the blacks or to abolish slavery!" In other words, many Federal soldiers were fighting to preserve the Union. The
Copperhead ranks swelled as a direct result of Lincoln's Proclamation. A wealthy Northerner, furthermore, could acquire
a “military exemption” by purchasing, or paying, a "commutation fee." This also invoked the cry of "a rich
man's war and a poor man's fight!"
Subsequent Turning Points
| President Lincoln at Union Camp in October 1862 |
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| Library of Congress |
The fall of Vicksburg gave more tangible results to the Union
than the defeat of Lee's army at Gettysburg. At Vicksburg, the Union army split the South in two along the line of the Mississippi.
This made it extremely difficult for the South's blockade runners into Texas to supply the Confederates east of the Mississippi.
In general, it made it extremely difficult for the South to transfer supplies and troops to its Eastern and Western Theaters
(fulfilling Gen. Scott's Anaconda Plan).
The Union also gained political objectives at Vicksburg and to a degree at Gettysburg. Lee was turned back at
Gettysburg, and the public perception of Lee's invincibility was tainted. With the North's victory at Gettysburg, however,
the South discontinued its offensive war in the North. For the remainder of the conflict, the South fought a defensive war.
Recommended Reading: The Antietam Campaign (Military Campaigns of the Civil War). Description: The Maryland
campaign of September 1862 ranks among the most important military operations of the American Civil War. Crucial political,
diplomatic, and military issues were at stake as Robert E. Lee and George B. McClellan maneuvered and fought in the western
part of the state. The climactic clash came on September 17 at the battle of Antietam, where more than 23,000 men fell in
the single bloodiest day of the war. Continued below...
Approaching
topics related to Lee's and McClellan's operations from a variety of perspectives, numerous contributors to this volume explore
questions regarding military leadership, strategy, and tactics, the impact of the fighting on officers and soldiers in both
armies, and the ways in which participants and people behind the lines interpreted and remembered the campaign. They also
discuss the performance of untried military units and offer a look at how the United States Army used the Antietam battlefield
as an outdoor classroom for its officers in the early twentieth century. Also available in paperback: The Antietam Campaign (Military Campaigns of the Civil War)
Recommended Reading: Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam (Pivotal Moments in American History) (Hardcover). Description:
The bloodiest day in United States history was September 17, 1862, when, during the Civil
War battle at Antietam, approximately 6,500 soldiers were killed or mortally wounded, while
more than 15,000 were seriously wounded. James M. McPherson states in Crossroads of Freedom the concise chronicle
of America’s bloodiest day and that it may well have been the pivotal moment of the war, as well as the young republic
itself. Continued below...
The South, after a series of setbacks in the spring of 1862, had reversed the war's momentum during the
summer, and was on the "brink of military victory" and about to achieve diplomatic recognition by European nations, most notably
England
and France. Though the bulk of his book
concerns itself with the details--and incredible carnage--of the battle, McPherson raises it above typical military histories
by placing it in its socio-political context: The victory prodded Abraham Lincoln to announce his "preliminary" Emancipation
Proclamation, freeing slaves. England and France deferred their economic alliance with the battered secessionists. Most importantly,
it kept Lincoln's party, the Republicans, in control of Congress.
McPherson's account is accessible, elegant, and economical. Also available in paperback:
Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam (Pivotal Moments in American
History)
Recommended Reading: Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War,
by Edwin C. Bearss (Author), James McPherson (Introduction). Description: Bearss, a former chief historian of the National Parks Service and internationally
recognized American Civil War historian, chronicles 14 crucial battles, including Fort Sumter, Shiloh, Antietam, Gettysburg,
Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Sherman's march through the Carolinas, and Appomattox--the battles ranging between 1861 and 1865;
included is an introductory chapter describing John Brown's raid in October 1859. Bearss describes the terrain, tactics, strategies, personalities, the soldiers and the commanders.
(He personalizes the generals and politicians, sergeants and privates.) Continued below...
The text is augmented by 80 black-and-white photographs and 19 maps. It is like touring the battlefields
without leaving home. A must for every one of America's countless Civil War buffs,
this major work will stand as an important reference and enduring legacy of a great historian for generations to come. Also
available in hardcover: Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War .
Recommended Reading: The Civil War Battlefield
Guide: The Definitive Guide, Completely Revised, with New Maps and More Than 300 Additional Battles (Second Edition)
(Hardcover). Description: This new edition of the definitive guide to Civil War battlefields
is really a completely new book. While the first edition covered 60 major battlefields, from Fort Sumter to Appomattox, the
second covers all of the 384 designated as the "principal battlefields" in the
American Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report. Continued below...
As in the first edition, the essays are authoritative and concise, written by such leading Civil War
historians as James M. McPherson, Stephen W. Sears, Edwin C. Bearss, James I. Robinson, Jr., and Gary W. Gallager. The second
edition also features 83 new four-color maps covering the most important battles. The Civil War Battlefield Guide is an essential
reference for anyone interested in the Civil War. "Reading this book is like being at the bloodiest battles of the
war..."
Editor's Pick: The Maryland Campaign of
September 1862: Ezra A. Carman's Definitive Study of the Union and Confederate Armies at Antietam
(Hardcover). Description: Completed in the early 1900s, The Maryland Campaign of September 1862 is still the essential source for anyone seeking understanding
of the bloodiest day in all of American history. As the U.S. War Department’s official expert on the Battle of Antietam,
Ezra Carman corresponded with and interviewed hundreds of other veterans from both sides of the conflict to produce a comprehensive
history of the campaign that dashed the Confederacy’s best hope for independence and ushered in the Emancipation Proclamation.
Nearly a century after its completion, Carman's manuscript has finally made its way into print, in an edition painstakingly
edited, annotated, and indexed by Joseph Pierro. The Maryland
Campaign of September 1862 is a crucial document for anyone interested in delving below the surface of the military campaign
that forever altered the course of American history. Continued below...
Editorial Reviews:
Ted
Alexander, Chief Historian, Antietam
National Battlefield
"The
Ezra Carman manuscript is the definitive study of that bloody September day in 1862. By editing it Joseph Pierro has done
a tremendous service to the field of Civil War studies. Indeed, this work is one of the most important Civil War publications
to come out in decades."
James
M. McPherson, author of Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam
"Many
accounts of Civil War battles were written in the decades after the war by soldiers who had participated in them. None rivals
in accuracy and thoroughness Ezra Carmen's study of the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, in which he fought as colonel of the 13th New Jersey. Students of the 1862 Maryland
campaign have long relied on this manuscript as a vital source; Joseph Pierro's scrupulous editorial work has now made this
detailed narrative accessible to everyone. A splendid achievement."
Jeffry
D. Wert, author of The Sword Of Lincoln: The Army of the Potomac
"At
last, after a century, Ezra A. Carman's The Maryland Campaign
of September 1862 has received the attention it deserves. A Union veteran, Carman authored a remarkable primary study of the
critical operations that ended along Antietam Creek. Editor Joseph Pierro has given students of the Civil War and American
history a most welcome and long overdue book."
Edwin
C. Bearss, author of Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War
"My
introduction to the Ezra A. Carman Papers at the Library of Congress and National Archives came in the spring of 1961. I was
astounded and amazed by their depth and scope. The correspondence, troop movement maps, etc, along with Carman's unpublished
manuscript on the Antietam Campaign constitutes then as now an invaluable legacy to the American people by Carman and the
veterans of Antietam. But for too long that resource has only been available to the general public as microfilm or by traveling
to Washington. Now thanks to the publishers and skilled,
knowledgeable, sympathetic, but light-handed editor Joseph Pierro, an annotated copy of Carman's masterpiece The Maryland Campaign of September 1862 will be available to the public."
William
C. Davis, author of Look Away! A History of the Confederate States of America
"Joseph
Pierro brings into the open one of the great and largely unknown masterworks of Civil War history. Ezra Carman's work on Antietam
is a fountainhead for study of that pivotal battle, written by a man who was in the fight and who spent most of his life studying
and marking the battlefield. No student can afford to ignore this stunningly thorough and brilliantly edited classic."
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