Before heading to D.C., we stopped at the Antietam Battlefield. We learned a lot about this battle, since we watched 2 movies, heard the ranger talk, and then took the car tour around the battlefield. The battle occurred on September 17th, 1862. This was General Robert E. Lee’s attempt to bring the war to the North. His target was Harrisburg, PA, but McClelland’s army caught up with them here. They could have ended the entire war here, because Lee had split up his army in order to capture Harper’s Ferry, but McClellan thought he was outnumbered by Lee. The Union army was not well organized, and they made 3 separate attacks, and Lee moved his troops around to hold his lines from each attack. They could have been caught against the Potomac, but just when all was lost, the troops from Harper’s Ferry arrived behind the Union army. The battle ended a draw, but 23000 soldiers were killed, the bloodiest day in the war. Even though it was a draw, most of 1862 had been Confederate victories, with this battle, Lincoln felt he could now proclaim the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
