The Final Attack Trail Part 4

Conclusion

Burnside’s advance and A.P. Hill’s counterattack concluded the twelve hours of fighting on September 17, 1862. On this end of the battlefield the Union men fell back to where you started this walk. The difficult terrain, the confusion of battle, and a timely Confederate arrival all combined to stop the Union army and led to a tactical draw.
General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia held their ground on the 18th, then withdrew back across the Potomac River to Virginia. This battle ended the first Northern invasion by the Confederacy and provided Abraham Lincoln an opportunity to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

 

Dead CSA soldier following the Battle of Antietam

Alexander Gardner/NPS

 

“As the sun sank to rest on the 17th of September, the last sounds of battle along the Antietam Creek died away. The canon would at last grow cool, and unwounded men and horses could enjoy rest and food, but there were already thousands sleeping the sleep that knows no waking, and many times as many thousands were suffering all the agonies that attend on wounds. The corn the trees, so fresh and green in the morning were reddened with blood and torn by bullet and shell; and the very earth was furrowed by the incessant impact of lead and iron.

The blessed night came, and brought with it sleep and forgetfulness and refreshment to many, but the murmur of the night wind, breathing over fields of wheat and clover, was mingled with the groans of the countless sufferers of both armies. Who can tell, who can imagine the horrors of such a night, while the unconscious stars shown above, the unconscious river went rippling by.” Francis Palfrey, Lieutenant Colonel, 20th Massachusetts Infantry

Go to Time Line and Battle Map

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