Article #4: Antietam

This week for my short source, I read an article about one of the most horrible and influential battles of the Civil War, the battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg (Antietam Creek in Sharpsburg, MD). This article, "The Significance of the Battle of Antietam" by Brian Downey, gives many reasons how this battle changed the course of the war, and American history.

This article is split up into several different sections, all relating to the importance and impact of Antietam. Downey begins explaining the immediate results of the battle and then talks of any opportunities lost because of or during the battle. He also explains any public or political impacts and the impacts on the nation. In the first section, Downey begins by describing the immense loss of life of the battle; no other single day in American history has been so costly. He says that the surfeit of casualties led many people to see how, "the American Civil War was now an all-out, life or death struggle." The delusions of nobility and adventure were gone; this war was real, and so was death. Downey then describes the effect that Antietam had on the opposing armies, and their generals, specifically how Union Gen. McClellan was replaced as head of the troops after this September in 1862. The next section is focused on the opportunities that were squandered in the course of this battle, mostly by McClellan. He and the Northern Army of the Potomac could have destroyed the Confederates (they had found their secret battle plans!), but McClellan was too conservative and the battle ended in virtually a draw. Downey ends the article by describing how this battle affected the whole country. The events at Antietam led to European powers NOT getting involved with the American war (England would have backed the South because of the cotton industry), and President Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which changed everything. This article looks over the many facets of the battle of Antietam and clearly describes why it was so important.

I enjoyed reading this article. I have always found the battle of Antietam to be very interesting, for many reasons, and this article backed that thought. Learning about the shear atrocities of this battle are enough to draw you in; I mean, over 23,000 casualties in a day! It is truly unfathomable. I really like how Downey laid this article out in the different sections of focus. Antietam had such a lasting and widespread effect and it was very easy to see the different features of the battle. I found it really interesting that Downey included a section on the political ramifications of this event, showing how the Union army's "successes" kept many Republicans in office after the fall elections of 1862. I also found the added excerpts from Bruce Catton's books interesting. The quotes at the beginning and end of the article really help augment Downey's points and enhance the overall story. This article was very well organized and written. It gave plenty of information to get the significance of this battle across, but it was not long-winded in any way. The article ends with the simple phrase, "This is the legacy of Sharpsburg." It is short, but it says a lot. All that happened during and because of the battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg did change the Civil War, and in several ways at that, but also altered the course of the country, and that is pretty significant.

Article: Downey, Brian. "The Significance of the Battle of Antietam." Antietam on the Web. AotW. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. http://antietam.aotw.org/exhibit.php?exhibit_id=6.

http://americasbesthistory.com/abh-antietam.html