1. Battle of Antietam

2. Warm Up Why was the North struggling to win this war?
What strategies has the South used to even up the playing field?
How did technology change the way battles were fought?

3. Robert E. Lee
B. January 19, 1807
D. October 12, 1870
Graduated from West Point 1829
2nd in a class of 46
A captain during the Mexican War
Recommended for numerous awards
: Military commander at West Point
Improved the quality of West Point so much, that it rivaled the best European military academies
1859: Sent against John Brown at Harper’s Ferry
1861: Resigned his commission when his state, Virginia, seceded
Felt he was obligated to his state

4. Robert E. Lee A reluctant supporter of secession Superb soldier
Arguably the best General in the entire war!!
He was the stereotypical Southern gentleman
Polite, courteous, humble
A psychologist on the battlefield
Tactful, unassuming, and level headed
Tried to understand each Union General, and their tendencies
Then planned his strategy to counter their strengths

5. Robert E. Lee 1862: Lee given overall command of the Southern army
Lee’s army had superior confidence in their leader and his ability to win battles
This is a powerful weapon
Lee believed that a dramatic blow had to be delivered on northern soil
To persuade the U.S. that victory was impossible
If not, the South would be crushed in the long run
Due to the North’s superior resources
Lee marched his army north, around Washington

6. Robert E. Lee

12. Lee and Traveller

14. Battle of Antietam
Union General McClellan received a copy of Lee’s orders
They captured a Confederate dispatch rider
This gave McClellan a minute by minute detail of Lee’s exact movements and plans
He knew exactly where Lee’s army would be
McClellan took full advantage of this--wanted to attack and surprise Lee
Sept. 17, 1862: The armies met at Sharpsburg, Maryland, between the Potomac River and Antietam Creek
North identified battles by nearby bodies of H2O
South by nearby towns

15. Battle of Antietam Lee’s invasion of the North was a huge gamble
BUT… could hold huge rewards
Could win Maryland for the South
Could gain European support
Could force the North to ask for peace
Did take his army out of war plagued Virginia
The battlefield offered Lee no room for maneuver
70,000 Union soldiers clashed with 40,000 Confederates

16. Battle of Antietam
From dawn till dark the two armies threw frontal attacks at each other, littering the fields with their dead and wounded
"The whole landscape for an instant turned red," one northern soldier later wrote. Another veteran recalled, "[The cornfield] was so full of bodies that a man could have walked through it without stepping on the ground.”
Over 23,000 DEAD AFTER ONE DAYS BATTLE

17. Battle of Antietam No clear victor emerged
The battle stopped because of sheer exhaustion
Casualties were evenly divided
Confederates slipped back across the Potomac into Virginia
Bloodiest day in American combat history!!!
Lee’s invasion failed--his army decimated
McClellan did not try to wipe out Lee, and let him go
Lincoln dismissed him from his command

18. Map of Antietam

24. Burnside Bridge

32. Lincoln at Antietam

33. Casualties Union South Killed: 2,100 Wounded: 9,550
Missing/Captured: 750
Total: 12,400
South
Killed: 1,550
Wounded: 7,750
Missing/Captured: 1,020
Total: 10,320