Antietam

Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, was fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, along Antietam Creek. It was part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War, in which Confederate General Robert E. Lee sought to carry the war into Union territory.

Union forces under Major General George B. McClellan confronted Lee's invasion. The battle unfolded across multiple sectors, with notable actions in the Cornfield, Bloody Lane (Sunken Road), and Burnside's Bridge. It became the bloodiest single day in American military history, with total casualties estimated at about 22,700 to 23,000.

Although tactically inconclusive, the engagement forced Lee to withdraw his army back into Virginia, ending the Confederate invasion of the North and giving the Union an opportunity to regroup and shift strategic momentum.

In the aftermath, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, declaring enslaved people in Confederate-held territory free as of January 1, 1863, and reframing the war’s purpose to include abolition alongside preserving the Union.

Today, the site is preserved as Antietam National Battlefield, administered by the National Park Service. It is a National Historic Landmark with preserved fields, a visitor center, and interpretive programs that commemorate the battle and its place in U.S. history.