1 day
Duration
~23k
Casualties
Union
Winner
Union
Army of the Potomac
~87,000 troops
Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan
Held back his reserves — committed less than three-quarters of his army.
Confederacy
Army of Northern Virginia
~38,000 troops
Gen. Robert E. Lee
Outnumbered two to one — and committed every man he had.
vs
■ Union 12,410■ Confederacy 10,316
Commanders
R. E. Lee
Cmdr., CSA
T. J. Jackson
Left wing, CSA
J. Longstreet
Right wing, CSA
A. P. Hill
Div., CSA
G. McClellan
Cmdr., Potomac
J. Hooker
I Corps, Union
A. Burnside
IX Corps, Union
✓Outcome
Union strategic victory · the road to Emancipation
Tactically the bloodiest day in American history was close to a draw — the Union lost more men, and Lee’s army escaped intact back across the Potomac. Strategically it was decisive: Lee’s first invasion of the North was turned back, handing Lincoln the victory he had been waiting for. Five days later he issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, changing what the war was for and ending any real hope of British or French recognition of the Confederacy. McClellan’s refusal to pursue the beaten enemy cost him his command that November.
The narrative · 4 sections
1
Lee invades the North
The Lost Order
Lee (South) invades the North. A Union soldier finds Lee’s battle plan wrapped around three cigars — and McClellan (North) sits on it for eighteen hours.
2
The morning
The Cornfield
Dawn slaughter at Miller’s Cornfield and the Dunker Church; 2,200 men fall in the West Woods in about twenty minutes.
3
Midday & afternoon
The Bloody Lane & the Bridge
The center breaks at the Sunken Road — but the reserves never move. A. P. Hill (South) arrives from Harpers Ferry just in time to save Lee.
4
The cost & the meaning
The bloodiest day
22,726 casualties in a single day. Brady’s photographs of the dead — and five days later, the Emancipation Proclamation.
