Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The
Maryland and
Fredericksburg
Camp igns
18621863
The
Maryland and
Fredericksburg
Camp igns
18621863
by
Perry D. Jamieson
Bradford A. Wineman
Introduction
Although over one hundred fifty years have passed since the
start of the American Civil War, that titanic conflict continues to
matter. The forces unleashed by that war were immensely destructive because of the significant issues involved: the existence of the
Union, the end of slavery, and the very future of the nation. The
war remains our most contentious, and our bloodiest, with over
six hundred thousand killed in the course of the four-year struggle.
Most civil wars do not spring up overnight, and the American
Civil War was no exception. The seeds of the conflict were sown
in the earliest days of the republics founding, primarily over the
existence of slavery and the slave trade. Although no conflict can
begin without the conscious decisions of those engaged in the
debates at that moment, in the end, there was simply no way to
paper over the division of the country into two camps: one that
was dominated by slavery and the other that sought first to limit
its spread and then to abolish it. Our nation was indeed half slave
and half free, and that could not stand.
Regardless of the factors tearing the nation asunder, the
soldiers on each side of the struggle went to war for personal
reasons: looking for adventure, being caught up in the passions
and emotions of their peers, believing in the Union, favoring
states rights, or even justifying the simple schoolyard dynamic
of being convinced that they were worth three of the soldiers
on the other side. Nor can we overlook the factor that some went
to war to prove their manhood. This has been, and continues
to be, a key dynamic in understanding combat and the profession of arms. Soldiers join for many reasons but often stay in the
fight because of their comrades and because they do not want to
seem like cowards. Sometimes issues of national impact shrink
to nothing in the intensely personal world of cannon shell and
mini ball.
Whatever the reasons, the struggle was long and costly and
only culminated with the conquest of the rebellious Confederacy,
Strategic Setting
By the late summer of 1862, the American Civil War had
dragged on longer than anyone on either side had expected
when the first volunteers marched to war in April 1861. After
losing the opening battles at First Bull Run and Wilsons
Creek, U.S. forces enjoyed a measure of success. Union armies
and navies had advanced along the Tennessee and Mississippi
Rivers and won significant victories at Forts Henry and
Donelson, and at Shiloh, Pea Ridge, and Glorieta Pass. They
had captured the important cities of Memphis and Nashville,
Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Corinth, Mississippi.
Most importantly, for the Union they had secured Maryland,
Missouri, Kentucky, and the New Mexico Territory, as well
as areas of Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia, North and South
Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
Although 1862 began with promise elsewhere, Federal
armies failed to make substantial gains in Virginia. Between
March and June, Confederate forces defeated troops of Maj.
Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks Department of the Shenandoah
and Maj. Gen. John C. Fremonts Mountain Department for
control of the Shenandoah Valley. From March to May, Maj.
Hagerstown
11 Sep
Williamsport
Berkeley Springs
LO
Dam
SO
RE
CK
ST
JA
NG
10 Sep
ET
R
B a l t i m o re & O h i o R
Cr
m
An
ac R
tie
Keedysville
Dam
JA
CK
Blackfords Ford
SO
N
V I R G I N I A
Pl
e a
s a
n t
Sheperdstown
Maryland Heights
T
U
Sharpsburg
Martinsburg
Rohrersville
11 Sep
Va
l l e
y
om
ta
ot
Boonsboro
Dam
Bolivar Heights
13 Sep
Harpers Ferry
Dam
Halltown
Charlestown
LK
ER
Loudoun Heights
Winchester
WA
New Market
an
do
Kernstown
n
he
Berryville
Leesburg
a
o
Snickersville
Middleburg
V I R
Map 1
I N VA S I O N O F M A R Y L A N D
313 September 1862
Union Movement
Confederate Movement
Westminster
5
10
ac
yR
Miles
on
Ca
oc
toc
tin C
r
M A R Y L A N D
Middletown
LL
to Baltimore
13 Sep
Burkittsville
Frederick
7 Sep
HI
McL
E
ND
RS
ON
New Market
B a l t i m o re & O hi o RR
S
R.H.
S
AW
Monocacy Junction
R
13 Sep
H.
D.
Point of Rocks
13 Sep
Nolands Ferry
Cheeks
Ford
Cr
Whites Ford
ec
9 Sep
Middlebrook
9 Sep
Se
LE
Brookeville
Poolesville
Ch
es
Darnestown
a
pe
ak
e &
O hio Canal
Seneca
9 Sep
9 Sep
BURNSIDE
I
IX
Rockville
Po
to
ma
cR
FRANKLIN
VI
LEE
SUMNER
II
XII
Dranesville
McCLELLAN
G I N I A
From Chantilly
WASHINGTON, D.C.
12
13
north to Brookeville to be in
position to intercept an advance
in that direction. The General
in Chief of the Union Army,
Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck,
warned McClellan that Lee
might also recross the Potomac
to strike Washington from the
southwest. McClellan, therefore,
kept Franklins command on
the north bank of the Potomac
near Seneca Creek to block that
possibility. Meanwhile, Sumners
column took the direct route
toward Frederick and reached
Middlebrook on Tuesday, 9
September. McClellan then held
a sixteen-mile front just east of
General Sumner
Parrs Ridge, halfway between
(Library of Congress)
Washington and Frederick, and
much closer to the Army of
Northern Virginia than Lee realized. The stage had been set for a
great confrontation.
Operations
As McClellans vanguard marched into Middlebrook on the
ninth, Lee contemplated his next move. He had assumed that when
he invaded Maryland that the Union garrisons at Martinsburg and
Harpers Ferry, Virginia, would retreat, thus allowing him to shift
his line of communications west to the cover of the Shenandoah
Valley. Those forces had not acted as he had anticipated, however,
and he was reluctant to advance farther north while the two posts
threatened his rear. He confidently believed that he could deal with
the 10,000 men that held Harpers Ferry and a smaller number at
Martinsburg, and decided to eliminate them before resuming the
advance. On 9 September, he completed his plan for a new phase
of the campaign.
The Confederate general developed an operation in which he
divided his army into four parts. Jackson was to take three divisions west through Middletown, recross the Potomac to take the
14
15
16
South Mountain
17
Hagerstown
M A R Y L A N D
Williamsport
SOUTH MOUNTAIN
Boonsboro
TURNERS GAP
15 Sep
14 Sep
Keedysville
Sharpsburg
FOXS GAP
14 Sep
BU
SU
ea
octin
FR
CRAMPTONS GAP
Pl
RN
SI
ER
DE
Frederick
Burkittsville
san
Blackfords Ford
Cat
Rohrersville
t V
a
An
lle
tie
ta m
Cr
Cr
Shepherdstown
Middletown
14 Sep
AN
KL
Monocacy Junction
IN
Maryland Heights
B a l t i m o re
HARPERS FERRY
Poto m a c R
14-15 Sep
Halltown
& Ohio RR
Charlestown
ca c y
Bolivar Heights
Mono
Point of Rocks
Loudoun Heights
Nolands Ferry
na
nd
oa
V I R G I N I A
e
Sh
Cheeks
Ford
Whites Ford
S O U T H M O U N TA I N A N D V I C I N I T Y
1415 September 1862
Poolesville
Union Movement
Confederate Movement
Leesburg
Ch
es
ap
ak
Snickersville
0
5
Miles
Map 2
e&
Battle
Oh
10
i o Can
al
19
Harpers Ferry
20
Harpers Ferry
(Library of Congress)
Antietam
21
22
Pike to close Lees route northward by 1800. The XII Corps, about
8,800 men commanded by Maj. Gen. Joseph K. F. Mansfield, then
crossed the Antietam Creek and deployed about a mile to Hookers
left rear. As the day closed, one of Hookers brigades engaged
elements of Hoods Confederate division in a confused firefight in a
stand of trees that veterans later called the East Woods. We got all
mixed up until we hardly knew each other apart in the darkness,
a member of the 5th Texas Infantry recalled. The fighting ended
inconclusively in the darkness with neither side suffering heavily.
Hookers advance left Lee only two options: retreat or assume
the defensive. Since retreating would admit defeat and relinquish
the initiative to McClellan, he chose to remain and fight on the
Maryland side of the Potomac. He resolved not to fight a passive
battle but to conduct an active defense, making strong counterattacks and seeking opportunities to wrest back the initiative and
resume the offensive.
As day broke on the morning of 17 September, Lee stood
greatly outnumbered. A diet of green corn and apples, exhausting
marches, straggling, and casualties sustained at South Mountain
had severely reduced Confederate numbers to about 38,000 men
present and fit for duty. The rebels were in a serious position with
their backs against the Potomac River. If the battle went badly,
retreat would prove perilously difficult, as the only viable route
back into Virginia crossed at what the local residents variously
called Botelers, Blackfords, Pack Horse, or the Shepherdstown
Ford (see Map 3).
Lees line ran roughly north to south along a six-mile front,
with Jackson commanding the divisions on the left, or north, and
Longstreet those on the right. Most of Stuarts cavalry division
screened beyond Jacksons left flank to the Potomac River. The
Confederates had positioned both horse and mounted artillery
batteries on the high ground called Nicodemus Heightson the
farm owned by Joseph and Mary Anne Poffenbergerto support
the infantry of J. R. Jones and Lawtons divisions in that sector.
After Hoods division had retired following the skirmish in the East
Woods, it took a reserve position behind the simple white brick
house of worship belonging to a congregation of German Baptist
Brethren, or Dunkers. In Longstreets sector, D. H. Hills division
and Evans independent brigade held the center of the Confederate
line as it continued southward. On the right, D. R. Jones division
deployed below the Boonsboro Pike, with one brigade forward
23
SMOKETOWN ROAD
GroundSquirrel
Church
Po
tom
a c R i ver
(I)
M A
N S
F I
E L
(XI
I)
D
Hoffman
E R
Jos. Poffenberger
The North Woods
Upper Bridge
Nicodemus
M. Miller
D.R. Miller
ST U A RT
The Cornfield
The East Woods
The
West Woods
HO
LA
WT
Dunker
Church
Mumma
ON
Roulette
McCLELLANS
HEADQUARTERS
P O R T E R
. H
HAGERSTOW
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(II)
J.R. JON ES
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H
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NSB
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NS
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ERS
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E
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to Blackfords Ford
An
LEES
HEADQUARTERS
tie
ta
BOO
SHARPSBURG
AW S
E VA
McL
EARLY MORNING
17 September 1862
Confederate Position
M
UN
FO
Union Position
RD
1000
Yards
Map 3
2000
25
26
GroundSquirrel
Church
SF
IE
II)
LD
HAGERS
SM
OK
ET
OW
TOWN P
IKE
RO
AD
(X
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Jos. Poffenberger
E R
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MEADE(-)
DOU
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D AY
Nicodemus
M. Miller
D.R. Miller
ST
EA
UA
RT
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Cornfield
E(
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L
A
J.R. JONES
Mumma
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Dunker
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H O O K E R S AT TA C K
O N
MORNING
D.
17 September 1862
H
IL
L
Confederate Position
ie tam Creek
HAGERSTOW
Confederate Retreat
Union Position
Union Attack
IK
1000O R O P
NSB
0
Yards
Map 4
Ant
N PIKE
Confederate Counterattack
BOO
28
29
30
Jos. Poffenberger
K E R
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(I)
Nicodemus
D.R. Miller
M. Miller
The
East Woods
HAGE
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S U M N E R S AT TA C K
MID -MORNING
17 September 1862
SHARPSBURG
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SBO
RO
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Union Position
Union Attack
ta
Cr
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Confederate Position
nt
ie
Confederate Counterattack
A
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Map 5
32
B U R N S I D E S AT TA C K
17 September 1862
Union Position
Union Attack
Confederate Position
H. Piper
Confederate Counterattack
HAGERSTO
WN PIKE
Union Movement
Confederate
Retreat
Middle Bridge
1000
0
Yards
SHARPSBURG
NSB
ORO
PIK
H. Rohrbach
J. Otto
B U R N S I D E
(IX)
KA
IS
STURG
RO
HR
H I L L
Lower Bridge
K A N AW H A ( - )
P .
A .
R O
D M
A N
NA
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An
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Map 6
Snavelys Ford
sent units to find a suitable place to cross, the fight at the bridge
like those elsewhere on the battlefieldbecame a stalemate.
At 1100, Sturgis 2d Division took over the task of securing
the bridge. With a longer artillery preparation and covering fire
from the rest of the 1st Brigade, Federal Brig. Gen. James Nagle
sent the 2d Maryland and 6th New Hampshire Infantry advancing
at the double-quick in columns of four with bayonets fixed toward
the bridge. Using the Rohrersville Road, which ran along the creek
from the southeast, the units came under plunging and flanking
fire from the Georgians. Col. Ezra A. Carman of the 13th New
Jersey Infantry later wrote that fully one third of the Maryland
men went down and the 6th New Hampshire was badly shattered. The units in the column lost cohesion, and another attack
ended in failure.
At about 1300, Sturgis ordered Brig. Gen. Edward Ferrero,
commanding his divisions 2d Brigade, to press the attack on a tworegiment front. Led by the 51st New York and 51st Pennsylvania
Infantry, the brigade charged the bridge and captured it.
Meanwhile, General Rodmans Federal division had finally crossed
the Antietam Creek at Snavelys Ford, about two miles downstream,
and turned the defenders right flank. The Georgians of Toombs
brigade retreated west and joined D. R. Jones division, the only
division of the Army of Northern Virginia present that had not yet
engaged in the battle. Lee had no other reserves available.
After it had secured what became known as the Burnside
Bridge, the IX Corps rested and replenished its ammunition. At
1500, it advanced westward with two divisions abreast and a third
in reserve. If the corps succeeded in driving the Confederate right,
it would block the Harpers Ferry Road and cut the Southerners
only route of retreat to Botelers Ford and across the Potomac River.
As the Union troops pressed hard against D. R. Jones
division and threatened the Army of Northern Virginia with
destruction, A. P. Hills Light Division reached the battlefield.
After marching about seventeen miles from Harpers Ferry, Hills
division attacked the Union IX Corps in the left flank. Confederate
Brig. Gen. Maxcy Greggs South Carolina brigade collided with
Col. Edward Harlands 2d Brigade of Rodmans 3d Division in the
cornfield of John Ottos farm. A veteran of the 1st South Carolina
Infantry described the Union troops as in a crouching disorderly
line as his regiment poured into them volley after volley, doubtless with terrible execution. In the ensuing battle, Rodman fell
34
from his saddle after receiving a mortal wound in his chest, while
Confederate Brig. Gen. Lawrence O. Branch died instantly of a
fatal head wound. As the sun set toward the Potomac River, the
IX Corps retreated to positions that covered the hard-won bridge
as the fighting came to an end. Out of the 7,150 men in Jones
and A. P. Hills divisions, the Confederates suffered 1,120 casualties, while those of the IX Corps exceeded 2,600 out of the 13,800
engaged. All told, Union forces had suffered 2,100 dead, 9,500
wounded, and 750 captured or missing, for a total of about 12,400
casualties. The Confederates lost 1,550 killed, 7,750 wounded,
and 1,020 captured or missing, for about 10,400 total casualties.
Put another way, the bloodiest single-day battle in United States
history claimed 22,720 American soldiers as casualties.
When the sun rose on Thursday, 18 September, the two
exhausted armies faced each other across the battlefield. The
Army of Northern Virginia had no fresh divisions. The continued
presence of the battle-weary Army of the Potomac, albeit
stationary, exerted enough pressure to force Lee out of Maryland.
McClellan sent a telegraph message to Halleck, The battle of
yesterday continued for fourteen hours, and until after dark.
We held all we gained, except a portion on the extreme left. He
informed Halleck that the army had suffered heavy losses, especially in general officers. Although he concluded by predicting,
The charge at Burnside Bridge, by Edwin Forbes
(Library of Congress)
35
36
ered its strength and spirits as conscripts and recruits had arrived
and stragglers and convalescents returned to their units (see Map 7).
37
Williamsport
A ntietam Cr
F R E D Ei veRr I C K S B U R G C A M PA I G N
om
ac
Union Movement
Confederate Movement
Sharpsburg
Miles
LEE
McCLELLAN
Blackfords
Ford
XII Corps
Halltown
yR
Sheperdstown
Harpers
Ferry
Charlestown
ac
20
Frederick
Martinsburg
26 Oct
oc
V I R G I N I A
M A R Y L A N D
on
Po
Winchester
27 Oct
Berryville
Po
Kernstown
Leesburg
Poolesville
tom
JACKSON
ac
Middletown
Strasburg
Sh
en
an
do
ah
22 Nov
Centerville
Front Royal
2 Nov
6 Nov
rk
XI Corps
Manassas
Junction
rt
Fo
BURNSIDE
So
ut
Fo
rk
No
Warrenton
New Market
I Corps
II Corps
III Corps
V Corps
VI Corps
IX Corps
Luray
LO N G S T R E E T
pa
Culpeper
V I R G I N I A
Ra
5 Nov
han
noc
ap
19 Nov
idan R
23 Nov
Falmouth
Fredericksburg
Spotsylvania
1 Dec
Gordonsville
Bowling Green
Nor th A
nna R
Charlottesville
Map 7
39
40
Fredericksburg
With so many men, horses, and equipment in motion, maintaining secrecy became impossible. At 0300 on the morning of 11
December, soldiers from the 50th New York Volunteer Engineers
regiment began moving their heavy pontoon boats down the
muddy banks of Stafford Heights and into the icy waters of the
Union artillery battery at Antietam
(National Park Service)
41
42
43
ill
Ra
RE
RD
PH
M X WA C K
U
O
H C HO O H
L
NCNC
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HA RE
W
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ce
O
l Run
Haze
T
O
Marye
O EM
Maryes Heights
H
O
E
R
ST
UR
Alum
Spring
Mill
K RO
AD
BURNSIDES
HEADQUARTERS
PLAN
FREDERICKSBURG
Chatham Manor
.H
nock R iver
Cana l
ahan
Rapp
Falmouth
Miles
Confederate Counterattack
Confederate Position
Union Attack
Union Position
13 December 1862
B AT T L E O F F R E D E R I C K S B U R G
I
G
S
GI
RICHM
TA G E
OND S
Richmond
ROAD
, F re d e r i c
OM
NS
RA
ks
M I L I TA R Y R O A D
T
Dr. Rennolds
J
A
MINE ROAD
H O O D
ac RR
Map 8
Goodwin
LE
TE
T
A
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R
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reek
nax C
D . H
.
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ON
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IT
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Crossing
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HEADQUARTERS
Howison
RT
Alsop
night for the order, Franklin did not take the time to pursue clarification and moved forward according to his own interpretation,
albeit as cautiously as possible.
Just as the heavy fog lifted at 0900 on 13 December, Franklin
followed Burnsides orders and called for the I Corps commander,
Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds, to send forward one division toward the
Confederate position. The veterans of Maj. Gen. George G. Meades
3d Division marched forward from the Richmond Stage Road to
begin the attack, with General Gibbons 2d Division to his right and
Brig. Gen. Abner Doubledays 1st Division to his left in support.
They advanced against nearly 40,000 Confederate troops of Jacksons
wing spread along the wooded ridge from Hamiltons Crossing to
just south of Fredericksburg, and General Stuarts cavalry protecting
their right flank between Massaponax Creek and the Rappahannock
River. On the far right of his line, Jackson had deployed his men up
to four brigades deep with several batteries of artillery covering the
open approaches from the river.
As Stuart observed Meades Pennsylvanians forming to
assault the Confederate position, Maj. John Pelham proposed
posting one artillery section far forward so that its enfilading fire
would slow the Union advance. After Stuart approved his artillery
commanders recommendation, the major rushed two of his guns
to the Richmond Stage Road and opened fire on the left flank of
Meades advancing troops. By skillfully moving each piece after it
fired, the Confederate gun crews avoided counterbattery fire, while
they inflicted severe casualties and delayed the Union advance for
nearly an hour. Pelham ignored several orders to retire until the
exhaustion of all his ammunition and increasingly effective retaliatory fire compelled him to do so, thus earning him the nickname,
the Gallant Pelham.
Once Pelham withdrew, Meade pushed his troops forward
again, but when they moved within 1,000 yards of the enemy line,
heavy Confederate artillery fire from the ridge slowed his advance
once again. Union batteries soon replied in earnest, initiating an
intense artillery duel. For over an hour, Federal cannons from
along the Richmond Stage Road and from across the river endeavored to silence the rebel guns. The Union cannonade ceased when
the Pennsylvanians resumed their advance, only to be hindered
by the marshy ground and dense undergrowth they had to cross
in front of the Confederate lines. The terrain, however, provided
them a serendipitous tactical opportunity.
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
any attempted Confederate counterattack and cover the withdrawal of Howards and Humphreys forces.
Burnside finally crossed the river that evening to survey the
battle lines. Despite the carnage that surrounded the scene of his
armys debacle, he was encouraged by the numerous units that
still maintained a foothold in front of the stone wall. Receiving
reports, such as that from Sturgis telling him that our men
are only eighty paces from the crest and holding on like hell,
contributed to his optimism. He returned to his headquarters and
gathered his commanders to plan a new attack. He announced that
the assault on Maryes Heights would resume the morning of the
fourteenth, spearheaded by his former command, the IX Corps,
which he would personally lead in the charge. Sumner vehemently
protested, arguing the plans futility. As other corps commanders
joined in Sumners disapproval, the army commander finally
conceded failure and canceled the attack. As the Union units that
had not attacked dug entrenchments to defend against a possible
Confederate counterattack, their comrades in front of the heights
waited impatiently for orders.
Sunday, 14 December, proved uneventful. Aside from scattered firing, the battle did not resume. As the sun set, a Union
messenger brought the recall order from Burnsides headquarters.
The Union troops formed ranks under the cover of darkness and
conducted an orderly march back to Fredericksburg, leaving their
dead and many wounded comrades on the field. On the afternoon
of the fifteenth, Burnside sent a party of officers under a flag of
truce to negotiate a time to bury the dead and recover the wounded
who had managed to survive.
Late in the evening of 15 December, the Union army withdrew
back across the pontoon bridges to its camp on the opposite side
of the Rappahannock, with units of the II and V Corps defending
Fredericksburg as a rear guard. The next morning, these too were
ordered back across the river, leaving no Federal troops on the
Confederate side of the Rappahannock. By the afternoon of 16
December, the entire Army of the Potomac was back in the same
position from which it had begun the battle less than a week before
and had nothing to show for its efforts. The Battle of Fredericksburg
was over.
The list of casualties for the Union forces was staggering.
The Army of the Potomac had suffered 12,653 casualties, over
half of them sustained in the attacks against Maryes Heights.
53
The Confederates suffered just over 5,400. The battle had been
a catastrophic defeat for the nation and the Lincoln administration. Burnside publicly accepted responsibility for the loss,
although he continued to believe that one last push would have
carried Maryes Heights. Despite the losses that wrecked many
units, however, the continued and repeated assaults on Lees
left flank had arguably prevented the Confederate commander
from wresting the initiative, and possibly inflicting an even
deadlier blow on the Army of the Potomac as it stood with the
Rappahannock River at its back.
Eager to redeem himself, Burnside developed a new plan
to defeat the Confederates. This time, the Army of the Potomac
would move several miles up the Rappahannock, cross the river,
and advance along a course that put him behind the Confederate
entrenchments at Fredericksburg. As Burnside prepared his
army to move on 30 December, he received a message from
President Lincoln who lamented about not being informed of
the new plan. This puzzled Burnside because he had not told
anyone in Washington about it. Without his knowledge, two
general officers from Franklins Right Grand Division had
taken leave and traveled to the capital. In an audience with the
president, they had complained about Burnsides incompetence
and divulged the latters new campaign plan. Burnside immediately canceled the operation.
Fredericksburg as seen from across the Rappahannock
(Library of Congress)
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Analysis
Although the Battle of Antietam had ended in a tactical draw,
strategically it was a great victory for the Union. The Army of the
Potomac had fended off a Confederate threat to the U.S. capital
at Washington, D.C., had prevented the rebels from penetrating
into Pennsylvania, and had forced the Army of Northern Virginia
out of Maryland. In the wake of the Confederate retreat, Union
forces had reoccupied Harpers Ferry and restored Federal control
of the vital east-west transportation and supply corridors represented by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal, and the National Road. Not only had Lee failed to
achieve any tangible gain, but he also had actually lost something
most preciousthe reputation of invincibility that had troubled
Northerners and buoyed Southerners over the past several months.
Unfortunately, McClellans slowness to exploit Lees repulse did
little to bring the war closer to a successful conclusion.
If McClellan had a terminal case of what Lincoln termed the
slows, the president was not about to allow the victory of Antietam
to go unexploited. For months, Lincoln had been looking for an
opportunity to change the nature of the war. Not wanting the
government to appear to be acting out of desperation, members
of his cabinet had persuaded him not to act until a victory framed
the scheme he wished to implement in a positive light. Antietam
had finally provided the occasion Lincoln was looking for. On 22
September, five days after the battle, President Lincoln issued the
preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. In it, he declared that all
slaves in any state or part of any state that was still in rebellion at
the end of one hundred daysnamely on 1 January 1863would
be then, thenceforward, and forever free. He considered the
measure a military necessity for ending the rebellion. Although it
would require an amendment to the Constitution to finally abolish
the peculiar institution, Lincoln stated that with the proclamation it became clear that the Confederacy stands for slavery
and the Union for freedom. The proclamation gave the North a
moral cause larger than simply preserving the Union, struck at the
underpinnings of the Confederate economy, greatly strengthened
the diplomatic position of the United States, and discouraged
European governments from ever recognizing, assisting, or intervening on behalf of the rebels. The Battle of Antietam thus became
one of the turning points, not only in the war, but in Americas
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disorder nor lost its cohesiveness. For all his faults, McClellan
had succeeded in creating a tool well-tempered for battle. It only
awaited someone skilled enough to wield it effectively. Burnside
had misused the instrument. It remained to be seen what General
Hooker could do with it during the coming year.
On the other side of the Rappahannock, tactical victory
at Fredericksburg had not transformed the war for the South.
The Federal army remained encamped on the north bank of
the river, occupying much of Northern Virginia and situated
within striking distance of the Confederate capital at Richmond.
Although the victory had lifted Southern spirits, Lees soldiers
would endure a harsh winter at Fredericksburg with inadequate
supplies for their already deficient forces. With Northern arms
gaining more strength every month and with the Emancipation
Proclamation now threatening the very foundations of Southern
life, it was becoming even clearer to General Lee and President
Davis that remaining on defense would not achieve a Confederate
victory. The South would have to take the war to the North if it
was going to protect its resources and shake Northern confidence
sufficiently to persuade its antagonist to end the conflict on
terms acceptable to the Confederacy. By halting the Army of
the Potomacs drive on Richmond in December 1862, the Battle
of Fredericksburg had set the stage for a second Confederate
invasion of the North in 1863, a campaign that would irrevocably
change the course of the American Civil War.
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The Authors
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Further Readings
Maryland Campaign
Clemens, Thomas G., ed., and Ezra A. Carman. The Maryland
Campaign of September 1862. 2 vols. New York: Savas Beatie,
2010 and 2012.
Gallagher, Gary W., ed. Antietam Campaign. Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2008.
Harsh, Joseph L. Taken at the Flood: Robert E. Lee and Confederate
Strategy in the Maryland Campaign of 1862. Ohio: Kent State
University Press, 1999.
Hartwig, D. Scott. To Antietam Creek: The Maryland Campaign
of September 1862. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
2012.
McPherson, James M. Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2002.
Murfin, James V. Gleam of Bayonets: The Battle of Antietam and
Robert E. Lees Maryland Campaign, September 1862. Baton
Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2004.
Rafuse, Ethan S. Antietam, South Mountain, and Harpers Ferry: A
Battlefield Guide. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2008.
Sears, Stephen W. Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam.
New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1983.
Fredericksburg Campaign
Brooks, Victor. The Fredericksburg Campaign: October 1862
January 1863. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2000.
Gallagher, Gary W., ed. The Fredericksburg Campaign: Decision on
the Rappahannock. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 2008.
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