Abraham Lincoln
Episode Nine, Part VIII
Number 16: Abraham Lincoln
Party: Republican
52 years old, from Kentucky
The Battle of Sharpsburg
On the evening of April 14, 1863, John Buford’s Union cavalry forces made their way to Sharpsburg. The following morning, the Confederate leading divisions engaged what they believed to be new recruits and militia’s, but were mistaken as they were dismounted cavalry. The Opening phases of the battle opened well for the Union Army. Lee was left in the dark not knowing if the Union forces in front of him was of corps-strength, or McClellan’s entire army of the Potomac.
By midday, the arrival of the Union First Corps commanded by John F. Reynolds added to the battle. Lee know knew that the entire Union Army was near, and pushed for the finishing blue for a quick victory. General Ewell’s entire corps, spearheaded by Harry Heth’s division broke the ranks of Buford’s cavalry, but was hit hard by the Iron Brigade and Union Brigadier General Abner Doubleday. During the deployment of the Second Corps, General John F. Reynolds was mortally wounded, and died giving his sword to his subordinate General Doubleday.
Confederate forces pressing forward against the Union lines during the first day of battle.
General Doubleday, the minor to Brigadier General John Buford, met with him just as their joint ranks were broken and they ran through the town of Sharpsburg to fix their positions in front of Antietam Creek Bridge and the Sunken Road where the two generals regrouped their forces. The Confederate success wasn’t perfect. The Confederate line of communications was hampered, allowing Doubleday to reorganize and gave enough time for General Winfield Scott Hancock and General Slucom to deploy both of their corps onto the battlefield.
When the Confederates engaged the Union at the Sunken Roads, they were beat back by the resurgent Union Army and that would conclude the first day of fighting.
By the second day, General McClellan had arrived with the rest of his army and all but “Stonewall” Jackson’s men had arrived for the Confederacy. The second day of battle was kicked off by Confederate forces under AP Hill attacking Union forces on their flank at the Corn Field. Fighting in the corn field was tough and bloody, but this was turned into a predicament when Longstreet hesitated on the other flank when General Daniel Sickles moved forward from the Union defenses behind the old Stone Bridge to engage the Confederate forces.
Confederate Texans charging forward during the battles in the Cornfield.
This led to General John Bell Hood to engage Sickles with his corps much quicker and much more rash than Longstreet had instructed. The fighting in the “Marshland” as it became known led to the death of Brigadier General Barksdale, a Confederate General who heroically led his Mississippians forward, and led to he court martial of Daniel Sickles after he was wounded for not obeying McClellan’s orders. This left McClellan in a circle, his flank had collapsed just as the Confederates were launching their strike on his center; failure to respond effectively would leave his Army enveloped.
McClellan sent five mismatched regiments from three different corps to combat the situation. The most notable was the 20th Maine commanded by Maine Professor and Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlin. Chamberlin held his ground with some 800 men against an entire Confederate division of 4,000 soldiers for nearly 3 hours. After losing half of his numbers, he charged the Confederate forces while on the bridge, stemming the tide and causing a Confederate retreat as a result of not being able to use their numbers to their advantage.
“Chamberlin’s Charge” as it became known, inspired the other Union regiments to join the Colonel and push the Confederates back across the bridge. By midday, the fighting around the Stone Bridge was over and Hood had failed to break the Union flanks, ending the second day of battle.
The third day was relatively quiet outside of another Confederate attack in the Cornfield that was of no value other than a probing maneuver. And the always cautious McClellan refused to leave his defenses. On the fourth day of battle, Stonewall Jackson’s men had finally arrived on the battlefield, and with the battle hanging in the balance, Lee created a three-prong strategy to seize the day.
Painting capturing Chamberlin’s Charge. This was the decisive moment of the second day of combat.
General Richard Ewell and AP Hill would attack the Union once again near the Cornfield, General Jackson would throw his entire corps against Hancock’s and Doubleday’s Corps in the Sunken Road, and this would be followed by the support of the independent divisions of Harry Heth, James J. Archer and Joseph R. Davis would support Jackson’s flank. The hope of the attack on the flank would draw all of McClellan’s reserves to the Cornfield, then Lee would send close to 30,000 men straight into the center of McClellan’s lines.
Pickett’s Charge and the High Watermark of the Confederacy
While General Thomas Stonewall Jackson had fallen ill while marching to the battlefield and he relinquished his control to General George Pickett, his subordinate, the most decisive moment of the war (some historians suggest) would be led without Lee’s old warhorse and one of his best corps commanders. After the fourth day was a day of planning, April, 19, 1863, the fifth day of the battle of Sharpsburg would be the day that nation stood still.
The Confederates launched their assault on the cornfield which drew General Sedgewick’s Reservist Corps was rushed north into combat to relieve the battered men of Oliver Howard. This was followed up from a massive Confederate artillery bombardment against Hancock’s Second Corps from 9-12 O’clock. The three hour barrage could be felt and heard as far away as Richmond Virginia, and Harrisburg Pennsylvania, and Newark New Jersey. Back in Washington, Lincoln was meeting with Treasury Secretary Henry Clay Jr. to discuss the Clay-Morrow Act that would build what would become the Transcontinental Railroad when the barrage went off, Lincoln then told Henry Clay’s son, “I guess in a few hours we’ll find out if we won or lost.”
Pickett then launched his attack in Jackson’s place, heading straight for the center of the sunken road. During the charge, Brigadier General Armistead led his Virginians forward and made heading for two artillery pieces guarded by about 50 men from the 60th Pennsylvania Infantry. In this attack, Armistead had about 3500 men coming down on less than 100 Union soldiers. When Armistead hit the defenses, the Union lines folded and General Hancock was wounded. This lead to confusion until Brigadier General Zook launched the Irish Brigade from the southern position of little action into the thick of the fighting. When General Richard Garnett’s men made their way into the fray, the battle became a savage and brutal hand-to-hand battle. The Union finally prevailed when every last soldier, up to the artillerymen and engineers were thrown into battle.
The High Watermark of the Confederacy.
The ensuing moment became known as the High Watermark of the Confederacy. The fighting lasted about one hour before the Confederates were finally forced to retreat. During the engagement, the Confederates took considerable losses: 18,451 of 30,000 men, seven generals including Richard B. Garnett, Lewis Armistead, James Archer and James Davis, all 17 colonels, and 199 of the 217 enlisted officers present at the charge. The Union suffered 11,481 casualties of 18,000 men that “engaged” in the battle at the Sunken Road.
The Confederate defeat led to Lee to reorganize his forces and call for a military gathering of his top generals. On the sixth day of the battle, Lee retreated towards Staunton following the defeat. Sadly, General McClellan didn’t make a move to finish Lee off during the battle. He sat back, touring his lines and meeting with the men of his army that had just fought the most important battle of their lives. Although Lincoln was upset that McClellan failed to end the war by striking Lee in the chest when he had the chance, the victory was won at great cost. From April to June, both sides licked their wounds before campaigning in the East would continue, for the last time.
The Battle of Sharpsburg, six days in all, was the bloodiest battle of the war. The Confederates engaged with 90,000 men, while the Union Army totaled 120,000 by the sixth day (including the Washington Garrisons), but only 97,000 engaged. Of this, 31,887 Confederates were killed/wounded/captured, while the Union lost 30,119 men killed/wounded/and captured. The total losses for the six day battle was 62,006. Including these numbers, Major General John F. Reynolds, the highest ranking General killed during the battle, 7 other Union Generals, and 10 Confederate Generals. Still, Lee had escaped with a large army that could still potentially win the war.
The Battle of Sharpsburg, or Antietam, April 14-19, 1863.
By the end of the day, the Confederates still thought victory could be won, but this is highly ruled out by historians. The one question most historians pose, what if Stonewall Jackson led the attack instead of Pickett due to Jackson’s illness?
) is on hold.
