The Battle of Antietam
September 17, 1862
The Two Commanders
Robert E. Lee (CSA)
George B. McClellan (USA)
General Robert E. Lee’s reasons for
invading Maryland
• To gather supplies and troops from the slave-holding
border state of Maryland.
• To give the farmers in Virginia time to bring in their crops
for the winter.
• To get military or political support from France and Great
Britain.
• To damage Northern morale before the November
elections.
• To bring the war north and threaten Washington, DC and
other Northern cities.
• Defeat the Union army once and for all.
Battle Map
Death in the Cornfield
The battle opened at
dawn when the
Union forces
attacked Jackson’s
men near the
cornfield. They
were driven back to
the Dunker church,
but rallied when
reinforcements
arrived and
maintained their
position. 13,000
men had been killed
or wounded.
Battle Map
Bloody Lane
At 9:30, Union forces
attacked the
Confederate center
along a sunken
wagon road. The
Union could not
break the
Confederate line so
the attack
continued for four
hours and left 5,600
casualties on both
sides. The sunken
road is now
remembered as
“Bloody Lane”.
Battle Map