On September 3, 1862, Robert E. Lee set in motion a chain of events that would culminate two weeks later, along Antietam Creek at Sharpsburg in western Maryland, in a day that would see more battlefield carnage than any other in America's history. When identifying turning points of the Civil War, military analysts frequently point to Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Yet the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg, in the Confederate lexicon) resulted in more pivotal changes, across a broader spectrum of events—military, political, diplomatic, societal—than any other battle of the war. This is all the more remarkable for the fact that Antietam, if evaluated in purely military terms, was not decisive at all. Indeed, it took place by happenstance.
To Jefferson Davis in Richmond, Lee's offensive offered a bright promise. A convincing enough battlefield victory might induce Washington to negotiate a peace, or at least persuade Europe's powers to recognize the Confederacy and perhaps intervene. The view for Abraham Lincoln was decidedly darker. To meet Lee's challenge Lincoln was entrusting his principal army to Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, whom he profoundly mistrusted. Moreover, the president had a major investment in the coming battle: Only with a victory could he follow through on his intention to make the war for preserving the union also a war against slavery.
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