As my fellow American Civil War buffs undoubtedly already know, this month marks the 160th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam, or as Southrons prefer to call it, the Battle of Sharpsburg. The September 17, 1862 engagement was the deadliest one-day battle in American military history. Indeed, freelance journalist and author Ronald H. Bailey chose The Bloodiest Day as the title of his excellent 1984 book on the subject; the book, part of the Time-Life Books series on the Civil War, was my own introduction to Antietam, back at the tender age of 10. A mere 1,000-word article can’t do justice to a full-scale analysis of this battle, so I’ll keep this piece focused on two aspects: (1) some outside-the-box viewpoints on Union Army Maj. Gen. George Brinton McClellan’s performance during the battle, and (2) the heroism of the famed Irish Brigade.
Some Contrarian Views on Gen. McClellan
Civil War buffs already know the prevailing conventional wisdom about Antietam: it was Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s first attempt to take the war to Northern soil – specifically the state of Maryland – whilst Gen. McClellan had a grand opportunity to not only halt Lee’s invasion but to indeed destroy the Army of Northern Virginia for good, thanks to the fortuitous discovery by two of “Little Mac’s” soldiers of a mislaid copy of Lee’s detailed battle plans – Special Order 191 – wrapped around three cigars.
