America's Bloodiest Day: Antietam | Animated History

our new game fire and maneuver is out now on steam for free and has an american civil war expansion general george b mcclellan cannot believe his eyes a corporal marching through an abandoned confederate campsite has discovered a dispatch written in robert e lee's own hand detailed intelligence about confederate troop dispositions in the state of maryland and lee's plan to move his army to attack washington dc mcclellan reads the dispatch over and over again memories of his failure to take the confederate capital of richmond fresh in his mind he hears the chittering of his peers who think he stole command of washington's defense from more worthy commanders it is this same mcclellan who has just been handed the document that could win the war [Music] hi i'm griffin johnson the armchair historian when robert e lee's order fell into george mcclellan's hands the mighty united states was engaged in a desperate bid for survival political and ethical conflict had left the young nation riven in two and the breakaway confederate states of america had proven surprisingly resolute in their battle against the federal government and had attracted the attention of foreign powers who imported southern cotton a revolving door of high commanders had failed to lay the rebels low and political pressure mounted on president lincoln to end the increasingly unpopular war the union needed to turn the tide and in this video we will examine the battle of antietam the bloodiest day in american history which cost over 22 000 casualties fittingly enough the sponsor of today's video is war and peace civil war a free online strategy game that allows you to fight your own battle of antietam and rewrite history as leader of either the union or confederate armies take your soldiers across dozens of maps accurately modeled on historical battle sites while taking advantage of a base building system that lets you equip your men with a powerful arsenal of authentic 19th century weapons engage in large-scale pvp conflicts with other players which test your knowledge of civil war tactics guiding your men to victory alongside famous historical figures like abraham lincoln or jefferson davis if you're ready to step into the shoes of a general at antietam then you can download the game for free using the link in the description below as the smoke cleared from the south mountain battles lee's army of northern virginia was able to consolidate around the town of sharpsburg mcclellan did not pursue the rebel forces for a full two days after south mountain his men arriving at sharpsburg on september 16th and major general joseph hooker's first corps crossing the antietam creek to engage the rebels outermost defenses that afternoon lee took this skirmish as a sign that mcclellan would focus his attack on the confederate left and he gave command of the flank to the legendary stonewall jackson the rebel center and right were given to general james longstreet and lee placed his cavalry in any gaps between his sides and center though hooker's skirmishing would appear to telegraph the union strategy we do not know the exact federal battle plan hooker's movements indicate that mcclellan planned to use a strategy known as an echelon assault a series of pushes against various points of the enemy line in sequence pushes the enemy must constantly commit and recommit their reserves to push back this theoretically leads to the enemy both running out of reserve troops and expending their energy turning back a series of assaults by fresh formations eventually breaking under one crucial push mcclellan's echelon assault would begin with hooker on the confederate left then move to the center with pushes under generals mansfield and sumner before the pudegra would be delivered by facial hair pioneer general ambrose burnside however confusion in the federal command would see troops deployed throughout the night with the reserves sent to reinforce hooker at 2 30 in the morning receiving little time to rest before the battle began [Music] 5 43 am september 17th general hooker's men march south towards dunker church assuming they are circling around the confederate flank and outmaneuvering the rebels but roughly half an hour's march brings the federals into contact with stonewall jackson's forces who hold a line stretching from a cornfield to the east woods the federals drive the confederates from the eastwoods and the cornfield squeezing them into the westwoods and bringing them into range of the 14 confederate guns on nicodemus hill poker sends 26 pieces to counter the rebel artillery as major general ricketts launches an overwhelming assault on the rebs driving straight into the center rickett's men meet seven confederate brigades and shatter them devastating the confederate position in under two hours of intense battle even the legendary stonewall division was severely mauled in the assault and general lee saw his flank nearing collapse luckily for the confederacy mcclellan's echelon assaults mean that the rest of lee's army is unengaged and able to assist lee is able to pull two brigades under hood to reinforce the flagging line and these additional forces push back against the federal onslaught hood's men are outnumbered and hungry but the element of surprise sees the grey-clad scarecrows gain the upper hand in the cornfield federal gunners begin shelling the area and the rebs must contend with both enemy artillery and a sudden pivot by the seventh wisconsin who circles around to attack herds left the rebs are forced to go on the defensive but holds their ground in the reign of shells and the waves of wisconsinites the counter-attack has stalled out but at least the confederate flank is secure the soldiers who fought in the cornfield would recall this engagement as among the most savage in the war confederate colonel william tatum wilford would call the situation in the melee desperate while general hooker would recall that the slain lay in rose precisely as they had stood in their ranks a few moments before it was never my fortune to witness a more bloody dismal battlefield as best we can tell mcclellan's echelon assault plan next called for hooker's move against the confederate left to be followed by a drive against the confederate center by major general mansfield naturally mansfield was not apprised of this and when word of hooker's men being waylaid by hood's counter-attack reaches him mansfield assumes his duty is to support the flagging assault on the left hooker advises mansfield to dig in and not to expend his men or energy on the cornfield and the westwoods instead fortifying the eastwoods the momentum of the intended assault series is broken as the federals hunker down before being engaged by confederate infantry mansfield makes for the front and is promptly stopped by his own horse who refuses to jump a fence forcing him to lead his mount on foot around the fence line and to the federal position somewhere on his path from the fence to his men in the fog of war general mansfield is fatally shot by an unknown union soldier most likely mistaken for a rebel scout or officer the union loses a second commander when hooker is shot in the foot retiring from the battlefield and leaving one general williams in command with little guidance from the retreating hooker and no knowledge of mcclellan's overall strategy williams defaults to the offensive ordering an assault be launched from the federal position in the eastwoods the battered union forces break out of the woodline and make for dunker church securing the landmark and the nearby high ground after bitter fighting it is now 8 15 am 15 minutes pass and the first elements of the federal second corps arrive under the oldest field commander in the war general sumner sumner's men were due over an hour ago and the second advances to link up with their comrades at dunker church the combined forces drive against the remnants of stonewall jackson's line but the rebs face no grand charge that would route them as the federals come piecemeal the staccato offensives are easily driven off by jackson who is able to bring his strength to bear against each of the attacks in turn and a tug of war develops between jackson and the federals lee banking on a lack of other movement from the union sends two more brigades from his southern positions to reinforce jackson in the north severely weakening the areas they are pulled from the now twice reinforced rebels launch a full counter attack descending upon the left flank of the union counter-offensive at the westwoods general howell walker who commanded a rebel brigade at the westwoods wrote that the counter-attacking rebel divisions advanced in splendid style firing and cheering as they went and in a few minutes cleared the woods federal general gorman noted that the attack of the enemy on the flank was so sudden and in such overwhelming force that i had no time to lose and the union indeed loses no time in retreating over 200 yards before the confederate attack the retreating federals would encounter the advancing sixth corps under general franklin who had orders to occupy the high ground seized earlier to protect lines of communication but for his part franklin was keen to give the rebels a fight franklin makes his feelings known to general sumner commander of the retreating forces and a dispute breaks out over whether to keep up the retreat or turn and fight mcclellan himself is called to the front line to resolve this matter but while the rebels are on the offense in the westwood others under one general hill face a federal offense at the bloody lane a sunken farm road hill's command had been seriously mauled in the south mountain battles but over the course of the day has absorbed the remnants of formations shattered in that morning's fighting as well as other odds and ends of the rebel army the union forces under general french charge headlong at the emplaced confederates who turned them back handedly french's men pay dearly for each and every attempt and not even reinforcements from the famous irish brigade are able to turn the tide general robert e rhodes commanding half of the forces at the bloody lane spots a gap in the union line and orders a counter-charge that is stopped dead by quick defensive maneuvering on the union side rhodes orders a subordinate to take up a defensive position on the right but this order is misunderstood as a command to retreat rhodes watches dumbfounded as his right flank withdraws followed by the rest of his men the rebels abandoned bloody lane literally handing their position over to the federals the upshot of all this miscommunication and redeployment was that lee's forces were all but entirely concentrated in the north with burnside on deck for the next stage of the echelon assault to the south burnside finds himself commanding a full core against a skeleton crew mcclellan allegedly orders burnside to advance over the antietam creek bridge at 8am and sees the high ground beyond to advance upon sharpsburg an order that should have reached him an hour and a half later with the fortunes of battle being what they are hypothetically burnside should have been able to steamroll over the bridge and accomplish his objectives by noon burnside his pride still wounded by his commanders being shuffled around essentially ignored mcclellan it took a second written command followed by a visit by the inspector general the army's highest law enforcement officer to get the petty burn side moving when they finally get to the bridge burnside's forces drive confederate skirmishers away before splitting off the main force makes to fight its way across the bridge while a splinter force goes to forward the river downstream defending the bridge is a single rebel brigade under general robert toomes who has his men lay down heavy fields of fire across the bridge the union fights hard and takes the bridge in short order but due to burnside's previous stalling he must take time to consolidate his men before driving onto sharpsburg it is 2pm and the fighting in the north has concluded lee's army is spent all of his reserves are committed or destroyed numerous officers have fallen in battle and only his center force remains intact and ready but all is not doom and gloom for the confederacy before the battle was joined lee sent a message to the 3000 strong garrison at harpers ferry virginia requesting support and initial trickles of confederate reinforcements under ap hill begin arriving at a 17 mile quick march it is time for the federal assault on lee's center defended by a thinly stretched patchwork of divisions and brigades lee's only hope is for hill's main force to come and come quickly burnside's men are ready to begin at 3 pm and he orders an echelon attack against lee's position at sharpsburg the federals start strong pouring into the outskirts of sharpsburg and overrunning several rebel positions and gun emplacements but almost as soon as the fighting begins hill's main force from harper's ferry takes to the field many wearing captured federal uniforms the sudden appearance of these blue clad confederates so is confusion in the union ranks and hill's men intercept a drive from the union to swing around the rebel right flank burnside in a stunning display of competence commits his reserves to answering hill's attack the triumph of hill's arrival is replaced by deadlock the rebels hold on tight and a bloody stalemate takes hold as both sides continue slugging it out until darkness falls after all the blood and death the shattering of units and loss of commanders neither side can truly claim victory antietam is a bloody draw it is a draw that utterly devastates the confederate army however lee's men have been all but annihilated and his staff begs him to pull back but lee doggedly refuses declaring that if mcclellan wants to try again come morning he will be waiting mcclellan's men haven't fared much better however and mcclellan orders his artillery a raid on the high ground with his infantry dug in to defend it the next day september 18th lee is convinced to withdraw the battle of antietam would see 22 717 americans become casualties in 12 hours of combat it remains the single bloodiest day in american history lee's army of northern virginia left the field a hollow shell and with the defeat of braxton bragg in kentucky not long after the rebels need for foreign aid became ever more dire but lincoln's emancipation proclamation issued not long after the battle of antietam would reframe the civil war in the eyes of the world as a fight to end slavery and make supporting the confederacy untenable the confederacy's ambitions of invading maryland and taking washington went up in smoke and the way was clear for the union to strike back at the battle of fredericksburg but that is for another video [Music] you

Channel: The Armchair Historian

Views: 606,203

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Id: Vs9P7Y9qJAY

Length: 17min 16sec (1036 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 16 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/Iwillrestoreprussia]

Sharpsburg was definitely a “bruh moment” for both sides