A year and a half into the Civil War, Union victory was far from assured. Confederate forces were fighting successfully in the Eastern Theater, mainly in Virginia. After his victory at the Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run), Gen Robert E Lee decided to move his army out of war torn Virginia. On Sept 4, 1862, he led his over 40,000 confederates across the Potomas River and through the Maryland countryside to Frederick.
The battle of Antietam, in Sharpsburg, MD broke out Sept 17, 1862, a battle that lasted 12 hours, involved 100,000 soldiers and left 23,000 dead, wounded or missing.
What struck us as we drove the battlefield, and its quite large, what was the purpose? Unlike Gettysburg, there was no town, no high ground, just woods and cornfields and by all historical accounts neither side won.
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