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Battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg Movie Summary:
--took place in a relatively small area, along the front of about 4 miles of Maryland field near the town of Sharpsburg
---Lee placed his troops in a vulnerable position with their backs towards the river even against this Union force that was twice the Confederates’ size
---September 15, 1862 marks the significance of this battle—one of the few battles of the war where the commanders deliberately choose the field of battle and plan their tactics in advance
---Not only was this the first major Civil War engagement on Northern soil, it was also the bloodiest single day battle in American history
---McClellan’s plan was to attack first attack Lee’s left and right and then when one of the flanks attacks
were showing to be successful, he’d then launch his reserves into their center
---however, friction made this seemingly single plan became very difficult—as the rough terrain and the confusion of the battlefield let to the Union forces moving forward in a very haphazard fashion
---McClellan’s lack of mass in this initial attack allowed for Lee to concentrate his forces against them and prevent them from making any significant gains (there were however many gruesome killings in this very small area)
--Men such as Joseph Hooker under General McClellan’s and Stonewall Jackson core under Robert Lee drive back Hooker’s advances as McClellan fails to exploit the weakest part of Lee’s line
---Despite heavy casualties, Lee did not withdraw at the end of the first day and meanwhile McClellan received additional troops and when these reinforcements were added to the two cores and the cavalry force that had not been used in the previous day fighting, McClellan on the 18th had more fresh forces available than Lee had in his entire army but none the less McClellan was convinced that his forces had been crippled, and thus he was hesitant to attack
---On the 19th Lee decided to withdraw across the Potomac and thus McClellan let slip through his fingers one of the few opportunities that he had to inflict a decisive defeat on General Lee
---The Confederates escape across the Potomac and into the Lower Shenandoah Valley is accomplished with little resistance, and thus McClellan’s failure to follow Lee’s retreat and destroy the army of Northern Virginia ultimately leads to his downfall and the war will continue until the resolve shown by the men in the field is fully matched by the resolve of Southern generals and political leaders
---To view the magnitude of the losses, consider that Antietam resulted in nine times as man as Americans killed or wounded (23,000 sold
iers) as took place on June 6, 1944—D-day, the so-called "longest day" of World War II
---Also consider that more soldiers were killed and wounded at the Battle of Antietam than the deaths of all Americans in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War, and Spanish-American War combined ---The loss of human life at Antietam shocked both sides doing battle that day.
Approximate Word count = 608
Approximate Pages = 2.4
(250 words per page double spaced)
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