USH: Exam (Battles of the Civil War) Amber Foust

A2
June 2010
Antietam:

September 17, 1862 was the “Bloodiest single day in American History.”

September 12: General Lee led 40,000 soldiers across the Potomac River into Maryland, into Sharpsburg. They
said that Lee’s troops were “The dirtiest I ever saw” and that they all carried their guns differently, and that they
didn’t have uniforms at all. General Lee had both hands bandaged and in a splint from a fall, and Jackson had his
back all messed up, and two of the most important Generals were riding at the back under arrest for arguing
with superiors. (Stubborn-ness) Lee tried to make Maryland-ers more likely to rebel against the Union by having
his soldiers sing “Maryland, my Maryland” while they marched through Maryland, but that didn’t work and most
of the Maryland-ers hid inside their houses. McClellan thought that Lee was marching to Washington or
Baltimore, when he was actually going to the Federal Rail Center in Pennsylvania.

September 15: Lee and his army arrive at Sharpsburg, Maryland, and wais in front of Antietam Creek. If he had
not have waited, the war may have ended right then and there, but he did, and waited to get more plans and for
more troops to arrive and to almost double his force.

September 17: There were three battles on that day. 6:00 AM→ lost 224 out of 334 soldiers. (67%) Battle went
back and forth across a cornfield. 10:00 AM → 8,000 soldiers total dead or wounded Ambrose Burnside had
12,500 men up against not even 400 Georgians, but still hesitated against starting to fight. Total Losses: Union
→2,108 dead, 10, 293 wounded Confederacy→ 10, 318 (1/4 of army)

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Gettysburg:

July 1 – 3, 1863

July 1: The Battle of Gettysburg was known as the “Greatest Battle ever fought on the North American
Continent.” It began over the need for shoes. The South came in from the North, and the North came in from
the South to Gettysburg, where they thought there was storage of shoes. (Ironic, huh?) The Confederate guard
ran into John Buford’s army and started fighting right there. Both sides had people running about trying to find
reinforcements. Soon, every team from both sides in the area was there.

July 2: Armies continue to gather in Gettysburg. In the morning, 65,000 Confederate soldiers faced 85,000
Federal soldiers. Bullets were whizzing by so thick, that it was said that you could “hold out a hat and catch it
full.” It was thought that on day 2, the rebels were losing.

July 3: Final Day. It started out badly for Lee. 6,500 men were captured or fallen. Bloodiest battle of the war. 1/3
of those who fought were killed, and 51,000 men were lost. North → 23,00 South→ 28,000.
USH: Exam (Battles of the Civil War) Amber Foust
A2
June 2010