September 1, 1862 was the bloodiest day of the Civil War. Federal losses totaled 12,410 and Confederates lost 10,700 men. While neither side won a decisive victory, General Robert E. Lee’s failure to carry the war into the North was significant to the outcome of the war. The Battle also gave President Lincoln the chance to issue the Emancipation Proclamation which declared free all slaves in the States still in rebellion against the Union.
Today our troops went into battle, on the Antietam Creek. Although the weather was dreary, the troops' spirits were at a high. Leading them was General McClellan, hopeful for a grand victory. McClellan, playfully twitched his mustache, as he told the troops of the victory party they would have. Alas, the Union troops were immediately ambushed by the Confederates. General Burnside led another regiment of Yankees, but was unable to come to McClellan's aid, until much later in the battle. McClellan, the stubborn one, refused to bring in more men, until Burnside arrived. Stubbornness never pays! By the time Burnside did arrive, the Confederates had driven back the Union troops, and won one of the bloodiest single-day battles of this war, so far seen. The war still rages on, McClellan is mourning instead of celebrating, but our troops are still fighting.
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