The
Battle of Antietam took place during the
American Civil War on September 17, 1862, between Confederate General
Robert E. Lee's
Army of Northern Virginia and Union Major General
George B. McClellan's
Army of the Potomac near
Sharpsburg, Maryland, and
Antietam Creek. Part of the
Maryland campaign, it was the first
field army–level engagement in the
Eastern theater of the American Civil War to take place on Union soil. It remains the bloodiest day in American history, with a tally of 22,727 dead, wounded, or missing on both sides. Although the Union Army suffered heavier casualties than the Confederates, the battle was a major turning point in the Union's favor. This 1887
lithograph by
Thure de Thulstrup depicts the charge of the
Iron Brigade near the
Dunker Church.
Illustration credit: Thure de Thulstrup; restored by Adam Cuerden
