September 17th: Today in 1862 the Confederates and Union armies fought the Battle of Antietam, the single bloodiest day of the American Civil War with over 22,000 killed or wounded. The carnage stunned both sides, with whole battalions being destroyed in brutal firefights. The stunned Union army could claim an important victory, but the Confederates managed to escape with most of its army despite having its back to a river and the war dragged on for nearly another three years.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 17th, 2006 at 6:46 am and is filed under History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.