ebooks Escape of the Planter: The Story of Robert Smalls by Alan Nafzger in History

Description

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the campaign from soldiers and generals on both sides *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "Those in whose judgment I rely tell me that I fought the battle splendidly and that it was a masterpiece of art. ... I feel I have done all that can be asked in twice saving the country. ... I feel some little pride in having; with a beaten demoralized army; defeated Lee so utterly." - George McClellan The bloodiest day in American history took place on the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution. On September 17; 1862; Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia fought George McClellan’s Union Army of the Potomac outside Sharpsburg along Antietam Creek. That day; nearly 25;000 would become casualties; and Lee’s army would barely survive fighting the much bigger Northern army. Although the battle was tactically a draw; it resulted in forcing Lee’s army out of Maryland and back into Virginia; making it a strategic victory for the North and an opportune time for President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation; freeing all slaves in the rebellious states. For those reasons; Antietam is remembered as one of the major turning points of the Civil War; but it is often overlooked that the bloody battle only represented the climactic culmination of a 3 week campaign that saw George McClellan cautiously pull a fragmented Union army together and begin tracking Lee’s army into Maryland. Sizing up McClellan; Lee had split his army up during its invasion; including sending Stonewall Jackson’s men to Harpers Ferry; but the whole course of the campaign and possibly the war changed when the Union Army somehow found a copy of Lee’s marching orders; telling them where the Confederate army would be and when. To Lee’s surprise; McClellan’s army began advancing far more rapidly; including attacking them at South Mountain before cornering them along Antietam Creek outside of Sharpsburg. The March to Antietam: The History of the Confederate Invasion of Maryland Before the Bloodiest Day of the Civil War looks at the events that led up to the Battle of Antietam; one of the crucial turning points of the Civil War. Along with bibliographies; maps of the battle; and pictures of important people and places; you will learn about the march to Antietam like never before; in no time at all.