Antietam

          The battle of Antietam took place near Sharpsburg, Maryland on September 17th, 1862. The Union was controlled by General George McClellan while the Confederates were under the command of Robert E. Lee. It started when some Union troops attacked the confederates near Dunker Church. McClellan knew what Lee's plans were so the North should have won this battle by a long shot. Even with the knowledge of the enemy's plans General McClellan was too scared to attack. Once Lee knew that they could not lose any more men the confederates started to retreat. It would have been a good idea for McClellan to chase the retreating confederates but he did not. The Union highly outnumbered the confederates and they knew their battle plan, but they still did not win by very much. This is probably why Antietam was the only battle that McClellan fought in. The South had 10,316 casualties while the North had 12,401. The battle of Antietam was known as the bloodiest battle of the civil war.