The Sacrifice at Antietam

By the time the sun set on September 12, 1862, over 26,000 men were dead or wounded. It was the bloodiest day of the Civil War, but, the battle's losses could have actual meant something. 26,000 men died and thier sacrifice was nothing. Why? McClellan. Bruce Catton describes a situation where McClellan learned that his troops had broken the enemy flank, and all that was needed was 5,000 men to win victory. McClellan, exhilerating with joy, ordered 5,000 men to move forward. Then, suddenly, he countermanded his orders and, the one time he was about to win a decisive victory, he choked. Why? No one can truely explain what happened, except, perhaps, McClellan was reverting to his former, pesstimistic self. Where was this break that was so crucial? The left flank of Lee's Army, commanded by Jackson. He was wrecked by the massive attacks of the I Corps, under Joe Hooker. Many people say that Hooker had more men. This is false. The average size of the six Union Corps that day would have been only 11,000 men. Hooker had no more then that many men. Now, let us devide the 40,000 present before AP Hills arrival. Jackson would have had over 20,000 men at his disposal. Not only that, but thousands of men were shifted to help Jackson. Which means, Hooker was facing anywhere between 2-1 or 3-1 disadvantage. And, unlike Longstreet, who had to string his men out on two fronts, Jackson had all his forces consentrated in one general vacinity. The XII Corps was knocked out before it could do much harm to the Rebs when Mansfield took a bullet to the stomach. So, it can't be used as a factor on the field. So, in essence, the Yanks fought better. Outnumbered, they drove back a much larger force, they won the fight for Miller's Cornfield. Jackson was saved by several factors. 1: Hooker got wounded in the foot. 2: Hood threw his fresh men into the meatgrinder against a wornout foe. 3: The XI Corps was knocked out too early. 4: McClellan refused to feed in his reserves.