More men were killed or wounded at Antietam on September 17, 1862, than
on any other single day of the Civil War. Federal losses were 12,410,
Confederate losses 10,700. Although neither side gained a decisive
victory, Lee’s failure to carry the war effort effectively into the
North caused Great Britain to postpone recognition of the Confederate
government. The battle also gave President Abraham Lincoln the
opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which, on January 1,
1863, declared free all slaves in States still in rebellion against the
United States. Now the war had a dual purpose: to preserve the Union and
end slavery.
[Illustration: Sharpsburg, Md., looking southwest along Main Street,
September 21 or 22, 1862. Library of Congress]
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