Research Guides: Battle Studies, Country Studies, &amp; Staff Rides: Civil War: Antietam

Antietam

"The Battle of Antietam has been called the bloodiest single day in American History. By the end of the evening, 17 September 1862, an estimated 4,000 American soldiers had been killed and over 18,000 wounded in and around the small farming community of Sharpsburg, Maryland. Emory Upton, then a captain with the Union artillery battery, later wrote, "I have heard of 'the dead lying in heaps,' but never saw it till this battle. Whole ranks fell together." The battle had been a day of confusion, tactical blunders, individual heroics, and the effects of just plain luck. It brought to an end a Confederate campaign to "liberate" the border state of Maryland and possibly take the war into Pennsylvania."

-- The Battle of Antietam, Ted Ballard (2008)

Resources

Battle of Antietam Facts & Summary
Graphics, maps, photographs, videos and links to other resources on the battle from the American Battlefield Trust.
Military Memoirs of a Confederate: A Critical Narrative
by Edward Porter Alexander, former Brigadier General in the Confederate Army and Chief of Artillery in Longstreet's Corps (1907). Includes descriptions of Alexander's reminiscences of Jackson's Valley Campaign; Second Manassas; Harper's Ferry; Antietam; Chancellorsville; Gettysburg; Chickamauga; and the Battle of the Wilderness, among other events of the Civil War.

Battle of Antietam: The Creation of Artillery Hell
Killing Zone at Burnside's Bridge
Logistics and Lee's Antietam Campaign

Battle of Antietam Staff Ride Guide
Produced by the Center of Military History, United States Army in 2008, this training aid is intended for those undertaking an Antietam staff ride, and valuable reading for those interested in the Civil War and in the history of the military arts. Also available in print in the library, Call Number E474.65 .B325 2006, 2nd Deck.

Antietam Expedition Guide by Reg Green and Debby Winsberg, et al.
Call Number: E474.65 .A585 2004

Antietam Expedition Guide is the modern way to explore the bloodiest single-day battle of the Civil War. It's a complete tour package that includes three components: a computer CD-ROM, a self-guided audio tour (CD) and a 98-page illustrated guidebook -- all packaged handsomely in a hardcover book. Start your adventure at home on the computer. The history movie, animated battle maps and quiz game will help you prepare for your visit to the battlefield. Next, take the audio tour (CD) and guidebook and embark on the self-guided tour of the battlefield. The narration, music and sound effects will transport you back in time to September 17, 1862.
Campaigns of the Civil War: The Antietam and Fredericksburg, Vol. 5 by Francis Winthrop Palfrey
Call Number: E470 .C172, 2nd Deck

Also available digitally at https://archive.org/details/antietamfrederic5950palf/mode/2up and https://usmc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01USMCU_INST/bst26c/alma991003543338805241
Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam by Stephen W. Sears
Call Number: E474.65 .S43 1983

Also available in audiobook format.
Leadership and Command in the American Civil War by Steven E. Woodworth
Call Number: E470 .L423 1995

The essays in this volume examine major Civil War generals in the context of their leadership at a specific battle or campaign. Topics include Joseph E. Johnston in 1861-62, James Longstreet and Chattanooga, Edwin Sumner and Antietam, George E. Pickett after Gettysburg, and Pierre Beauregard and the Bermuda Hundred campaign.
The Maps of Antietam: An Atlas of the Antietam (Sharpsburg) Campaign, including the Battle of South Mountain, September 2-20, 1862 by Bradley Gottfried
Call Number: E474.65 .G68 2012 (Reference Shelf)

Tufts University, Perseus Digital Library, 19th Century American Collection
Numerous digital documents and books, many of which pertain to the Civil War

Ambrose E. Burnside

Burnside by William Marvel, et al.
Call Number: E467.1.B8 M37 1991

Ambrose Burnside, the Union general, was a major player on the Civil War stage from the first clash at Bull Run until the final summer of the war. He led a corps or army during most of this time and played important roles in various theaters of the war.

George B. McClellan

McClellan and Failure : a study of civil war fear, incompetence, and worse by Edward H. Bonekemper; Edward H. Bonekemper
Call Number: E467.1.M2 B66 2007

In the eyes of many historians, Union General George B. McClellan singlehandedly did more damage to the Union war effort than any other individual. This volume examines his Army career and McClellan's treatment by various historians.
George B. McClellan and Civil War History by Thomas J. Rowland
Call Number: E467.1.M2 R69 1998

In this volume, the author presents a framework in which early American Civil War command can be viewed with direct comparison to that of the final two years. In this way, he aims to show that McClellan's career, both his shortcomings and accomplishments, can be viewed with clearer perspective.
The Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan by Stephen W. Sears (Editor)
Call Number: E467.1.M2 A4 1989
Lincoln and McClellan by John C. Waugh
Call Number: E457.2 .W34 2010

Award-winning author John C. Waugh weaves a tale of hubris, paranoia, failure, and triumph, illuminating as never before this unique and complicated alliance.

Joseph Hooker

Joseph Hooker Biography
from History.com.
Joseph Hooker Biography
from Home of the American Civil War website.

Edwin Sumner

Unfurl Those Colors by Marion V. Armstrong
Unfurl Those Colors! provides an operational study of the Army of the Potomac during the pivotal Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862.
Leadership and Command in the American Civil War by Steven E. Woodworth
Call Number: E470 .L423 1995

The essays in this volume examine major Civil War generals in the context of their leadership at a specific battle or campaign. Topics include Joseph E. Johnston in 1861-62, James Longstreet and Chattanooga, Edwin Sumner and Antietam, George E. Pickett after Gettysburg, and Pierre Beauregard and the Bermuda Hundred campaign.

Joseph K. F. Mansfield

Joseph K. F. Mansfield, brigadier general of the U.S. Army. A narrative of events connected with his mortal wounding at Antietam, Sharpsburg, Maryland, September 17, 1862.
By John Mead Gould, late acting adjutant 10th Maine Volunteers.
Joseph K. F. Mansfield biography
from the American Battlefield Trust

Robert E. Lee

Robert Edward Lee Biography
from the American National Biography website.
The Robert E. Lee Papers
Special Collections, Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University.

The wartime papers of R.E. Lee by Robert E. Lee; Clifford Dowdey
Call Number: E470 .L49

A collection of Lee's official Civil War correspondence -- letters, orders, dispatches, and battle reports -- complemented by his personal letters to his family.
Robert E. Lee: Lessons in Leadership by Noah Andre Trudeau
Call Number: E467.1.L4 T78 2009

Noah Andre Trudeau follows the general's Civil War path with a special emphasis on Lee's changing set of personal values as the conflict wended through four bloody years and explores his famous skills as a crafty and daring tactician. An insightful new account,Robert E. Lee delivers a fresh perspective that leads to a greater understanding of one of the most studied and yet enigmatic military figures in American history.

James Longstreet

James Longstreet : the man, the soldier, the controversy by Albert A. Nofi; Richard L. Di Nardo
Call Number: E467.1.L55 J36 1998

Few figures from the American Civil War have generated more controversy than Confederate general James Longstreet. As the senior officer present at Pickett's Charge, he has been blamed by many, particularly in the South, for the decisive Confederate defeat at Gettysburg. Other scholars have cited his exemplary combat record during the Civil War and looked to rivals within the Confederate hierarchy or his post-war support for the Northern-based Republican Party as sources for the criticism leveled at him. Richard L. DiNardo and Albert A. Nofi have assembled some of the top Civil War and Longstreet scholars to fully examine this still-controversial topic.
General James Longstreet: The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier by Jeffry D. Wert
Call Number: E467.1.L55 W46 1993

General James Longstreet fought in nearly every campaign of the Civil War, from Manassas (the first battle of Bull Run) to Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chickamauga, Gettysburg, and was present at the surrender at Appomattox. Yet, he was largely held to blame for the Confederacy's defeat at Gettysburg. "General James Longstreet" sheds new light on the controversial commander and the man Robert E. Lee called "my old war horse."
Lee's Tarnished Lieutenant : James Longstreet and His Place in Southern History by William Garrett Piston
William Garrett Piston examines the life of James Longstreet and explains how a man so revered during the course of the war could fall from grace so swiftly and completely. Unlike other generals in gray whose deeds are familiar to southerners and northerners alike, Longstreet has the image not of a hero but of an incompetent who lost the Battle of Gettysburg and, by extension, the war itself. Piston's reappraisal of the general's military record establishes Longstreet as an energetic corps commander with an unsurpassed ability to direct troops in combat, as a trustworthy subordinate willing to place the war effort above personal ambition.
James Longstreet, Lee's war horse by H. J. Eckenrode; Bryan Conrad
Call Number: 1936
From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America by James Longstreet
Call Number: E470 .L85

The memoirs of James Longstreet, 1895.

Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson

Stonewall Jackson Resources - Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute Archives holds a large collection of Stonewall Jackson's personal papers, Jackson images, and other information about his life and times. Included on this page are links to full text correspondence, as well as to full text information about various topics of interest to Jackson researchers.
Stonewall Jackson Biography
from the Encyclopedia Britannica website.

J. E. B. Stuart

Cavalryman of the Lost Cause: A Biography of J. E. B. Stuart by Jeffry D. Wert
Call Number: E467.1.S9 W47 2008

Based on research in manuscript collections, personal memoirs and reminiscences, and regimental histories, this comprehensive volume reflects outstanding Civil War scholarship. Wert shows how Stuart's friendship with Stonewall Jackson and his relationship with Lee were crucial; at the same time Stuart's relationships with his subordinates were complicated and sometimes troubled.
With Pen and Saber: the letters and diaries of J.E.B. Stuart's staff officers by Robert J. Trout
Call Number: E546.5 .W66 1995
Saber and Scapegoat: J.E.B. Stuart and the Gettysburg controversy by Mark V. Nesbitt
Call Number: E467.1.S9 N47 1994
They Followed the Plume: the story of J.E.B. Stuart and his staff by Robert J. Trout
Call Number: E581.6 1st .T76 1993

A behind-the-scenes look at the friendships and rivalries of a Civil War staff is given through the biographies of 52 of Stuart's cavalrymen.

Map of the battlefield of Antietam, [Sept. 17, 1862]
from the Library of Congress American Memory website. The map bears the following inscription in longhand as follows: "Obtained from Washington & presented to Gen. R. E. Lee by J. E. B. Stuart. This map was in the possession of Jedediah Hotchkiss at the time of his death. Major Hotchkiss served as topographic engineer with the Army of Northern Virginia."
The Civil War Animated Map
from the American Battlefield Trust.
Battle of Antietam, 17 September 1862
from the Center of Military History.
Maps: The Civil War
from Ken Burns' "The Civil War" on PBS.
Civil War Maps (Library of Congress Collection)
Look for Antietam maps through the search box on this site. Historical and modern maps available.
American Battlefield Trust: Antietam Maps
Historical maps and maps detailing the hour-by-hour path of the Civil War battle.

Intelligence in the Army of the Potomac: 1861-1863.
Browne, Thomas A. (Major). Quantico, Virginia. Marine Corps University, Command and Staff College (CSC), 2011.
Robert E. Lee as Operational Artist During the American Civil War.
Ingram, Andre M. (Major). Quantico, Virginia. Marine Corps University, Command and Staff College (CSC)., 2010.

Virtual Antietam Podcasts
The podcasts by Civil War author and photographer, Stephen Recker, explore adventures with Robert E. Lee, George McClellan, Abraham Lincoln and others, recorded on the battleground where the action happened.

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