Monday marks 150 years since the bloodiest day in U.S. history, the Civil War Battle of Antietam in Maryland, which left almost 23,000 Union and Confederate soldiers dead, wounded, missing or captured.
While Union forces suffered a heavier casualty toll – 12, 400 Union to 10, 300 Confederate casualties – and military historians consider the battle a draw, President Abraham Lincoln called it a Union victory and said it showed that the Union army could enforce orders coming out of Washington. Five days later, Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. When it went into effect on January 1, 1863, it freed slaves in the rebellious Confederate states and made the abolition of slavery an official U.S. policy.
<http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/17/150-years-since-americas-bloodiest-day/>;
Replies
Wow, that is crazy. I am so very thankful that i haven't lost a loved one in the war. Although it did free slavery so i am very thankful for it. I have a biratal sister. (Half black, and Half white) And she is my everything. So i am glad that today she is excepted for who she is, she is an amazing little girl.
Thank you for posting this! I think it is very necessary that these men as well as all others who serve or have served for the US are recognized. I am very thankful that I have not lost a loved one in war. Their bravery should be a symbol to all Americans.
wow, thankfully, i can not even begin to fathom the complete devastation that would have griped our country at this time. With that many casualties it must have seemed as if the world was ending. Although the battle did free slaves, the day was very sad, and bloody.