At sunrise on September 17, 1862, 87,000 Union troops engaged 40,000 Confederate troops at Antietam Creek near the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland. By dark, 22,000 troops were dead or wounded. This battle greatly changed the course of the Civil War by stopping the first Southern invasion of the North. The Battle of Antietam also gave President Lincoln the opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation thus adding the issue of slavery to the war.   Home    Back to Gallery   More Photos