Antietam

an-te'tam, a small creek in Maryland fifty miles west of Washington. It flows through a wooded ravine into the Potomac a few miles below Harper's Ferry. It is noted as the scene of one of the decisive battles of the Civil War. General Lee's army, engaged in his first invasion of the North, was here turned back in a bloody battle, September 16 and 17, 1862. The Union forces were commanded by Generals McClellan, "Fighting Joe" Hooker, Sumner, Meade, Burnside, and Fitz John Porter. Noted commanders of the Confederate side were Lee, "Stonewall" Jackson, Stuart, Pickett, Hood, and Hill. Not less than 100,000 men were engaged. The carnage was terrific. Entire regiments were almost wiped out. Missing, wounded, and killed outright, the loss of both sides taken together was not far from 25,000 men. See Civil War