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HISTORY'S
CURRENTS
THE 2ND AND 20TH GEORGIA REGIMENTS AT ANTIETAM
In 1862 the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, led by
General Robert E. Lee, had won two major battles around
Richmond, Virginia. In June of 1862, Lee defeated Union
General George B. McClellan at Seven Days Battle outside
of Richmond, and in late August Lee defeated another Union
Army led by Union General John Pope at the 2nd Battle of
Bull Run. The stage was set for Lee's invasion of Maryland
and the Battle of Antietam.
Lee's army (about 45,000 strong) moved north in September
1862. The Confederate Army was divided; Stonewall Jackson
moved on the US arsenal at Harper's Ferry while General
Longstreet moved into Maryland. The Union Army of the Potomac
(about 90,000 strong), led by General McClellan and armed
with a lost copy of Lee's marching orders, moved to intercept
the Confederate Army and crush it piecemeal.
As the armies moved toward a clash, Lee tried to unite his
scattered army. Jackson took Harper's Ferry Arsenal and
moved with his corps leaving General A.P. Hill to finish
the Federal surrender. Lee's army concentrated around Sharpsburg,
Maryland, and formed its battle line along the south bank
of Antietam Creek. The extreme right of this line was held
by less than 400 Georgians of the 2nd and 20th Ga. Regiments
led by Confederate General Robert Toombs. These 400 sons
of Georgia were placed to stop the Union from crossing a
stone bridge over Antietam Creek. The Georgians held off
five attacks on the bridge by the Union IX Corps commanded
by Union General Ambrose Burnside. The defense of the bridge
was one the most heroic episodes of the Civil War, and the
bridge would be forever known as 'Burnside's Bridge'.
The Battle of Antietam began early on 17 September 1862.
The Union attacks on the left and center of the Confederate
lines have etched names in American History like 'the corn
field' and 'bloody lane'. All along the line brave men in
both blue and gray died. On the right Burnside's Union IX
Corps (about 14,000 strong) attacked the bridge five times
in a space of about five hours. Each time the 400 Georgia
boys, their numbers growing smaller with each Union assault,
repulsed the attack. By mid-afternoon the IX Corps had forced
the Georgians back, but the Georgians retreated in good
order continuing to resist the Union pressure. About 4:00
Confederate General A.P. Hill arrived after a forced march
from Harper's Ferry and attacked down the flank of the IX
Corps. The Georgia troops also counterattacked and Burnside
was forced back to the position he held most of the day.
Lee's army was saved for the time, and McClellan allowed
Lee to slip back in Virginia.
The Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg to the South) was
the bloodiest 1-day of the war. Casualties for both sides
totaled over 26,000. According to some estimates the Georgia
defenders of Burnside's Bridge inflicted 2,500 casualties
on the IX Corps. The Georgian's defense was compared to
the Spartan's stand at Thermopylae Pass in 480 BC.
Both Generals Lee and Jackson were re-fighting Antietam
while on their deathbeds. Both men were sending orders to
tell A.P. Hill to come up as fast as he could. Now you know
why. The 400 Georgians needed help. Of course if there had
been 800 Georgians there, the Union would still be trying
to cross that bridge.
History's currents or current history? You decide!
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