Antietam+Outcome

Antietam Outcome The outcome of the Battle of Antietam was inconclusive even though it was considered a northern victory. After a truce allowing both sides to recover their wounded from the battlefield, General Lee’s forces began to withdraw across the Potomac to return to Virginia. As inconclusive as it was, what Lee did was the technical definition of the tactical loser in a Civil War Battle. Antietam was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern land and it was the bloodiest signal-day battle in American history. With around 23,000 casualties, more Americans died on September 17, 1862, than on any other day in the nation’s military history. Antietam is a significant battle in the civil war because it is also a turning point. President Lincoln saw the significance of this “victory” and issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, and it took effect on January 1, 1863.

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