Antietam's Bloody Lane: Sunken Road Battle | Sharpsburg, Maryland | US Civil War | History Maps

Описание: September 17, 1862. DH Hill's division has held South Mountain but is pushed back by McClellan's Army of the Potomac. Robert E. Lee situates the Army of Northern Virginia around Sharpsburg, Maryland.

DH Hill takes positions in a sunken road near Sharpsburg. Longstreet and Jackson's men form positions on ridges, woods, and in a cornfield.

McClellan begins the attack with Hooker and Mansfield's corps against the Cornfield and the East Woods. DH Hill sends Ripley, Colquitt, and McRae to the cornfield, but they are driven back.

Only Rodes and GB Anderson are in the cornfield, but remnants of Colquitt and McRae form back up in the road. Then Sumner's Corps advances. Sedgwick's division is shattered in the West Woods, but French and Richardson approach the Sunken Road.

The topography of the sunken road is this: heights in front of the road make it so that both sides will only see each other at the last moment. Weber's brigade is the first Union line to hit. The 1st Delaware takes terrible losses.

Morris' brigade follows. It is also beaten back.

Then Kimball engages. Kimball holds for three hours.

Richardson's division comes in next. Meagher relieves Kimball's left flank. This Irish Brigade holds until Caldwell swings in. Barlow's New York Regiments, the 64th New York and the 61st New York, find a strategic place and throw enfilading fire into the sunken road. The sunken road becomes the infamous Bloody Lane.

GB Anderson is reinforced by RH Anderson, but the sunken road defenders are thrown back. 300 prisoners are taken. Then Rodes brigade suffers a miscommunication. The 1st Alabama under Lightfoot misunderstands an order to refuse the line. They abandon the road, as do others in Rodes' brigade.

The sunken road is in Union hands by noon. Longstreet brings cannon into the orchard and the Piper Farmhouse, stalling further advances.

Richardson is wounded, and Winfield Scott Hancock assumes command over the division.

The Sunken Road, or Bloody Lane, is a critical part of the Battle of Antietam. The north suffered nearly 3,000 casualties securing the objective.

The American Civil War is a critical chapter in American history.

This film was made by Jeffrey Meyer, librarian and historian.