With the onset of the Civil War in April of 1861, many believed the conflict would be resolved briefly because many did not believe the war would last long, President Lincoln called for 75,000 troops with a brief enlistment of 90 days. The Confederacy had moved its capitol very close to Washington D.C. at Richmond, Virginia. In 1861, General Pierre Beauregard mobilized 35,000 Confederate troops to meet General Irvin McDowell’s Union army of 37,000 troops. Hundreds of civilians traveled to see the battle. Beauregard had been tipped off about McDowell’s location from a Southern girl. He united his troops along the river of Bull Run and waited for Union troops to arrive. It was here the Battle of Bull Run began. Just as the Confederates were about to retreat in surrender, a group of fresh troops, led by Thomas Jackson, were waiting just over the hill.

The Southern troops held strong like a "stone wall," which is how Jackson got his nickname "Stonewall Jackson." Throughout the day, more and more thousands of Confederate troops arrived. The Union troops were exhausted. They had fought for hours in the heat. And the Union troops eventually began to retreat. The Battle of Bull Run saw over 4,800 soldiers killed, wounded, or missing. The next day Lincoln raised a new army of 1 million troops led by Major General George B. McClellan. The Confederate spirits were high after the battle, and seven months passed before the North would fight again.

The South started off strong. In August 1862, the Confederate army moved into Kentucky. They seized the city of Frankfort and placed a Confederate governor in office. Later that month, Robert E. Lee’s army had defeated a Union army in northern Virginia at the Second Battle of Bull Run. The leaders of the South were hoping the victories might win recognition from the British and the French. They were seeking one more decisive victory! Robert E. Lee wanted a victory in Northern territory. As Lee was headed north to Pennsylvania, he was trailed by Union General George McClellan. Lee decided to confront the army in Maryland near a creek called Antietam. On September 15, Lee along with 30,000 soldiers, used the land to his advantage to spread his army.

Earlier, a union soldier found Lee’s orders, but McClellan did not act because he falsely felt outnumbered. On September 17, the battle began. Union commander General Joseph Hooker attacked Stonewall Jackson’s forces. The bloody battle went back and forth across a cornfield. After five hours, 12,000 soldiers were dead or wounded and both sides stopped for the day. Next, came fighting on a country road between two farms. The Union soldiers repeatedly attacked, and finally they found higher ground to shoot from. They quickly took down the Confederate soldiers. The Confederates fell back, giving McClellan the ability to cut the army in two.

The Battle of Antietam would fall in history as the bloodiest day America has ever suffered. Over 22,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing. This would be more deaths that occurred in the entire American Revolution. Robert E. Lee lost a quarter of his entire army. This battle would prove to be a critical turning point in the Civil War. The South would not win over foreign powers for help. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued five days after the battle.