the-civil-war

= Famous battles of The Civil War in the north =



Battle of Antietam The battle of Antietam was the first major battle of the civil war to take place on northern soil. it was the bloodiest single-day of battle in American history with about 23,00 deaths. George B. McClellan launched attacks against Lee's army, in defensive position behind Antietam creek. on September 17, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's corps mounted a powerful assault on Lee's left flank. Attacks and counterattacks swept across Miller's cornfield and fighting swirled around the Dunker church. union assaults against the sunken road eventually pierced the confederate center, but the federal advantage was not followed up. in the afternoon union Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside's corps entered the action, capturing a stone bridge over Antietam creek and advancing against the confederate right. At a crucial moment, confederate Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill's division arrived from Harpers Ferry and launched a surprise counterattack, driving back Burnside and ending the battle.

The Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1-3, 1863. the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American civil war and is often called the turning point of the war. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's invasion of the North. After his success at Chancellorsville in Virginia in May 1863, Lee led his army through the Shenandoah Valley to begin his second invasion of the North - the Gettysburg Campaign. with his army in high spirits, Lee intended to shift the focus of the summer campaign from war-ravaged northern Virginia and hoped to influence Northern politicians to give up their prosecution of the war by penetrating as far as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or even Philadelphia. Prodded by president Abraham Lincoln, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker moved his army in pursuit, but was relieved just three days before the battle and replaced by Meade.