"Destroy the Rebel Army"

Before the Battle of Antietam, President Abraham Lincoln urged General George B. McClellan, commander of the Union Army of the Potomac, to destroy the rebel army if possible. McClellan, though he commanded an army nearly twice the size of Lee's, believed he was outnumbered and feared that a defeat would leave Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, or New York open to Lee's army. Lee understood that he was outnumbered, but after bringing the Army of Northern Virginia north of the Potomac River, he resolved to make his stand and seek a great victory. On the evening before the battle, combat artist Edwin Forbes sketched soldiers of the Union First Corps wading across Antietam Creek well north of Sharpsburg, revealing to the Confederates that the first attack would strike Major General "Stonewall" Jackson's Corps at the Dunker Church. Major General Joseph Hooker, commanding the First Corps, was ready to begin the fight.

Keedysville, Maryland · United States