Скачать или смотреть Antietam National Battlefield Documentary

On a cold winter day, I got a chance to explore Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland. This video documents what I saw and what I learned while I was there. If you ever get the opportunity to visit this place, I highly suggest that you do it. It’s an amazing window into history. Today, our country is divided. A place like Antietam national battlefield reminds us that if we fail to work out our differences, we may find ourselves paying the ultimate price on the battlefield — American vs. American, brother vs. brother.

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The American Civil War started in 1861 and ended in 1865. It was fought between the northern United States (the Union) and the Southern United States (the Confederacy). The feud was over states’ rights, westward expansion, industry vs. farming and of course, SLAVERY. Of the 34 U.S. States at the time, 7 southern slave states declared succession from the country and 4 more soon joined them. The war was soon on. Would the country split apart or would President Lincoln bring it back together?

Today, we know that the Confederacy lost and that the Union won, but by the time the war was over, an estimated 620,000 men lost their lives in the line of duty — an astonishing number, higher than any American conflict since.

Before the Battle of Antietam, most of the Civil War had been fought in Virginia. Maryland was a Union State, but some living there did not support Lincoln. Confederate General Robert E. Lee thought that by entering Maryland, he could win support from its people and feed his troops with their farms. He also wanted to defeat the Union on Union soil. Union Major General George B. McClellan swiftly moved to stop Lee’s invasion.

The Battle of Antietam took place on September 17, 1862. It was the Civil War’s bloodiest single day of fighting. Union troops outnumbered their Confederate opponents, but lasting roughly 12 hours, the battle was not swift, as both sides fought bravely.

The fight started at dawn across Farmer David Miller’s 30 acre cornfield. Union troops fired first. Confederate troops fought off offensive after offensive. The cornfield quickly turned into a killing field — both sides taking major casualties.

Bitter fighting also raged along what was known as Sunken Road. Due to a huge number of casualties there, the road was later known as Bloody Lane.

The last major action of the battle went late into the day. Union General Ambrose Burnside, pushed Lee’s forces across a stone bridge over Antietam Creek. Confederate reinforcements arrived and pushed them back. The bridge is now known as Burnside’s Bridge.

The battles were all intense. Soldiers were often 100 yards or less from each other. With muskets and cannons firing, thousands of bodies were scattered across the battlefield.

Witnesses recounted what they saw…

"Such a storm of balls I never conceived it possible for men to live through. Shot and shell shrieking and crashing, canister and bullets whistling and hissing most fiend-like through the air until you could almost see them. In that mile's ride I never expected to come back alive."LtCol A.S. "Sandie" Pendleton, CSA

After nearly 12 hours of fighting, an estimated 23,000 soldiers were wounded, killed or missing. It was considered a Union victory, but casualties were high on both sides.

Union Major General George McCellan was fired not long after the battle. President Lincoln was not happy that he allowed the Confederate soldiers to retreat back to Virginia. Lincoln wanted the overmatched confederates to be crushed while they were down.

Regardless, Lincoln soon followed the Battle of Antietam with the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared, "all persons held as slaves within any States, or designated part of the State, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." This freed over 3 million slaves in the confederate states. It also dissuaded the French and British, who were against slavery, from recognizing the confederacy and supporting them.

After several more years of conflict, the American Civil War ended in 1865.