September 17, 1862

September 17, 1862, marks the Battle of Antietam, a significant engagement during the American Civil War. Fought near Sharpsburg, Maryland, it became the bloodiest single day in American military history, with around 22,000 soldiers killed or wounded. The battle pitted Union General George McClellan against Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Although tactically inconclusive, it halted Lee's invasion of the North and allowed President Abraham Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. This shift aimed to free enslaved people in the Confederate states, redefining the war's purpose and adding a moral dimension to the Union's fight.