1862 CIVIL WAR newspaper with Front-Page EARLY EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT of the BATTLE of ANTIETAM
New York: The New York Tribune, 1862. 1st Edition. Fine. Item #17191
AN incredible EARLY account of the important Civil War Battle of Antietam, near Sharpsburg, Maryland.
This September 19, 1862 issue of the New York Times features a front page completely devoted to the battle, with more than five columns containing an eyewitness account, and the remainder of the sixth containing a partial casualty list from the bloodiest day in American history to that point.
"After pursuing Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee into Maryland, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan of the Union Army launched attacks against Lee's army who were in defensive positions behind Antietam Creek. At dawn 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. Although outnumbered two-to-one, Lee committed his entire force, while McClellan sent in less than three-quarters of his army, enabling Lee to fight the Federals to a standstill. During the night, both armies consolidated their lines. In spite of crippling casualties, Lee continued to skirmish with McClellan throughout September 18, while removing his battered army south of the Potomac River.
"McClellan successfully turned Lee's invasion back, making the battle a Union victory, but President Abraham Lincoln, unhappy with McClellan's general pattern of overcaution and his failure to pursue the retreating Lee, relieved McClellan of command in November. From a tactical standpoint, the battle was somewhat inconclusive; the Union army successfully repelled the Confederate invasion but suffered heavier casualties and failed to defeat Lee's army outright. However, it was a significant turning point in the war in favor of the Union due in large part to its political ramifications: the battle's result gave Lincoln the political confidence to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all "persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion," as of the first of the following year, shall be "forever free." This effectively discouraged the British and French governments from recognizing the Confederacy, as neither power wished to give the appearance of supporting slavery." - Wiki
This historic newspaper is complete in eight pages and is chock full of other Civil War news on the inside.
Price: $225.00