America's Bloodiest Day: Antietam | Animated History 

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The rarest words ever spoken: “McClellan decides to attack.”

Abraham Lincoln: "So you're telling me you had the Army of Northern Virginia's entire battleplan practically giftwrapped and handed to you, and the best you could achieve was a tactical draw?" George B. McClellan: "Er... Um... Yes sir." Abraham Lincoln: "I'm surrounded by idiots... but I can still use this."

4 years going, and The Armchair Historian is still better than the History Channel.

Despite this being the bloodiest single-day battle in American history with 21,000+ casualties in the span of 12 hours, I hardly hear of people talk about it in recent years. I’m glad you’ve given your take on this battle, Griffin.

A stunning display of competence seems like the highest praise most civil war generals could hope for.

This battle demonstrates how revolutionary radio was to military engagements. Half of the reason Napoleon was so successful was because he prioritized communication between units and his generals knew him really well. It could also be argue the Wehrmacht's early success in ww2 was only because of radio.

McClellen was extremely popular with his troops He had built the Army from a rag tag group into an actual Army He likewise loved his Army which was he downfall as he was overly cautious.

“Burnside, in a stunning display of competence.” Lmao.

My great great grandfather was a Corporal in the federal army, more specifically, of the 26th Wisconsin regiment. He fought in 17 different engagements, including Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, and the Atlanta campaign.

Funny thing is I just watched a brilliant presentation given at Gettysburg about Burnside and how McClellan had unwittingly given him the hardest job. Even modern generals are astounded that Burnside carried the Antietam bridge at all.

I am convinced that the better sideburns these generals had the better general they were

I remember learning only about this battle through statistics of most bloody days in American history. So glad that you guys made a video on the Entire battle!

I like that Griffin called General Burnside a "facial hair pioneer."

The game "War of Rights" covers this battle, I highly recommend the game to anyone interested

I was born in Maryland, a little over an hour away from these battlefields. You can still find signs of the battle to this day. A lot of the old fences are still there, and you can occasionally (although *much* rarer these days) find old chunks of lead or shrapnel buried deep into the dirt or trees.

I’m currently working on my lesson plans for the upcoming school year for my US History class as a History teacher. I love the fact that you uploaded this video as it aligns with the Civil War time period I’m going to be covering. I can’t wait to show this video to my future students!

Just moved from living in Sharpsburg all my life. Nice quietish town lots of fun memories of swimming/floating in the creek and running or biking the trail that cuts through the battlefield. Crazy you can still see civil war influence like the one building in town with a old cannonball part of the second story lol

It’s baffling how McClellan had everything handed to him on a cigarette and could have eliminated Lee right there and then, but just didn’t.

McClellan threw away a golden opportunity to crush Lee here. He knew Lee’s battle plan. Had Lee backed up and badly outnumbered, and Lee did not have Jackson’s troops for most of the day. Talk about not getting out of your own way.

I live right by an old hospital to the battle. Hard to believe a place so peaceful now had such a big battle. Thanks for making this!

If I have a nickle everytime America got Bloodied from a place rhyming with “Am”, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice

I went to Antietam Elementary and grew up right near the battlefield remains. Nobody in our area doesn't know the details about this battle and for good reason. May that tradition never cease.

I would love a vid on the Portuguese Colonial War. It's a super unique and criminally underrated war that would make for an awesome video.

Aww, not a word about Clara Barton. She took a bullet through her dress while giving water to wounded men and wrapping their wounds. She was just as heroic as the men!

I went to the battlefield at Antietam/Sharpsburg in March 2018. It was windy and cold, so I was pretty much alone. I stopped and stood for a good long while at Bloody Lane. It’s a strange thing, to stand at the exact spot where so many were killed. Sort of eerie, with the wind blowing and the trees rustling…

McClellan’s big flaw of several was being overly cautious. Grant was bold and knew his capabilities and thus saw lots of victories.

I’ve been to Antietam and Gettysburg. Hard to imagine thousands of people dying in such beautiful places.

I’m a lot more used to seeing Germany or the Balkans in battle videos but seeing my home state is much more surreal

I'm glad you covered Antietam, I grew up in Sharpsburg and learned quite alot about the battle growing up. Unfortunately no one knows about it and thus don't have any idea where I come from or the significance of the battle that occurred lol. I'll show my dad this and he'll certainly get a kick out of it. Thank you!

I would love to see something like this on the Vicksburg campaign.

"At West Point, he was an energetic and ambitious cadet, deeply interested in the teachings of Dennis Hart Mahan and the theoretical strategic principles of Antoine-Henri Jomini. His closest friends were aristocratic southerners including George Pickett, Dabney Maury, Cadmus Wilcox, and A. P. Hill. These associations gave McClellan what he considered to be an appreciation of the southern mind and an understanding of the political and military implications of the sectional differences in the United States that led to the Civil War." George was basically a Southern Democrat who had little interest in prosecuting a war that violated his own personal beliefs.

Fun Fact: Colonel Robert Gould Shaw was also in this battle. After this, he would later lead the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and met his end in the famous assault on Fort Wagner.

McClellan was one of the South's best generals. Had the Union had better leadership the War would have been over in a year.

“I didn’t lose, I mearly failed to win! George B McClellan

Conventional wisdom is that Gettysburg was Lee's greatest mistake, but I think a case can me made that Antietam was the battle he should never have fought. Yes, Lee managed to escape back to Virginia with his army mostly intact, but he lost the very best, most committed southern soldiers--the ones who hadn't slipped out of the ranks when the army marched north of Virginia, and who had been hardy enough to keep up throughout the campaign. Those were the Confederate soliders whose morale was sky-high after stopping one Union army on the peninsula outside Richmond and routing another at Sexond Bull Run. Given that Lee knew McClellan was in possession of Order 191 and therefore knew the Confederate army was dispersed, and given that Lee knew he would have to fight on enemy territory with his back to the river, one would think the better strategy would have been to have consolidatied the army and slipped back across the Potomac instead of turning to fight. A battle like Antietam that ended in "bloody stalemate" was actually a pretty favorable result for the Confederates all things considered, and it's hard not to wonder what a better, or at least more offensively minded Union commander might have accomplished. Political consequences aside--when would the Emancipation Proclamation have been released had there not been a battle in September of 1862?--imagine a Confederate army in the spring of 1863 with 10 or 15K more veterans in its ranks, not to mention all the line and lower-ranking field officers, who were, as usual, lost in greater proportion at Antietam, and who were the backbone of Lee's army. And a large percentage of those veterans would have been fast-marching, hard-charging II Corps men, veterans of Jackson's Valley Campania; the sort of high-quality, highly motivated soliders that the Confederates could never replace once lost. In short, the best soliders the Confederates had or would ever have. True, the Union army would also have been saved the casualties from Antietam, but the number of troops was never the problem for the Union, it was experience and quality that were the issues, and no major battle in the fall of 1862 would just have meant more green Union regiments on the field whenever the next battle occurred. To put it another way, each solider killed or maimed in battle was far more damaging to the Confederacy than to the Union, so to have avoided the single bloodiest day of combat would have been a disproportionately greater benefit to the South. And maybe if he hadn't gotten them killed in a battle that could have been avoided. Lee might have been able to have used those excellent soliders decisively on a hypothetical future battlefield.

I remember this battle from Darkest of Days. Man going through that cornfield multiple times was crazy

Although I watch your videos through a translator, the way you explain everything on the shelves makes me think that you are the most interesting desk historian. You're the best desk historian I've ever watched. Thank you very much!

Nice, Antietam is such an interesting battle with it being basically the height of confederate command being in the same area

I would you cover Ulysses S. Grant's brilliant Vicksburg Campaign and dispell the lies and myths about General Grant.

I have been waiting for this day for years, ever since my group of reenactors re-enacted this battle I’ve wanted to see an over view of it on this channel. Good one!

Is there such thing as a pyrrhic draw? It seems like the Civil War has been such a touchy topic lately that you don't hear as much about it these days. I'm glad Armchair Historian "goes there" with the touchy topics. These things are still important.

If Grant had been in command during this battle, the war may have been ended far sooner.

It's crazy and puzzling how McClellan was such an excellent trainer and organiser in the way he built up the Army of the Potomac and the men LOVED him but was such a poor field commander

The animation quality is so fricking good. The shot at 14:24 is one of my favorite you've ever done. Fantastic video!

To anyone that has the opportunity I recommend visiting the Antietam battlefield in early December. Every year they put out luminaries for every causality of the battle. Pictures don't do it justice, the sight of fields of seemingly endless luminaries is something words simply cannot describe.

So far I’ve enjoyed your game! I think the overall art between your games and videos make for a great experience! Again I hope the best for your team and you! I plan on purchasing your DLC content and I’ve had quite the time playing through the Crimean story! I can’t wait to play as Prussia! I have quite the German heritage and I’d love to explore vicariously their journey!

Amazing coverage of this battle and surrounding information, thank you so much!

Gotta say I’m loving F&M so far great job guys!

Another great video! Hope this will become a series

I remember reading that the most violent event ever to take place on U.S. soil, was World War II fought in the Philippines. During WW2, the USA had colonies (e.g. Guam, Hawai'I and Philippines). The reconquest of the Philippines was one of the most bloodiest afairs in US history. This campaign cost an estiimate of one million Filipinoes their lives. Who were caught in the crossfire and died due through bombardments from US airplanes. Take Manilla for example, then the sixth-largest city in the US, that was decimated completely. Further reading: Daniel Immerwahr, The greater United States: Territory and Empire in U.S. History, 2016)

Antietam was a really rare type of battle. Where both sides suffered heavy casualties because both sides were evenly matched and competent (even though up until Antietam and Gettysburg, the Union leadership was pretty incompetent)

Wisconsinites are known as Sconnies. That's with a short "o". Also a note about Burnside's Bridge, if not for Burnside ordering the initial single charge across the bridge, casualties would be much lower and the Rebels wouldn't have had time to retreat. The "river" is about 6 inches at its deepest there. If he ordered a full mass charge across the river instead of just the bridge, Lee would've been pressed to not be completely routed or encircled.

I’m having a shitty day and can I just say I say I saw “Bloodiest Day” and I’m like….”you know it brother..” Cept that day was Antietam and today is Saturday and I’m just happy for a new video.

I remember going on several trips with one of my old Boy Scout troops back in the day. It's a surreal place to wander knowing all that took place.

Great content as always. Thank you

Thank you for all of your efforts putting this content together for us.

This is a fine introduction to Civil War history, but lacking details. 27th Indiana found the copy of Lee's orders wrapped around some cigars. The orders made it up to McLellan, but not the cigars. McLellan was removed from command after the Peninsula Campaign to be succeeded by Pope, who was relieved after 2nd Manassas. McClellan was the only General left to Lincoln at the time and the Army of the Potomac loved him. Lincoln didn't face any serious political opposition to war at that time. McClellan made the Army of the Potomac what it eventually turned out to be, he just wasn't willing to face the arithmetic of war and take the casualties necessary to win.

Order 191 was not hand written by Lee, heads up! They new it was legitimate because a union colonel recognized his friends signature. Love your content.

Thank you Griffin I've been watching yr channel for three years im glad u got yr game out!

This video was fantastic. Presentation was top notch and the switch to American Civil War content was refreshing and very interesting. More please 🙂.

I remember watching an episode of the documentary series: Civil War Journal, and the episode was about McClellan. All of the historians in the interviews listed why McClellan was “incapable” of commanding a field army. I would recommend anyone who wants to understand and learn more about McClellan, watch that episode of Civil War Journal.

Am enjoying your American Civil War videos. I've only got a basic knowledge of the war so your impartial videos do help in understanding the tactics used by both sides. Always seems like either side is always just 'one' maneuver away from the break through.

I remember visiting the Antietam Battlefield so many times as a kid. Growing up on western Maryland, Antietam (battlefield and creek) was practically in my backyard. However, this has been an extremely helpful source of history for the battle. Thanks!

getting better and better every video

Lots of love for our comrade armchair historian

Man the New game was better than my expectation. It was a Great experience playing it.. I’m playing as Prussia and Austria. It is really great I love it and I will be happy if new updates come out.

I love the battle music in the background. :) keep up the good work.

I used to live in Sharpsburg MD 200 yards from the battlefield. The land my house is on was used as a horse stable for the battleground. I hated to mow the lawn because it was on a very steep mountain top.

This is an excellent video covering a battle that was kind of skipped in the movies, not really well covered in normal school history books and glossed over in general.

It will be great that you bring to us a video about the Peninsular Campaign, because is interesting to see what near the Union been to end the war if McClellan would have been more aggressive on the field and in the same way how nearly Lee would been of Destroying the invasion army if Stonewall Jackson maked well his movements.

I'm loving this civil war content. Keep it up!

Another great show. Thank you!

Great vid. At 6:13 the rebels are referred to be in a corn field but the animation shows wheat or some other small grain

Please make more Civil War videos!!! With much love from India 🇮🇳

These anamations are getting so much better!

Thanks! Great work 👍

We once visited this field, and what a moving experience! Not from anything happening on the day of our visit (it was a rather quiet summer day, sunny and warm weather, a light breeze, not that many other visitors), but from what had happened there nearly a century and a half earlier. Standing near the corn field, the Dunker church, the sunken road, Burnside's bridge, not feeling modern or superior at all, but small in the face of so much courage and bravery and fear and pain, the echoes of it still strong, the very landscape still drenched in it so many years later, though deceptively quiet. All of it an assault not on the senses, but definitely on the heart. Lives, so many, many lives, cut short before their time, on both sides, each one no doubt loved by many souls in their small corner of the world from which they hailed. Grieving mothers, wives, children who had seen their young man march off down the road, only to receive in his place some years later a letter, perhaps from him or his command. A piece of paper! Small recompense for an entire man. And how did our young man die? Blown apart by a cannon volley? Repelled while assaulting a corn field? Slowed while wading a creek not knee deep, enough to be targeted by a sharpshooter hidden in a bramble patch? How pointless it must have sounded to those back home, whose heart would always ache for the loss. And yet, the thing must needs be seen through. People ought not own other people! Nor ought a nation needlessly divide over that question, weakening itself on a world stage where opportunistic foreign enemies were waiting to gobble up the remaining parts piecemeal and feast on the untold natural resources left unprotected. This home of liberty, of justice, of the greatest experiment in self-governance the world had ever seen, was too important to be allowed to fall apart. The thing must needs be seen through. Still, cold comfort to a grieving mother in her rocking chair, reading her Bible by candlelight, through the lonely watches of the night....

The Union had a hard time finding experienced and competent Generals during the start of the conflict because many of the battle proven commanders who fought in the Mexican-American war a decade prior were mostly from the Southern region of the United States.

Awesome video! Thank you!

Thank you going for the amazing content!

I love the inclusion of the Battle Hymn of the Republic at the end. I know it's a small detail, but I think it fits very nicely with the final monologue.

There are some historians who would insist that General Burnside was a much more competent and less petty general than most give him credit for. He did not hesitate to attack the bridge and in fact tried several times. His flanking force was given bad intelligence by McClellan's staff and they took longer to find the ford to cross the creek. But the most interesting part of it is that both Burnside and McClellan would write that his attack on the bridge was intended to be a diversion not the main attack. It was only when things went poorly on the Union right that McClellan pushed Burnside to move and save the day. If he intended Burnside's attack to save the day, he should have given him support. The IX corps was quite literally by itself on the left flank. He's definitely not the best general in the war, but he was far from the worst.

I love this video!! I hope to see more Civil War videos from this channel, if this video and your video on Gettysburg are anything to go by, there is so much potential for Civl War Content on this channel!!!

I like yalls civil war vids the best tbh. I hope we get more. I think an interesting video would be on the Zouave units.

In the Battle of Shiloh, the amount of Americans lost in that one battle was equivalent to the entire American casualties in the American War for Independence

Lincoln: He's on the run, chase him down and finish him off McClellan: ...NO Lincoln: You know what buddy old pal, you're fired!

Would love to see more of the battle videos. Fantastic job.

Awesome! One of my favorite battles of the war.

Grey clad scarecrows! God damn Griffin, you and your team can make anyone laugh. After seeing this vid, grate quality as usual, my distinguished sir, I'm getting the DLC and the rest of the bundle for Fire and Menuever. Can't really have the game without you yanks and Johnny Reb

Does anyone else find something so creepy about the Civil War?

Tfw you learn more from a 17 minute video than history class, you are amazing sir! another channel going on to my recommended list!

This was a big point about the Civil war in my middle school U.S history class, glad to see a youtuber make a video about it.

Please do a video on Sherman's march to the sea. I am curious about the logistics of it and its overall effect on the war. Since it was basically proto-total war it is also interesting how it affected later wars.

This is a little thing but I like how you use federal and rebel as much as confederate and Union, cause it reminds people that yeah this is a rebellion, not a war between two sovereign nations. Idk it’s a personal thing cause I started thinking how words have importance in teaching history

These animations are getting so much better

I've helped set up the Illumination 3 times. It is a very long 2 days of setting up and then you go out and light them all on Saturday night. So beautiful, so sad, so unfortunate.

Ah Antietam. The only thing McLellan did right.

I would like to see a video like this regarding the 54th regiment or the Harlem Hellfighters

Visited there last year and it’s definitely something you won’t forget.