Date

11-13-2024

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)

Chair

David Jonathan White

Keywords

Civil War, Antietam, Casualties, 12th Massachusetts, 15th Massachusetts, 3rd Wisconsin, 59th New York, 63rd New York, 69th New York, 9th New York, 14th Indiana, 1st Texas, 3rd Arkansas, 6th Georgia, 13th Georgia, 7th South Carolina, 27th North Carolina, 30th Virginia, 2nd Mississippi

Disciplines

History

Abstract

The Battle of Antietam saw some of the most terrible fighting of the war. Nearly 23,000 men were killed or wounded that day and of the over 400 regiments that were engaged, sixteen of them entered the battle with over 250 men but ended the day with over 50% casualties. The primary reasons for these sixteen to have suffered such terrible losses are: 1) five of the regiments had the unfortunate luck of halting on a piece of high ground becoming the target of every enemy regiment and artillery battery within range, 2) thirteen regiments adhered to accepted doctrine but were overpowered by superior numbers and firepower while the remaining three did not follow doctrine and suffered the consequences, and 3) fifteen of the high-casualty regiments had experienced combat before and were classified as veteran regiments so they understood and knew what to expect, giving them the fortitude and resilience to stay and fight when, without that experience, prudence and fear most likely would have caused them to retreat. To sum it up…having “seen the elephant” before the battle allowed them to suffer the heavy losses they experienced on the fields around the small Maryland town of Sharpsburg.

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