The Maryland and Fredericksburg Campaigns, 1862–1863: U.S. Army Campaigns of the Civil War

The Maryland and Fredericksburg Campaigns, 1862–1863, continues the series of campaign brochures commemorating our national sacrifices during the American Civil War. Authors Perry D. Jamieson and Bradford A. Wineman examine the Maryland Campaign and the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history. The battle ended in a tactical draw, but strategically it was a great success for the Union. The Confederate retreat gave President Abraham Lincoln the victory he wanted before he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Whereas the events of September 1862 inspired optimism in the North, the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia three months later represented the low point of the Union war effort. In this conflict, General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia defeated the Union forces led by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside's Army of the Potomac. By halting the Army of the Potomac's drive on Richmond in December 1862, the Battle of Fredericksburg had set the stage for a second Confederate invasion of the North in 1863.