Compiled by Jim Hachtel, President
Gen. William T. Sherman Memorial Civil War Roundtable
September 16, 1862 - Ebenezer Farrand, Commanding navel officer at Drewry's Bluff, is issued a vote of thanks by the Confederate Congress. This was for his action in the Battle of Drewry's Bluff on May 15, 1862.
September 16, 1862 - General Robert E. Lee positions his 18,000 man Army along Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland and awaits the arrival of General Jackson's army, moving from their recent victory at Harper's Ferry. Ambrose P. Hill's Confederates are still at Harper's Ferry gathering captured supplies. Harper's Ferry is 17 miles from Sharpsburg. General McClellan arrives at Sharpsburg late in the evening with about 80,000 men, about double the Confederate strength even with Hill's unit.
September 16, 1862 - General John Pope arrives at his new duty station in St. Paul, Minnesota as the commander of the new Department of the Northwest.
September 17, 1862 - The Battle of Antietam begins about 5:30 AM when General Joseph Hooker's I Corps (12,000 Union Soldiers) clashes with the left flank of General Jackson's Confederates. The battle is a technical draw but is the bloodiest day of the Civil War, and still ranks as the bloodiest day of any war involving Americans. General Lee's invasion of the North is halted but casualties are heavy with 12,410 Union soldiers and 11,172 Confederates dead, wounded, or missing.
September 17, 1862 - General Braxton Bragg, with some 30,000 Confederates at Munfordville, Kentucky, captures 4,000 Union troops under Colonel John Wilder's command. Colonel Wilder, with no military training, enters General Simon B. Buckner's Confederate headquarters under a flag of truce and asks for guidance on what to do. Buckner shows the Colonel around the strong Confederate position and suggests surrender of all Union troops. Wilder lays down his arms and all Union soldiers are captured; then paroled and released.
September 17, 1862 - Union soldiers are forced out of the Cumberland Gap with the fall of Colonel Wilder's detachment at Munfordville, Kentucky. Tennessee is now open to invasion by the victorious Confederates.
September 18, 1862 - President Lincoln, grasping for a victory or at least some good news for the Union, judges the Antietam draw as military pretext to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
September 18, 1862 - General Lee withdraws to Virginia without any interference or active pursuit by General McClellan's Army.
September 18, 1862 - Confederate General Earl Van Dorn at Vicksburg, Mississippi directs General Sterling Price to meet up with his army at Pocahontas, Tennessee. The plan is to join Braxton Bragg's force as they move into Tennessee after their victory in Kentucky. Unknown to Van Dorn, Price is being held in place by a Union column, which spoils this plan.
September 19, 1862 - General Braxton Bragg occupies Glasgow, Kentucky with his Army of Tennessee.
September 19, 1862 - Generals William Rosecrans and Edward O. C. Ord march two columns of 9,000 Union soldiers each southwest of Iuka, Mississippi in an attempt to trap General Sterling Price's 15,000-man army between them. Cavalry warnings alert General Price and the danger is averted when Price attacks the 11th Ohio Battery, seizing nine cannons. General Ord's order was to move when he heard shots fired but the curious "acoustic shadow" phenomenon caused him to fail. This claim also caused Rosecrans to be blamed for the loss. Friction between Ulysses S. Grant, Edward Ord, and William Rosecrans continued throughout the war.
September 19, 1862 - Skirmishing between General Robert E. Lee's army and Union forces takes place at Boteler's Ford. This is where Confederate Artillery Commander General William Pendleton reports to General Lee that all of his 45 cannons are captured. General Jackson is ordered forward to move against General Ambrose P. Hill's division and block the ford.
September 20, 1862 - General Ambrose P. Hill advances at Boteler's Ford and into Virginia after severe cannon fire with the 118th Pennsylvania forced over a high bluff with heavy losses. General Pendleton's report of complete loss of Confederate cannons on the previous day was revised to "only four are lost." Pendleton is restricted to administrative functions.
September 20, 1862 - General Bragg intends to encounter the Army of the Ohio commanded by General Don C. Buell as he marches from Munfordville toward Bardstown, Kentucky.
September 21, 1862 - General Buell arrives in Louisville ahead of General Bragg's advance. Union forces reoccupy Munfordville, abandoned by General Bragg.
September 22, 1862 - The Emancipation Proclamation, promising freedom for all African Americans currently held as slaves in secession states, is made public. President Lincoln skirts the issue of slaves held in Border States. Reactions to the unveiling of the proclamation range from anger to wild enthusiasm. The major immediate effect of the issuing of the proclamation is to lower the probability that England and France, both countries where slavery has long been banned, will not actively support the Confederacy.
September 22, 1862 - Union forces reoccupy Harper's Ferry.
