Question

Which of the following is true of the Battle of Antietam?
Check all of the boxes that apply.

It was the bloodiest battle in US history.

It was a Confederate victory.

It led to the Emancipation Proclamation.

Union troops were forced to retreat.

Answer 1

- [x] It was the bloodiest battle in US history.
- Clarification: True as the single bloodiest day in American military history (about 23,000 casualties). Gettysburg had more total casualties over three days.
- [ ] It was a Confederate victory.
- False. Tactically bloody and inconclusive, but strategically a Union advantage because Lee withdrew from Maryland.
- [x] It led to the Emancipation Proclamation.
- True. Lincoln used the Union’s position after Antietam to announce the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation (Sept. 22, 1862).
- [ ] Union troops were forced to retreat.
- False. Union forces held the field; Lee’s Confederate army retreated across the Potomac.