12. The Bloodiest Morning - Battleground 5: Antietam

September 17, 1862 24 Turns ------------------[ Historical ]------------------ 5am: This scenario features the attacks north of Sharpsburg on the fateful morning of 17 September. "Fightin' Joe" Hooker's I Corps is the first to get underway, soon to be joined by XII Corps under the direction of Joseph K.F. Mansfield, experiencing his first - and last - day as corps commander. Both Union corps run headlong into "Stonewall" Jackson's tenacious Confederates in and around the West Woods, supported by artillery under J.E.B. Stuart. Edwin Sumner's II Corps doesn't receive permission from McClellan to cross Antietam Creek until about 7 AM, and thus is unable to support the struggling Federals until sometime after mid-morning. Meanwhile, sensing that the main Federal push will be from the north, Robert E. Lee quickly strips units from his right flank and sends them, along with Lafayette McLaws' and R.H. Anderson's divisions (just up from their victory at Harper's Ferry), into an ugly brawl stretching from the West Woods to the Sunken Road - beginning what would become the bloodiest single day in American history.