Why Robert Edward Lee wanted to invade Maryland? Essay

Why Robert E. Lee Wanted to Invade Maryland
Robert E. Lee had many reasons of why he wanted to invade Maryland. One reason was that Maryland could provide food and other supplies for his army. Another reason was that he thought that if he could take over Maryland, than he could relieve Virginia of enemy occupation. Maryland was an undecided border state so if Lee could influence them into siding with the south, it would benefit the confederates. Lee also wanted to have a victory so that he could gain attention from Europe so that they could aid the South.
Morning Phase
6 am to 9 am
On September 16 Stonewall Jackson's troops were at Sharpsburg and Lee had them positioned where the Potomac River on their left and Antietam Creek on their right. On high ground in front of Dunker Church he placed a cannon overlooking the Lower Bridge. In the evening George McClellan had 60,000 troops prepared to attack.
The Battle started when the Union started a murderous fire on the Confederates across Antietam Creek. They marched towards Miller's Cornfield while the Confederates fired on them. McClellan responded by firing their infantry and training cannon. Joseph Hooker's troops advanced toward Jackson's, driving the Confederates before them, and Jackson reported that his men were "exposed for near an hour to a terrific storm of shell, canister, and musketry." About 7 a.m. Jackson was re enforced and Succeeded in driving the Federals back. An hour later Union troops under Gen. Joseph Mansfield counterattacked and regained some of the lost ground. Less than 200 yards apart, the opposing lines fired lead into each other for a half hour. During the three hours of battle, the Confederates had stopped two Federal corps and a division from another, totaling about 20,000 men. Approximately 10,000 men from both sides were dead or wounded.
National Battlefield of the Battle of Antietam
Midday Phase
9 am to 1 pm
Gen. William H. French's division of Sumner's Union corps moved up to support Sedgwick but went south into the center of the Confederate line, under Gen. D.H. Hill. The Confederates were posted along a ridge in a road separating the Roulette and Piper farms. The 800-yard-long road had been worn down over the years by heavy wagons taking grain to the nearby mill, making an ideal defensive trench for the Rebels.
Five brigades of D.H. Hill's troops guarded this lane. Soon three brigades had been pulled out to support Jackson in the East Woods, but they were beaten back by Union Gen. George Greene's attack on that position. By 930 a.m. the Confederates were stacking fence rails on the north side of the road to provide protection from the Union forces. From 930 a.m. to 1 p.m., bitter fighting raged along this deeply cut lane (afterward known as Bloody Lane) as French, supported by Gen. Israel B. Richardson's division, also of Sumner's corps, sought to drive the Southerners back. By 1 p.m. there were about 5,600 killed and wounded troops.