Sumner and French at Antietam 

One of the many things that I find interesting is the fact that history is very subjective based upon the historian that is interpreting the events that transpired. That same notion can be translated to the events for the Battle of Antietam, specifically the battle for the Confederate center otherwise known as the Battle for the Sunken Road or Bloody Lane, which may have resulted from an error in movement by Brigadier General William H. French who was in command of the Third Division of the Second Army Corps.

The morning before the battle French’s division, along with a detachment under the command of Major General John Sedgwick, where station closed the headquarters of General McClellan’s headquarters east of Antietam Creek. This led to Maj. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner receiving orders from McClellan to take French’s division and Sedgwick’s detachment and move east across Antietam Creek to support an attack on the Confederate left.

The main instance in where this topic is severely contested among historians is the fact that during the march across the creek, French’s division fell behind Sedgwick’s and did not come onto the field for about twenty or thirty minutes after Sedgwick. This caused French to lose track of the division he was following, and instead of heading west toward the West Woods, French moved south on his own volition to antagonize the Confederates by precipitating the Battle for the Sunken Road.

I find this to be interesting in the fact that one minor detail during a major Civil War engagement precipitated into a conflict within a conflict. If French had managed to keep pace with Sedgwick, I feel that the Confederates would have routed the Union forces to cause the battle’s outcome to be different, but then again this is just pure speculation at this point.

Armstrong, Marion V. "Sumner and French at Antietam." Civil War History LIX.1 (2013): 67-74. Web. 25 Apr. 2013.