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Congressional Medal of Honor Antietam Recipients Antietam Battle Sharpsburg Maryland
September 16-18, 1862
On September 16, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan confronted Lee's Army of Northern Virginia at Sharpsburg, Maryland. At dawn September 17, Hooker's corps mounted a powerful assault on Lee's left flank that began the single bloodiest day in American military history.
Attacks and counterattacks swept across Miller's cornfield
and fighting swirled around the Dunker Church. Union assaults against the Sunken Road eventually pierced the Confederate center, but the Federal advantage was not followed up. Late in the day, Burnside's corps finally got into action, crossing the stone bridge over Antietam Creek and rolling up the Confederate right. At a crucial moment, A.P. Hill's division arrived from Harpers Ferry and counterattacked, driving back Burnside and saving the day.
Although outnumbered two-to-one, Lee committed his entire force, while McClellan sent in less than three-quarters of his army, enabling Lee to fight the Federals to a standstill. During the night, both armies consolidated their lines. In spite of crippling casualties, Lee continued to skirmish with McClellan throughout the 18th, while removing his wounded south of the river. McClellan did not renew the assaults. After dark, Lee ordered the battered Army of Northern Virginia to withdraw across the Potomac into the Shenandoah Valley.
September 17, 1862 was the bloodiest day of the Civil War. Federal losses totaled 12,410 and the Confederates lost 10,700 men. Although neither side won a decisive victory, General Robert E. Lee's failure to carry the war into the north was significant to the outcome of the war. The battle also gave President Lincoln the opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation , which on January 1, 1863, declared free all slaves in States still in rebellion against the United States.
Anteitam battle field on the day of the battle September 16,1862.
Estimated Casualties: 23,100 total
Medal of Honor Recipients
A Navy version of the Medal of Honor was the first to be approved by President Lincoln on December 21, 1861. At the time it was the first and only decoration formally authorized by the American Government to be worn as a badge of honor. The Armys version was approved the next year for enlisted men and then amended to also include officers who shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other soldier-like qualities.
A total of 1,520 Medals were awarded during the Civil War. Twenty men received Medals for their gallantry on the Battlefield at Antietam. Eight of the twenty men were awarded the Medal for either capturing or saving flags.
In 1916 a board of five retired General Officers was appointed to investigate the validity of all the Medals which had been awarded. 911 names were stricken from the list, most from the Civil War . The majority of those were from the 27th Maine Infantry who in June of 1863, a critical time of the war, received Medals of Honor just for re-enlisting.
The Confederate government, seeking to increase morale and to recognize their soldiers, authorized medals and badges for 1) officers conspicuous for courage and good conduct on the field of battle or 2) to one enlisted soldier per regiment after each victory. This soldier was to be chosen by a vote amongst regiment.
When appropriate medals could not be supplied, the Confederate Congress authorized the Roll of Honor in October of 1862. The Roll of Honor covered all ranks and it was ordered that the Roll would be: 1) preserved in the office of the Adjutant and Inspector General; 2) read at the head of every regiment at the first dress-parade after its receipt and; 3) published in at least one newspaper from each state.
The only woman to be awarded the Medal of Honor was Mary Edwards Walker . Born in New York, she graduated from Syracuse Medical College in 1855. At the outbreak of the Civil War, the Union army would not hire women doctors, so Dr. Walker volunteered as a nurse in Washington D.C.s Patent Office Hospital. Later she was contracted as an assistant surgeon with the 52nd Ohio Infantry -- the first woman to serve with the Army Medical Corps . In 1864 she was captured and spent four months in a Confederate prison. She was awarded the Medal in 1866, only to have it removed by the 1916 Board. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter restored her award which is now on display in the Pentagon.
President Abraham Lincoln and Major General George B. McClellan
#
Name
Regiment
Brigade/Corps
Approximate Area of the Battlefield
Action
14
Haskell, Marcus M.
Sergeant
35th MA
Ferrero/IX
Burnside Bridge
Carried wounded comrade from field even though he was wounded
15
Libaire, Adolphe
Captain
9th NY
Fairchild/IX
High ground west
of Burnside Bridge
Carried colors after entire color guard was shot down
16
Whitman, Frank M.
Private
35th MA
Ferrero/IX
Burnside Bridge
Instrumental in saving lives of several comrades
Other Events
17
Carter, John
2nd Lieutenant
33rd NY
Irwin, VI
Just east of Dunker
Church
Led counter-charge
18
Curran, Richard
Asst. Surgeon
33rd NY
Irwin, VI
Just east of Dunker
Church
Voluntarily carried wounded comrades from the battle line
19
Greene, Oliver D.
Lt. Colonel
Asst. Adj. Gen.
to Franklin/VI
East Woods
Formed lines under heavy fire
20
Hyde, Thomas
Major
7th ME
Irwin, VI
Piper Farm south
of Bloody Lane
Led assault on a strong body of the enemy's infantry
Medal of Honor Men Present at Antietam
This is a list of men who received Medals of Honor for action before or after the Maryland Campaign of 1862, and who were probably present for duty with the Army of the Potomac in September 1862.
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