"The Whole Landscape for an Instant Turned Slightly Red"

"The battle of Antietam, or Sharpsburg, the bloodiest day in American history, rebuffed the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia’s first invasion of Northern territory, convinced European nations to withhold recognition from the Confederacy, assured Republican control of the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections, gave Abraham Lincoln political cover to announce the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and finally persuaded the president that the Union could no longer afford Gen. George B. McClellan."

In The New York Times, Rick Beard marks the sesquicentennial of "America's Bloodiest Day."