This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.

The Battle of Antietam, fought on September 17, 1862, near the small Maryland town of Sharpsburg, stands as the single bloodiest day in American military history, with over 23,000 casualties falling in just twelve hours of combat along the banks of Antietam Creek. This savage encounter between the Union Army of the Potomac under General George McClellan and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia commanded by General Robert E. Lee would prove to be a pivotal moment in the Civil War, ending Lee's first invasion of the North while providing President Abraham Lincoln with the victory he needed to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation that would transform the conflict from a war to preserve the Union into a crusade against slavery.

The strategic circumstances that led to the Maryland Campaign of 1862 reflected the complex military and political pressures facing both the Union and Confederate governments as the war entered its second year. For the Confederacy, the string of victories achieved by Lee's army in Virginia during the Seven Days Battles and Second Bull Run had created an opportunity to carry the war into Union territory, potentially gaining international recognition while relieving the pressure on war-torn Virginia. Lee understood that Confederate independence would ultimately depend on breaking Northern will to continue the war, and an invasion of Maryland offered the possibility of achieving decisive political results that might not be attainable through defensive operations alone.