Civil War Series

One-hundred-fifty years ago this week, Confederate and Union soldiers met in one of the deadliest single day battles in history. Dr. Glenn La Fantasie of the WKU Institute for Civil War Studies and WKU military historian Jack Thacker say President Lincoln considered the Battle of Antietam to be a victory and selected the aftermath of the battle as a good time to move ahead with plans to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. However, the WKU historians say the plan to free the slaves was less popular in the north than many people believe.

One-hundred-fifty years ago this week, Union and Confederate forces met for one of the deadliest single day battles in American history. The Battle of Antietam took place in Maryland, after Confederate commander Robert E. Lee decided to move north from Virginia. The battle is remembered for high casualty figures and graphic photographs that increased public awareness about the death and suffering caused by the fighting.

As Congress has struggled to move ahead with a variety of legislative packages in recent years, some WKU historians have drawn a contrast between contemporary lawmakers and those who made up the 37th Congress. That Civil War-era group of legislators were successful in passing several significant pieces of legislation at the same time the nation was split by the war between the Union and Confederacy.