Scourge of War - Antietam
Freehold, NJ
Antietam Battle Pack for
Scourge of War – Gettysburg. Now in final testing,
Antietam is scheduled for release late in 2011.
Antietam is the second expansion pack for
Scourge of War – Gettysburg. Featuring the battles of Antietam and South Mountain, Antietam will include
26 new single player and 2 multi-player historical scenarios. Played on four new meticulously researched and accurate maps, Antietam promises to deliver the ultimate Civil War playing experience for casual and hard core gamers alike.
The Battle of Antietam or Battle of Sharpsburg was fought on September 17th, 1862 along the Antietam Creek, near the small farming community of Sharpsburg, Maryland. The battle was part of General Robert E. Lee’s Maryland Campaign and was the first major battle to take place in Union territory. It was the bloodiest single day in American history, with around 23,000 casualties.
Shortly after Lee launched his Maryland campaign, McClellan’s Army of The Potomac cautiously pursued him. When the McClellan’s Army was encamped in Frederick MD on Sept. 13th, Union soldiers discovered order 191, a detailed campaign plan outlining the movements of Lee’s forces. This document held the key to completely destroy Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, yet the timid McClellan acted slowly and did not fully take advantage of it.
However on Sept 14th, he did manage to surprise a portion of Lee’s army guarding the South Mountain gaps, where he achieved a decisive victory. McClellan did not capitalize on his success and instead of pursuing Lee’s forces over the mountain; he halted allowing Lee’s army to consolidate on the high ground west of the Antietam creek.
This set the stage for the largest battle of the Civil War up to that point. Again, McClellan acted timidly and stalled for nearly two days, which gave Lee’s army valuable time to re-enforce his lines. Jackson’s force had captured Harpers Ferry on Sept. 15th and portions of it were still making its way to Sharpsburg. By the morning Sept 17th, all of Lee’s divisions were setup on good defensive ground near Sharpsburg, minus A.P. Hill’s division who had been left to parole the Union prisoners at Harpers Ferry. He would arrive later that afternoon just in time to provide a crushing flank attack on the Union left, which would end The Battle of Antietam resulting in a stalemate.
