Magee 1Many people are led to believe that the Battle of Gettysburg was the most important battle of the Civil War; however it can be argued that the most crucial battle of the war was the Battle of Antietam for three very important reasons. This showed the Northerners that they had a chance of winning the war; it showed Europeans that Northerners could win the war and also allowed Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. The Battle of Antietam was fought in Antietam, Maryland on September 17, 1862. It was the bloodiest day in American history up until D-Day of World War II, with 3,650 killed, 17,300 wounded, and 1,770 missing or captured. The Union Army of 75,500 men was led by General George Brinton McClellan. The Confederate Army of 38,000 men was led by General Robert E. Lee. It is difficult to comprehend such a large number of victims in a single day. The first reason Antietam is such an important battle is that at the beginning of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1863, the South won most of the battles, making the idea of ​​victory seemingly unapproachable for the North. However, the Battle of Antietam proved to the North that they could actually win the war. This is why the Battle of Antietam was considered a turning point of the Civil War. The amounts of Confederate victories early in the war were numerous. The following are just a few of their victories: the Battle of Fort Sumter, the Battle of Big Bethel, the Battle of Cole Camp, the Battle of Carthage, the Battle of Blackburn's Ford, the First Battle of Bull Run, and the Battle of Dry Wood Creek (Weaver) . As you can imagine, all of these Confederate victories had a direct impact on Union confidence. They were holding out when the Battle of Antietam came to the center of the newspaper and the federal government working to free slaves in rebellious states. This excluded border states and Union-controlled Confederate states. They were exempt because they were not in rebellion against the United States. The border states were states that did not declare secession from the Union. These states maintained slavery even after the Emancipation Act was enacted. The border states consisted of Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri and Maryland. The proclamation allowed blacks and slaves to serve in the United States Army. During the next two and a half years 180,000 of them fought in the Union Army and 10,000 in the Navy. They made an enormous contribution to the victory of the Union and to their own freedom. The Emancipation Proclamation greatly increased the intensity of the war. From now on war will be considered a new birth of freedom (Emancipation Proclamation).