What was the outcome of the Battle of Antietam?

• A. Union victory
• B. Confederate victory
• C. A tactical draw with the Confederates retreat
• D. A decisive Union victory with a decisive pursuit

Answer: (C)

This outcome is best understood as a tactical stalemate where no side achieved a decisive battlefield objective, yet the Confederates withdrew to Virginia. On the day, Union forces did push Lee’s army back at times and inflicted heavy casualties, but they did not destroy the Army of Northern Virginia or force a surrender. Lee’s forces retreated in good order, preserving their army, so there wasn’t a clear, decisive Confederate victory either. Because the Confederate army escaped intact, and there wasn’t a decisive Union pursuit that finished off Lee, the result is described as a tactical draw with Confederate retreat. The broader significance is that halting Lee’s invasion gave the Union a strategic advantage and opened the path for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, but that strategic impact doesn’t change the battlefield characterization of the day.