The Drummer of Antietam

The ballad speaks about a drummer boy who meets his fate with death, among hundreds of soldiers who are dead as well, at the battle of Antietam. The Battle of Antietam was a 2 day long fight that occurred between the days of September 16 and September 18, 1862, although most of the battle took place on September 17th. It is considered one of the bloodiest single-day battles of the Civil War because no matter how hard the Union attacked,the Confederates would match their attacks equally even though the ratio of the troops were about two to one; there were about 23,000 casualties. As close as the battle seemed, the Union won the battle.