A print from a painting by Alonzo Chappel is entitled: Battle of Antietam. Gallant Charge of General Burnside's Division at the Bridge. The Battle of Antietam also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, in the South, was fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek. The first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties. Union Major General Ambrose Burnside's corps entered the action, capturing a stone bridge over Antietam Creek and advancing against the Confederate right. At a crucial moment, Confederate Major General A.P. Hill's division arrived from Harpers Ferry and launched a surprise counterattack, driving back Burnside and ending the battle.