To Make Men Free — Richard Croker

It was the battle that altered the tides of war ... and the fate of a nation.

On September 17, 1862, in Sharpsburg, Maryland, more than 23,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed or wounded, making the Battle of Antietam the bloodiest day in American history.

Robert E. Lee must act as a general when his youngest son pleads not to be sent "back in there." Confederate General A. P. Hill arrives on the field at the last possible moment with something to prove to his former West Point roommate, Union General George McClellan, while Abraham Lincoln desperately struggles with the issue of emancipation of the slaves. Much of the battle is seen through the eyes of Stonewall Jackson's young adjutant, Kyd Douglas, and a little-known reporter named George Smalley, who scoops the competition with his vivid account of the battle.

From the White House to the battlefield, this immaculately researched novel masterfully re-creates the day that dashed Southern hopes for a quick victory and paved the way for Lincoln's most enduring legacy -- the Emancipation Proclamation.