The casualties at Antietam numbered for times the total suffered by American soldiers at the Normandy beaches

The casualties at Antietam numbered four times the total suffered by American soldiers at the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944. More than twice as many Americans lost their lives in one day at Sharpsburg as fell in combat in the War of 1812, the Mexican War and the Spanish-American war combined.

J. M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom (1988), 544

The United states has usually prepared for its wars after getting into them

The United states has usually prepared for its wars after getting into them. Never was this more true than the Civil War. the country was less ready for what proved to be its biggest war than for ant other war in history. In early 1861 most of the tiny 16,000-man army was scattered n seventy-nine outposts west of the Mississippi.

J. M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom (1988), 312-13