sep 1, 1862 - Battle of Antietum

Description:

The turning point of the war. It was this battle that allowed Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation hat made the war about slavery, which in turn caused Europe to pull its backing of the South. The Emancipation Proclamation enabled free slaves to fight in the army, rather than just dig ditches and work as grunts, in addition to freeing all slaves in the US.