The only major Northern victory during the early stages of the war came during the battle of Antietam.
The battle of Antietam was also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg. It was a battle of the American Civil War, fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac, near Sharpsburg, Maryland and Antietam Creek.