Part 27 - A Grim September Day. At the halfway mark in the battle, McClellan gains ground, but the toll in human life is almost incomprehensible. In the previous seven hours of fighting, 18,500 men from both North and South were dead, wounded or missing on the field. In the remaining seven hours, 5,000 more men fall in combat. It's September 17, 1862 and President Abraham Lincoln needs a victory in order to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and end slavery in the South. But Robert E. Lee has other plans - invade the North. When Lee's strategy falls into the hands of the Union Army, the result is the single bloodiest day in American history at the Battle of Antietam in Sharpsburg, Maryland. The Battle of Antietam results in more casualties than the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War and the Spanish American War combined. In fact, the bloodiest day of World War II, D-Day, amounts to only one quarter of the casualties suffered at Antietam. Narrated by Ronald F. Maxwell, director of the epic Civil War films Gettysburg and Gods & Generals, and written, produced and directed by Robert Child, Lincoln and Lee at Antietam - The Cost of Freedom vividly brings to life the story of America's fight for freedom in a battle that changed the course of the Civil War. Lincoln and Lee at Antietam - The Cost of Freedom features commentaries from renowned historians such as Pulitzer Prize winning author James M. McPherson (Battle Cry of Freedom and Crossroads of Freedom:Antietam);two-time Lincoln Prize recipient Allen C. Guelzo; National Park Service historian at Harpers Ferry; author of Antietam Revealed and associate producer of Gods & Generals, Dennis E. Frye; actor/performing historian Patrick Falci and National Park Service historian at Antietam National Battlefield Park, Paul V. Chiles. Each explains the significance of this first Civil War battle fought on northern soil. Also appearing in the film is Stanley Wernz, President of the Association of Lincoln Presenters, as Abraham Lincoln. Through first person accounts, an original music score from composers Steve Heitzeg and Nicholas Palmer and scarce Antietam commemorative battle footage from the 125th, 135th and 140th Antietam Reenactments, this film tells the tale of the 14-hour epic Battle of Antietam. Available on DVD.