The first battle of this movie takes place at Antietam Creek in Maryland on September 17, 1862. As the union soldiers emerge from the forest, the confederate soldiers open fire, propelled cannon balls into their midst. Shaw, points his sword forward to commence battle. As tree branches and dirt shower the troops, Shaw begins to look uncertain. He looks to his left as another cannon release its charge on the crowd. He then looks up to the sun that is covered by a hazy cloud of smoke from the battle. As the union troops receive much pressure from the Confederate soldier's gunfire, they do not appear to be retaliating. So far not shots have been returned on the confederate soldiers. As the gap between the two forces closes, the battle becomes more bloody and violent. The confederate soldiers are on a higher-level ground than the union soldiers giving them a greater advantage, and symbolizing that they are the dominant group in this battle. The union soldiers are now close enough for rifles to be effective and utilized. The Confederate soldiers open fire upon the soldiers. We begin to see the travesty of war. There are bodies of fallen soldiers as well as horses scattered in the quake of the union regime. As the first round of gunfire disintegrates the front line of the union soldiers, we see Shaw's optimism begin to falter. He covers his head as dirt from the nearby cannon ball shower him and his troops, killing many around them. He looks back to his troops and yells "Steady!- as he takes an uncertain step forward. We then see the confederate troops lined up along a wood fence that has posts and three planks of wood, there are two lifeless arms slumped over the bottom plank of wood. Their once pristine flag is bullet ridden; although they do not appear suffer many casualties. This could symbolize that the ideology in which they are fighting for will be defeated. As the battle unfolds, Shaw continues to order his troops forward.
