By the end of the Battle of Antietam, the Union forces achieved a strategic stalemate.

While they were able to halt General Robert E. Lee's invasion of the North, they did not achieve a decisive victory that would have completely routed the Confederate army. The battle resulted in significant casualties on both sides, with around 22,000 soldiers wounded or killed. Although General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac was able to claim the battlefield, Lee’s army managed to retreat back to Virginia without being pursued aggressively, leaving the overall strategic situation unresolved and leading to continued conflict in the war.