The Antietam National Battlefield

 There are many sites to see at Antietam National Battlefield. Some say you can't see everything in one visit, but you have to return many times. Antietam has 250 monuments all of which are scattered around the battlefield.
 

The Antietam National Battlefield employees offer many tours. The biggest tour runs in phases. The Morning phase runs from 6 am to 9 am. During this phase you stop to see six different sites. The first you will see is Dunker Church. This church was a high point for both armies. Although, sadly the church was leveled by a storm in 1921 but rebuilt in 1962. North Woods is the next stop on the tour. This is where General Hooker launched the initial Union attack and in the Cornfield, which is a half a mile south of the West Woods. East Woods comes next. This wood is where Union General Joseph Mansfield was fatally wounded here as he led his XII Corps into battle. The Cornfield is where the most fighting took place, approximately 3 hours worth. In West Woods Unions General John Sedgewick's part of the troop lost more than 2200 men. Mumma Farmstead was burned down during the battle by the Confederates to prevent its use by the Union soldiers. The second phase is the Midday phase which runs from 9:30 am to 1 pm. During this phase you are able to see Roulette Farm which was crossed by the Union troops who were on their way to meet the Confederates. Sunken Road otherwise known as  (Bloody Lane ) is where over 5000 people were killed. The last phase runs from 1 pm to 5:30 pm. On this you see the Lower Bridge ( Burnside Bridge ) is the battlefield's best known landmark because this is the key factor to McClellan's failure at Antietam. The Final Attack is the place where Lee's line of retreat was cut off. Antietam National Cemetery is home to the 4776 Federal soldiers and 1836 unknown people.

 

Every year around September or October a number of volunteer residents of Hagerstown and Sharpsburg, Maryland, and other local cities come together to stage Civil War re-enactments.  1997 saw the largest battle re-enactment for the 135th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam. The web links below contain great photos and information on the battle and its re-enactment.

Famous people who were at Antietam: George Custer (1839-1876) was a 22 year old officer for the Union Army at Antietam. During the Civil War he became a general. Custer did not fight because he was a staff officer. The battle that made him most famous for his role was the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25,1876. This battle is often referred to as " Custer's Last Stand." In this battle about 210 troops and their general were killed by about 2,000 Sioux and Cheyenne near the Little Bighorn River in Montana. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935) was wounded in fighting in the West Woods at Antietam. He was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court for almost 30 years. He was appointed to the bench by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1902. Being a Supreme Court judge, he protested that the high court was declaring many laws unconstitutional. The reason was because they did not conform to the judges' concept of " due process of law." Holmes enlisted in the Union army soon after the Civil War began. He was wounded three times. He then moved up to the rank of lieutenant colonel. The 21 year old Holmes survived after being shot in the neck by a Confederate solider. He was cared for by a supply officer in Keedysville. William McKinley (1843-1901) was the 25th president who recognized for bravery at the Battle of Antietam, for assisting Union troops. He was in charge of his regiment's commissonary at age 19. He served rations to soldiers who were trying to cross the bridge under heavy fire at the Battle near Burnside Bridge. In 1897 McKinley was elected president. He was also re-elected for a second term. Six months into the second term he was assassinated in Buffalo, N.Y. in September 1901. Stonewall Jackson (1824-1863) Thomas Stonewall Jackson is one of the most famous military commanders. Two days before taking his Confederate troops to Antietam he captured the federal garrison at Harpers Ferry, W.Va. General Robert E. Lee thought of Jackson as his "right arm man." Jackson fought in many battles with Lee. He got international fame several different ways. For example, his lighting marches and his successful battles throughout Shenandoah Valley against the union troops. At Antietam Jackson was the commander of the left wing of Lee's army, and he lead the troops into battle at Dunker Church and the West Woods into battle. Eight months later he was killed by a Confederate soldier. Near the Chancellorsville mission during the night the soldier mistook him for an enemy.

Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) in June 1862 took over command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Three months later he led the confederate soldiers into Maryland for the South's first invasion of the North. Lee retreated his troops to Virginia as well as reorganized them after the battle at Antietam. After this Lee then led his Confederate soldiers into others battles. For example, the second invasion of North at Gettysburg, Pa., in July 1863. Lee became a private citizen after he was in war. Lee was barred from holding a public office. Although he was eventually given a complete pardon. Lee spent the last years of his life serving as the president of Washington College in Lexington, Va. After a brief illness he died in 1870.

Abner Doubleday (1819-1893) fought in many Civil War battles, including Antietam. Historians say that he is often mistaken for the inventor of the baseball. He was a brigadier general at Antietam. He was also a major general in the Union Army during the war. Doubleday was also the commander of Union Troops at Fort Sumter. This is where the North fired their first shots. After Doubleday died in 1906, there was a commission established by major league baseball officials. They credited him for the invention of baseball in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1839. From this the Cooperstown residents established the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Now historians believe that Doubleday had little to do with the baseball. The commission based their reason on a friend of Doubleday. Doubleday's friend claimed to have been there when Doubleday invented the game. Authorities say that baseball was played early as the 1600's. They also say that it evolved from England's version of "rounders" which was hitting a bat with a ball.

To learn more about the Antietam Battlefield and the history that developed there, visit these links on the World Wide Web:

The Re-Enactment of the Battle of Antietam

Civil War Sites

The Battle of Antietam: A Photographic Tour

The National Park Service