Summer of 21 - #25 - Maryland Road Trip - Antietam National Battlefield

May 19th, 2021 - Part 3 of 4  

We left the waterfall and continued our journey through the amazing countryside.

Somewhere amongst the trees is Camp David, the country retreat for the President of the United States.

The next stop for the day was Antietam National Battlefield. 

"The Bloodiest Day in American History--Hope for Freedom

"23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of savage combat on September 17, 1862.  The Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's first invasion into the North and led Abraham Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation."

The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1st 1863.

"The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."

Despite this expansive wording, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the United States, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy (the Southern secessionist states) that had already come under Northern control. Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union (United States) military victory.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of Americans and fundamentally transformed the character of the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom. Moreover, the Proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.

From the first days of the Civil War, slaves had acted to secure their own liberty. The Emancipation Proclamation confirmed their insistence that the war for the Union must become a war for freedom. It added moral force to the Union cause and strengthened the Union both militarily and politically. As a milestone along the road to slavery's final destruction, the Emancipation Proclamation has assumed a place among the great documents of human freedom."

The Visitor Center was open but none of the exhibits inside were. We did get a map of the battlefield though.

The grounds were well cared for.

Bleeding Hearts

Looking over the battlefield from behind the Visitor Center

There was an auto-tour, similar to Gettysburg, that we followed. 

Stop 1 - Dunker Church - "Built in 1852, this modest house of worship for pacifist German Baptist Brethren became a focal point for Union attacks the morning the battle"

Dunker Church

There were monuments here as well but we didn't stop to get closeups of most of them.

Stop 2 - North Woods - "Union Gen. Joseph Hooker's men spent the night before the battle on the Pffenberger farm.  At first light the Union attack advanced south from here toward Jackson's lines. "The stars were still shining when [Hooker's] skirmishers became engaged." a soldier would later recall."

J.Poffenberger Farm

Stop 3 - East Woods - "A small engagement took place in this area the night before the battle. The fighting also opened here early on September 17th as Union and Confederate soldiers exchanged deadly musket volleys, vying to control these woods."

East Woods

Stop 4 - Cornfield - "This 24-acre cornfield saw some of U.S.history's most horrific fighting.  For nearly three hours Hooker and Mansfield's Union forces battled Jackson's Confederates. Many regiments on both sides were cut to pieces. Hays' Louisiana Brigade suffered over 60-percent casualties in 30 minutes."

The cows have taken over

Stop 5 - West Woods - "Around 9.30am Gen. Edwin Sumner's Union soldiers advanced into the West Woods. The combined firepower of Confederate artillery and attacking infantry drove them back. In 20 minutes over 2,200 Union soldiers were killed or wounded."

West Woods

This tree has become a victim of presumably the wind.

Stop 6 - Mumma Farm and Cemetery - "The only deliberate destruction of property during the battle was the burning of this farm. Confederate soldiers were ordered to burn these structures to prevent their use by Union sharpshooters. Fortunately, Samuel Mumma and his family had fled to safety before the battle. The Mumma family rebuilt the home in 1863."

Stop 7 - Union Avance- "During mid-morning nearly 10,000 Union soldiers moved across the Mumma and Roulette farms toward the Confederate center at Sunken Road.  Two Union soldiers were awarded Medals of Honor for bravery in these attacks."

"I Found the Enemy in Great Force"

"About 9:30 a.m. the battle started to shift from the north end of the battlefield towards the Sunken Road, Two divisions from the Union Second Corps moved across the Mumma and Roulette farm fields, over 5,000 soldiers commanded by Gen. William H. French assaulted the Confederate position. French, who was ordered "to press the enemy" with all of his force, locked into a bloody and costly struggle against Confederates positioned in the well worn sunken farm road. Approximately an hour later, Gen. Israel Richardson's division of over 4,000 men moved in to support their comrades.

Gen. Nathan Kimball, whose men advanced across the ground in front of you, remembered that, "Directly on my front, in a narrow road running parallel with my line, … forming a natural rifle-pit between my line and a large corn-field, I found the enemy in great force … As my line advanced to the crest of the hill, a murderous fire was opened upon it from the entire force in front. My advance farther was checked, and for three hours and thirty minutes the battle raged incessantly, without either party giving way."

Stop 8 - Sunken Road (Bloody Lane) - "This farm lane served as a breastwork for the Confederate center. For about three hours 2,200 Confederates, later reinforced by additional troops, held off the attacks of a combined Union force numbering nearly 10,000. Finally, just after noon, this thin gray line collapsed and fell back several hundred yards to the Piper Farm. The Union attackers had suffered too many casualties to pursue their advantage. Seeing the dead in the road an observer wrote,"They were lying in rows like the ties of a railroad, in heaps like cordwood mingled with the splintered and shattered fence rails. Words are inadequate to portray the scene." 😔

There was an observation tower.  We didn't climb it as time was getting on and we still had one more place to visit today.

Fortunately there were pictures of the views from the top.

Next stop was Burnside Bridge.

"While the Sherrick home was not badly damaged, combat and hungry soldiers had devastated their fields and food stores. Union forces used the Sherrick farm as a field hospital in the aftermath of the battle. The Union army stayed on the field for roughly six weeks following the battle to tend to the dead and wounded. In addition, the Army of the Potomac needed to resupply and train the many new regiments that had the misfortune to join right before the bloodiest single-day battle. This extended bivouac proved more damaging to the Sherrick's farm than the battle itself."

We continued on to Burnside Bridge.

Stop 9 - Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge) - "About 500 Confederate soldiers held the area overlooking the Lower Bridge for three hours. Burnside's command finally captured the bridge and crossed Antietam Creek, which forced the Confederates back toward Sharpsburg."

Stop 10 - Final Attack - "After taking the Lower Bridge, Burnside moved across these fields from east to west, pushing back the Confederate right flank.  Just as it appeared that Lee's line was breaking, Confederate Gen. A.P.Hill's Light Division arrived from Harpers Ferry to drive Burnside back to Antietam Creek."

Stop 11 - Antietam National Cemetery - "This hill was occupied by Confederate artillery - neither this nor the town cemetery across the road were here in 1862. At first the dead were buried where they fell on the battlefield. Later they were reinterred here, along with Union soldiers who died in combat or in hospitals throughout the region. A total of 4,776 Union soldiers rest here along with dead from four other wars. Separate even in death, Confederate soldiers were buried in Hagerstown and Frederick, Md. and Sheperdstown, Va., now West Virginia."

Our next and last stop for the day was the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. I'll cover that in the next blog.