Antietam Battlefield

A short 160 mile drive down I-81 brings us to Sharpsburg, MD, and the site of the bloodiest battle in the Civil War, Antietam. In September of 1862, Gen. Lee was headed north for his first invasion attempt of the North. On September 13, 1862, two union soldiers found Lee's Special Order #191 wrapped around three cigars in a field outside Fredrick, MD. The order detailed Lee's plans to separate his forces and dispatch some to take Harper's Ferry, others to Chamberstown on intelligence that Union militia were there. What resulted was for Union Gen. McClellan to ride out of Washington, DC with 87,000 men to intercept Lee. McClellan thought that they were headed for a Confederate force of 120,000 men. Upon hearing of McClellan's move, Lee decided to take a stand at Sharptown (Antietam, the name of the river that runs through here.)

This sculpture greets visitors to the Antietam Battlefield. About 10,000 of Lee's soldiers refused to cross the Potomac to invade the North, this was due to their belief that they were protecting the South from the hostilities of the Northern forces and did not want to take part in an invasion of the North. The quote on the sculpture was penned by Union Pvt., Julius Rabardy, a freed slave fighting for the Union army as he lay wounded between the warring Confederate and Union lines and both sides shooting at him. On one hand he was fighting for his freedom while on the other hand fighting for the survival of a nation.

Dunkers Church, so called because the German immigrants that built the church belonged to a sect that believed in baptism by full immersion. The church became a focal point for numerous Union attacks against the Confederate's left flank. At one point of the battle, a truce was held here to allow the opposing forces to exchange wounded and bury the dead.

The battle was fought on September 17, 1862 in three phases. The morning phase, Millers Cornfield. A Union bombardment, started at daybreak, shelled Confederate forces massed at the cornfield of Millers Farm, within view of Dunkers Church. The Union forces advanced behind the bonbardment and drove the Confederate forces from this position.

A view of the cornfield as it looks today. The Confederate soldiers we on the horizon holding the high ground as the Union shelled them.

The Confederates did launch a counter attack and regained some of the lost ground. As the cornfield battle was winding down, the federals were moving their troops toward a position along Antietam creek in support of Gen. Sedgewick but instead attacked the Confederate forces that lined the "Sunken Road." The battle here went on for four hours until the rebel forces were dislodged.

In this photo by Chris Light, the sunken road was a natural shooting gallery with Confederate forces on both sided. I took four hours for the Union forces to take and secure this area.

The afternoon phase and the last took place at Burnside Bridge. So named because Maj. Gen. Burnside had been trying to cross the bridge since mid-morning and was held at bay by Georgia sharpshooters. It wasn't until 1 pm that he was able to cross the bridge and captured the high ground around the bridge. After a 2 hour lull to reform the lines, the Federal forces moved up the hill driving the Confederates back to the town of Sharpsburg. The Union forces would have been able to enter Sharpsburg if it wasn't for the arrival of men that Lee dispatched to take Harper's Ferry, had they been able to do this, the escape route for Gen. Lee would have been cut-off.

View of the Burnside bridge today. As the fighting ended in the evening, and the Union forces preparing for the next days battle, Gen. Lee, having been beaten and surrounded on three sides, pulled his army back across the Potomac River ending his first attempt at invading the North. The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest battle day in United States history with close to 23,000 dead, wounded or missing. It has been fun learning about some of the Civil War. It is time for us to head to Pigeon Forge to see the Smokey Mountains. Please join us.