“I have heard of ‘the dead lying in heaps’, but never saw it till this battle. Whole ranks fell together.” – Captain Emory Upton, 2nd U.S. Artillery, at Antietam
I visited Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland back in August, but didn’t get around to uploading the photos until now. I’ve been to Gettysburg a few times, but have never made it out to Antietam (or Manassas, for that matter) despite its proximity to Washington DC.
The Battle of Antietam, fought on September 17, 1862, was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with 3,600 killed and over 17,000 wounded.
Dunker Church
Self-explanatory.
“Every stalk of corn in the northern and greater part of the field was cut as closely as could have been done with a knife, and the slain lay in rows precisely as they stood in their ranks a few minutes before.” – A Union officer
View of Bloody Lane from the observation tower
Antietam Creek
Burnside’s Bridge. Much smaller than I imagined.
Obligatory pose with artillery
Cannons at site of the “final attack”
Antietam National Cemetery
The base of this memorial reads “Not for themselves but for their country”
Reenactors about to perform a weapons firing demonstration
The rest of the photos are here.
Related posts:
- POTD: Burnside’s Bridge at Antietam Burnside’s Bridge is a landmark on the Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg, Maryland. Crossing over Antietam Creek, the bridge played a key role in the September 1862 Battle of Antietam during the American Civil War when a small number of Confederate soldiers from Georgia for several hours held off repeated...
- Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine Since I am leaving the Washington, DC area in less than two months, I’ve been trying to visit all the monuments/battlefields/historical sites that I never managed to see during my decade on the east coast. So, a few weeks ago I went to Fort McHenry in Baltimore. Fort McHenry is...
- Maine: Bar Harbor & Acadia National Park Despite living on the East Coast for almost a decade, I’ve seen almost nothing of New England. Sure, I had spent a very cold month in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire back in January 2004, but I had never ventured to iconic New England destinations like Boston or Maine....
From DancerInDC:
Great photos! Antietam is one of my favorite places to practice black-and-white photography, actually.
Although I find it hard to stop saying THE BLOODY LANE over and over.
From kyle:
great quote choice. and the pictures are cool too.
From Lindsay:
Thanks for the comments, guys.
From Garry:
Hello:
We would like to use your Antietam Cemetery image (the one with the graves and the US flags) in a Civil War lesson plan for teachers. The plan will be made available for free on our site and will not be for sale. May we use it to illustrate the cost of war at Antietam?
Thanks, Garry Adelman
Director of History And Education
The Civil War Preservation Trust
From Randy:
I always love looking at your photos, but the ones of the re-enactors made me laugh out loud. Isn’t it wonderful that these “rebs” are not only about 15 – 20 years too old, but that the combined weight of that company would be that of the average Confederate regiment? Such nice, clean uniforms, too.
From Rick Taylor:
Nice Work !
rt