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Antietam National Battlefield
Categories: Public Services & Government Landmarks & Historical Buildings Active Life Parks Landmarks & Historical Buildings, Parks [Edit]
18100 Bloody LnSharpsburg, MD 21782
(301) 432-7331
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
13 reviews for Antietam National Battlefield
Review Highlights
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"I been to a few Civil War Battlefields but this is by far..." In 8 reviews -
"The map at the Visitors Center was helpful with the..." In 4 reviews -
"...battle site just minutes from Gettysburg is a gem in its..." In 6 reviews
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13 reviews in English
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Review from Susan M.
Corona, CA
11/1/2011
When people think of touring Civil War battlefields, Gettysburg automatically comes to mind. But this lesser visited battle site just minutes from Gettysburg is a gem in its own right. Because less people visit it, there is more opportunity to really experience the Civil War at Antietam.
The bloodiest battle in American history took place in this area of Maryland. An audio tour, historic markers and monuments help to the tell the story of this one day battle. It is easier to picture how the battles occured here than in Gettysburg due to the uniqueness of the terrain at certain locations on the battlefield including the Cornfield and Bloody Lane (Sunken Road). Despite the awesomeness of Gettysburg and its 1300 monuments and markers, I enjoyed Antietam more. The audio CD is a must purchase as it includes a booklet with stories, photos and maps of the battle. At each stop, a story was told that made history come to life!
As a US History teacher, I would recommend Antietam as a field trip or must see location for a student of the Civil War who happens to be in the Sharpsburg area. -
Review from Ann B.
Annapolis, MD
9/30/2011
If you get the chance, Antietam is one of the Civil War battlefield to visit. It is a very different experience from Gettysburg. It not commercialized which can be good and bad. Your food choices in and around town are limited but it is not crazy commercial like Gettysburg can be.
If you give yourself the opportunity, you can get a sense of the horribleness of the battle, albeit without the shooting and cannonade. It really helps me to put my problems in perspective. -
Review from Mel B.
Washington, DC
8/30/2010
**This is stop 2 on my list "Road Trips Around DC: Canoeing and Civil War History in MD"**
This place gives you that characteristic feeling of walking along ground that you know is sacred, spine shivering, and humbling all at the same time. You can FEEL the spirits and the energy of the people who served, fought, and died here.
Start at the visitors center for some info, grab a map, stare out onto the field for inspiration and get going...
We drove it because it was 95 degrees in the middle of the day. I can see how walking would really give one the feel of what it was like to march on these farmlands, fields, and roads, imagining cannons and trenches lining the landscape, knowing your enemy is only yards away. In fact, by walking and spending a day lingering, you would actually spend about the same amount of time that the soldiers themselves would have spent there on this fateful day in our Civil War. Yes, it was only a day, not weeks or months of battling that unfolded here.
We regretted not going in autumn with not only a cooler temperature to make the tour more conducive to walking, but the foliage would be absolutely stunning for as far as the eye can see. In fact, the battle took place in September...
This place was awesome also because it's not commercial. I've never been to Gettysburg myself, but I've heard from Civil War buffs that Antietam, as compared to Gettysburg, is a lot more serene and untouched, and lot less commercial.
The tour was free but donate a few bucks or buy something in the gift shop if you can. It took us about 2 hours in a car including lingering a bit and reading all the plaques and signage along the way of tour stops 1-11. Climb all the towers you can, stand behind all the trenches and cannons that you can, and look up and around at the macro perspective of the landscape and its expanse. To be a little cheesy, the trees and hills tell you what happened there and, more importantly, how. The strategies of the regiments unfold before you even without a tour guide to narrate.
Cool fact: Once you get a load of Union Captain Burnside, you'll have an immediate insight into the origin of the word "sideburns." -
Review from Ari S.
9/15/2011 1 Check-in Here
Antietam National Battlefield is an amazing place to visit. They have it perfectly laid out and easy to find. If you aren't a history buff they have a guide if you choose to drive through the battlefield on your own. Each marker is laid out and easy to find. The map is incredibly accurate to where the markers are exactly laid out. Its like stepping back in time and experience something that changed our lives forever. I love the rural character of Antietam and how ever though it wasn't there during 1862, the tower that is built is perfect for getting a panoramic shot of the battlefield. The staff is incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. When you first pull in to get information from the registration building there are maps and information provided for you. There is a museum of information that maps out the whole battle for you step by step. Also there is a gift shop and a place to watch some historical films.
Tons of history, great staff, and beautiful memorials. -
Review from Paul M.
11/7/2008
Upon this forge the nation was built.
I went here last week with my brother, who is a Civil war nutter and teaches it as a subject in an inner city High School in London.
It was a beautfiul fall day. The first place we went to was the Burnside Bridge, which hasn't changed since the 17th September 1862. 23,000 people died that day. The bloodiest in American history. There is something beautiful and moving to think that the epitome of what they were fighting for finally came true on November 4th 2008. One hundred and forty three years later the Civil War has finally ended, and we get another tall, skinny guy from Illinois as our President. The last one turned out to be pretty good, so I have high hopes for this one.
Burnside Bridge has been perfectly preserved, you can see the Confederate defensive positions, you can still make out bullet holes in the slate embankment, you can see an engraving from about 1865 and you can see how much the tree has grown providing shelter to the whole bridge. It is such a beautiful, bucolic sight you want to open a hamper and a bottle of pinot grigio and sit and relax and enjoy the countryside. But you can't do that, not here where almost a thousand people died trying to take a bridge. The Union commander, who was a teetotaller, had banned the ration of whiskey - and he ordered his men to take the bridge. " If we do," shouted one soldier " will ye give us our whiskey?"
" By God I will yes" said the commander. They took the bridge.
Next stop the McKinley memorial. President McKinley was assasinated at the turn of the 20th century and he was a cook in this battle and he ran food and coffee under enemy fire to the soldiers in their entrenched positions.
From there we went to to the visitors center, where they pointed us to the memorial to the Irish Brigade. No unit suffered more casualties during the Civil War than the Irish Brigade. They fought at Bloody lane - a sunken lane, where they were fighting again against entrenched positions. Thousands of them died here, and as you look at it and start to understand how the battle went, you start to understand how , during this war, the technology ( in this case the Meunier ball) started to outstrip the generals ability to build strategy and tactics. Charging an entrenched postion makes no sense when your opponent has a high accuracy gun. Even by WW1 they had not figured this out - or refused to acknowledge it if they had.
This is one hour and 15 minutes from the Beltway, and it is a truly beautiful and magnificent place.Listed in: Pretentious - Moi?, Hallowed Ground
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Review from Beth E.
Atlanta, GA
9/30/2009
To those interested in the Civil War and/or American History, you must visit this battlefield. I visited at midweek/dinnertime, which was perfect, as the "people" traffic was light, so I could take my time (somewhat), driving the grounds, while having much individualized attention from the Ranger, whom conducted the Introduction Tour in the Visitors Center. There is a $4 fee (in general), which can be pain in the Center.
You must begin in the Visitors Center (internally), where you can sit on benches and look through the glass, at the fields, mountains, and the infamous cornfield, which lay claim to the bloodiest day of the Civil War.
If you allow yourself to visualize and be a part of what you are seeing, you can feel the history of the grounds. Do not rush through your visit, there is too much to see and take in.
I was on a schedule though, so the Ranger suggested that I visit the Observation Tower, where the trenches saw some of the highest casualties of the war. There are plaques upon plaques, detailing the skirmishes. The map at the Visitors Center was helpful with the landmarks.
I enjoyed this battlefield (that does not even sound right), for the fact that it was very peaceful, and not as affected by commercialism, as witnessed at neighboring battlefields. -
Review from Dave W.
6/28/2007
If you enjoyed Gettysburg then you will also enjoy Antietam (or Sharpsburg, as it was called by the Confederates). This is a pristine battlefield and luckily the developers have not found it yet. It is virtually unchanged and the scene of the bloodiest day in US history.
The carnage here was incredible and there were pieces of ground that changed hands three or four times. There is a tower that you can climb where you can see the entire battlefield. In one area, you can see where the Union and Confederate batteries faced each other and fired almost level with the ground - direct fire from cannons - this would have been devastating and yet, the soldiers did as ordered.
There was a corn field where not a single stalk remained standing after it was fought over, back and forth, by both sides. Once a year they put candles out around the battlefield and the sight is stunning and moving.
Here you will find Burnside's Bridge across a stream (Antietam Creek) - a site of an intense battle by troops trying to cross the bridge.
This is a big part of Civil War history and it, along with many other battlefields, should be seen by every citizen. -
Review from Jessica S.
Waialua, HI
8/14/2011
One of the best laid out and clearly marked driving tours of any battlefield we've visited. Rangers and volunteers were friendly and helpful. A lot of history packed into a relatively small area.
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Review from Andrew B.
Olney, MD
4/28/2011
Antietam National Battlefield is among the best and most profoundly important historical assets in our national park system. Despite the addition of a Visitor's Center, stone memorials and unit/movement/battle plaques, the battle site has retained much of the look and rural character it would have had on the fateful battle day in September of 1862. The farmsteads that stood on what would become America's bloodiest single-day killing ground, -Mumma, Roulette and others- are well-maintained and add to the historic ambiance of the site. Many years ago, when I was much younger, there were still important sections of the battlefield that were privately owned and not available for visiting. However, across the intervening decades, the Park Service has done well in acquiring more and more of that land, allowing the park visitor an increasingly complete picture of the battle's ebb and flow.
The battle started at dawn on the morning of September 17, 1862, when Federal forces under the command of Union General Joseph Hooker began a southward advance, launched from the Poffenberger farm and encountering fierce resistance from Confederates, under the command of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, in a thirty acre cornfield owned by farmer David Miller. Through repeated attacks and counterattacks, the battle raged in Mr. Miller's cornfield for about three hours, at the end of which, very little had been accomplished beside the killing or wounding of almost ten thousand men from both armies. Ten thousand in three hours! That's 3,300 men an hour, or 55 per minute... almost one every second. I challenge any reasonably thoughtful human being to stand in that place -no longer just A cornfield, but rather THE Cornfield. The BLOODY Cornfield- and consider those three hours, without getting a lump in the throat or tears coming to the eyes.
Antietam National Battlefield is some of the most important historical ground anywhere in our nation. If you're a citizen of the U.S., you own it. I cannot recommend strongly enough that anyone with an opportunity to visit this site, should find a way to take advantage of that opportunity. -
Review from James V.
Montclair, NJ
4/23/2011 1 photo
I been to a few Civil War Battlefields but this is by far my favorite. It was pure hell getting to Antietam but this journey was worth all the drama of the drive. his was the bloodiest single day battle of the war. So many brave Americans died fighting on this Hallow ground. This battlefield have three must see potions. The first part is the Dunker House and the bloody cornfield. The second stop should be the Bloody Lane and the last part Burnside bridge. It's important to read about the battle before visiting. This is a must see for all Americans but especially for the young kids who take our nations history for granted. This union victory was key for President Lincoln's Emanacipation Proclamation, which basically told the World that the American Civil War was about ending slavery .
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Review from Dan R.
8/15/2008 3 photos
About an hour or so south of Gettysburg lies the next closest battlefield if you're following the Civil War Trail. It is very large and open, with some trees and a lot of fields and fences. Monuments from different groups and battalions abount on this battlefield. There is a walking tour and a map available at the office. 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of savage combat on september 17th 1862. Kind of Sad.
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Review from CLARENCE J.
Arlington, VA
12/6/2010
Antietam is a great place to visit and remember the violence that occurred in a single day in 1862. Watching one of the documentaries - an hour-long one narrated by James Earl Jones that's shown at noon each day, or a shorter one shown every hour or half-hour the rest of the day - in the visitors' center and wandering the museum are great ways to start your tour. From there, you can follow the roads in your car to each of about 10 stops, or you can walk it all. It's definitely quicker by car, but I think the rolling fields would provide a nice 4-6 hour hike, which many people were doing that the day I went. I found the southern half of Antietam (the trails around Burnside Bridge, south of Rt. 34) to be the most poignant and vivid, possibly because it's less exposed to modern buildings or because of stories illustrated in the documentary, although the Sunken Road in the northern half of Antietam allows some shocking mental imagery also. (One surprise to me in the southern half was the monument to Sergeant - and later President - William McKinley, who won accolades while in charge of the commissary department of an Ohio regiment during the battle.)
The staff is very friendly. They aren't all knowledgeable about Antietam - the battlefield or the tours - which surprised me, but they meant well at all times. The visitors' center is well done, and the tour and points of reference are clearly marked. -
Review from justin p.
Walnut Creek, CA
4/26/2008
not as built up and touristy as gettysburg, but a little more pristine. also some nice walking trails like down along antietam creek from burnside bridge. i love finding all the wild paw paw trees around there.
