Antietam

Although this won't be posted until early Monday morning, it is our Sunday post so... Happy Father's Day to two incredible men, my dad, Carper, and Rachel's dad, Patrick! We love you and can't thank you enough for all that you have done for us and helping shape us into the women we are today.

Before I talk about our visit to Antietam, I wanted to comment on Appomattox. As Rachel said, it was a very moving experience to walk through the gravel streets where General Lee rode up to the McLean House on horseback, stepped into the parlor, and forever changed our nation's history. The simplicity of the town of Appomattox Court House reflects the ease of surrender; a war that had been fought so ferociously between friends, brothers, ended with a harmonious "Gentlemen's Agreement." I have no doubt that Appomattox Court House will remain in one of the top slots of my favorites of this trip.

In the spirit of Sunday, we got some much needed rest and didn't head out to Antietam until noon. The Battle of Antietam might not be one that comes to mind when most think of the Civil War, but it is definitely one for the history books. September 17, 1862 marks the bloodiest single-day battle in American history; 23,000 men were killed, wounded, or missing. The battle was the culmination of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North. His Maryland Campaign had many objectives: secure Southern independence through a victory in the North and gain recognition from Britain and France, move the war out of Virginia, obtain supplies, influence the mid-term elections (get anti-war Northern Democrats in office), and liberate Maryland, a Southern state in the Union. 

The fighting broke out at dawn near the small town of Sharpsburg, MD where the men fought through the Cornfield, the East Woods, West Woods, the Sunken Road and around Dunkard Church as the Confederate Army tried to stop the three major attacks made by the Union Army. After 12 hours of combat, the battle ended in a draw and both sides gathered their wounded and buried their dead. The Confederate Army retreated back across the Potomac, ending Lee's invasion of the North. This provided President Lincoln with the opportunity to announce his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation which freed all of the slaves in the rebellious states. Therefore, Antietam is in the history books for a second reason: the war was not only being fought to preserve the Union, ending slavery had become a second purpose. 

Antietam Battlefield with Dunkard Church in the background 

The memorial honors the men who fought in Hood's Texas brigade during the Civil War. They quickly developed a reputation for fierce tenacity but also suffered the greatest losses of any infantry regiment, both North and South, in the Civil War.

The Cornfield

Antietam National Cemetery

Photographer, Mathew Brady, (father of photojournalism) sent photographer Alexander Gardner and his assistant James Gibson to photograph the carnage of Antietam. The photographs were displayed in Brady's New York gallery in an exhibit titled "The Dead of Antietam." This was the first time many Americans were exposed to the realities of war through the graphic photographs of corpses laying on the battlefield. Although the bodies have long been removed from the fields, I stared at the fields with tears silently rolling down my cheeks. I can't escape the thoughts about the many lives that were changed because of the events that occurred on this hallowed ground. Although I am not personally connected to the site, my life has been changed by the sacrifices of these men, and for that, I am eternally grateful.