Antietam National Battlefield

JohnHart · Mist Joined: 18 Mar 2008 Posts: 35

Antietam National Battlefield

Location: Sharpsburg, MD

History: The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. More men were killed here than on any other single day of the Civil War. The combined casualties of this single battle were over 23,000 wounded, missing and dead.

Fighting began at dawn on September 17th, 1862 at Antietam Creek near the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland. The battle opened when Union General Joseph Hooker's artillery began firing on troops led by Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in the cornfield north of town. They advanced, driving the Confederates before them; the battle moved back and forth for hours, each side taking and losing ground.

A major portion of the battle took place on a sunken road that divided the Roulette and Piper farms, today the road is known as Bloody Lane. Union troops encountered Confederates under General D.H. Hill posted along the road. The Federals tried numerous times to take the road, unit after unit falling back under the rain of fire from the Confederates. Finally the Union troops reach a position where they could fire down upon the road's defenders. The battle raged for nearly 4 hours.

On the southeast side of town, troops under General Ambrose E. Burnside spent hours trying to cross a stone bridge over Antietam Creek. Southern troops made up of only 400 Georgians held back the Union troops for nearly 4 hours until they were forced to retreat into Sharpsburg. The fighting left a number of dead soldiers most of which were hastily buried in unknown locations near the bridge.

The Phillip Pry House, a brick farmhouse overlooking the battlefield, was commandeered by Union General George McClellan for use as a headquarters during the battle. Currently the house is owned by the National Park Service and is not open to visitors.

The Piper House, located on the battlefield, served as a headquarters to Confederate General Longstreet and the barn was used as a field hospital. The house is now a bed and breakfast owned by Lou and Regina Clark.

The battle ended late in the day and was consider a draw. The wounded were taken to the St. Paul Episcopal Church in Sharpsburg.

The next day the opposing armies gathered their wounded and buried their dead. That night Lee's army withdrew back across the Potomac to Virginia, ending Lee's first invasion into the North.

Haunting: According to witnesses the Bloody Lane is haunted. Gunfire and the smell of gunpowder have been reported around the road. Ghosts of Confederate soldiers have been seen walking on the road. During a tour of the Bloody Lane, a group of Baltimore schoolboys claim to have heard the Christmas song "Deck the Halls" being sung in the fields around the road. This is the where the Irish Brigade charged the Confederates chanting their battle cry in Gaelic which sounds like "Fa-la-la-la-la."

Night time visitors to the Burnside Bridge have reported seeing balls of blue light and the sound of drum playing cadence.

Both the Pry and Piper houses are reported to be haunted. Reports range from footsteps heard on the stairs to apparitions of a woman. The woman is believed to be the wife of one of the generals who died there.

Reports tell of the screams of injured and dying still coming from the St. Paul Episcopal Church. Others report seeing flickering lights from the church's tower.
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John Hart
Vintage Computer Collector