After our pleasant drive through the Catoctin Mountain Park, we arrived at the visitor center just in time to see the 10:00 showing of the park's orientation film (narrated by none other than Darth Vader/Mufasa himself, James Earl Jones). While not the best museum film I've ever seen, it did a good job of laying out the context of the battle, its key moments, and its impact on the war and the ending of slavery. After the film, we walked through the visitor center's small museum (which was much smaller than I remembered, only taking up two rooms). As the summer tourist season was over, there was not much being offered in the form of interpretive programs that day, so we decided to start our tour of the battlefield using the Travel Brains Antietam Expedition Guide I had purchased a few years ago.
 |
| The Dunker Church - The Dunkers were a pacifist, German Anabaptist sect, but their quaint little plot witnessed some of the worst carnage of the war. |
 |
| The monument to Clara Barton, who served a volunteer nurse during the war and, later, founded the American Red Cross. The cross on the monument is made from bricks from her birthplace. |
This trusty tour CD and companion guide follows the park's auto tour route providing both details of the fighting and human interest pieces about the participants. We visited the famed Dunker Church, the North, East, and West Woods, and the famed Miller Cornfield. By the time we finished up our study of the fighting on the morning of September 17, 1862, we were both pretty hungry and so, at the recommendation of one of the rangers on duty, we went for lunch at the Battleview Market (just a half mile from the visitor center). While this appeared to be a run-of-the-mill convenience store on the outside, it actually contained a nice little deli/grill and convenient seating inside. For anyone visiting the battlefield, I'd highly recommend lunch there.
 |
| Becca and me holding our official NPS centennial kerchief at the Burnside Bridge overlook |
 |
| Burnside's Bridge (currently under refurbishment) |
Back on the park grounds, we continued our way through the day's action with a stop at the Sunken Road, the famed "Bloody Lane." Then it was on to Burnside's Bridge over the Antietam Creek. Since the bridge is currently being restored, we weren't able to go over to the side of the creek from which the Union 9th Corps launched its repeated attacks but could get a good view of the terrain from the overlook on the Confederate side. We had decided earlier in the week that in addition to the driving tour, we would take advantage of one of the park's walking trails (and had purchased the trail guides for all 5 in the visitor center gift shop). Since we had already passed on the Cornfield, West Woods, and Sunken Road trails and the Union Advance trail was inaccessible due to the construction, we decided to do the 1.7-mile Final Assault walking trail. This route covers the advance of the 9th Corps once it finally took the bridge in the mid-afternoon and the counterattack by the Confederates of A.P. Hill's Light Division (which arrived on the field just in time after a 17-mile forced march from Harper's Ferry). Though I had a decent knowledge of the events that transpired during the battle, it was not one I have studied a bunch, this phase of the fighting least of all, so this little walk proved to be quite informative, To top it off the weather was almost perfect - brilliantly sunny, not too hot, and a nice breeze.Whenever visiting a battlefield I always like to take some time to walk the ground and this trail, over some hilly, wooded, and slightly rocky terrain made me really appreciate the sacrifices made by the men who, after marching and fighting through most of the day already, found themselves tangled up in what wound up being the bloodiest section of the bloodiest single day battle in American history.
Once we finished in the park, we made a quick detour at the nearby Pry House Field Hospital Museum, a branch of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Maryland. The house, used as hospital for Union soldiers and officers in the aftermath of the battle, has some excellent displays on Civil War medicine and surgery, as well as the battle's impact on the local community, and provided a poignant reminder of the sufferings of war and a conclusion for our trip. I would highly recommend both the Pry House, and the main museum in Frederick, to anyone interest in the fascinating story of medical development and innovation during the war.
Both Becca and myself had to work on Sunday, but after dinner decided to follow up our battlefield exploration with a game, so I set up the Antietam scenario from the 150th Anniversary edition of Richard Borg's BattleCry (from the great Command & Colours series of games). Becca took on the role of McClellan, while I took the command of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Interestingly, the game played out as almost a mirror opposite of the actual battle. The initial fighting took place on the Confederate right, across Burnside's Bridge, with the tide of battle shifting back and forth until both sides were too bloodied to carry on. Next, the Union forces tried to capture the Sunken Road but were hurled back with heavy losses. Finally a Union attack on the Confederate left had some initial success in the Cornfield, but was finally pushed back after a determined Confederate counterstroke. It was a costly battle for both sides, but my Southerners finished the day with a slight tactical advantage.
 |
| The Antietam scenario for BattleCry all set up and ready to go. |
Overall, our little excursion provided a much needed escape from work and proved to be both educational and enjoyable. I'd say Becca's first real trip to a Civil War battlefield was a success...she's already talked about going back (and maybe even bringing our dog).
Stay tuned for some upcoming figure reviews, game reports, and a trip to the Fall-In! wargames convention.
