Life
Antietam and America
On Monday, Leslye and I drove out past Frederick to Sharpsburg, Maryland, the site of the Civil War battle at Antietam. We took a ranger-led tour of key portions of the battlefield, including The Cornfield, a patch of ground fought over repeatedly on the morning of Sept. 17, 1862, and Burnside’s Bridge, where several hundred Georgians held off a larger force of Union troops for hours, giving critical time to the outnumbered Confederates.
The day was quiet and windy and beautiful. Of course, there are photos.
Our guide talked about the confusion of war and the luck (good and bad) that visited both sides. He also stressed how Antietam affected America and its perception of war. That day saw more than 23,000 killed, wounded or missing — in a span of 18 hours — and the war would continue for more than two years. After the battle the Army of Northern Virginia went back across the Potomac to Virginia, exhausted and worn down by long marches.
“The battle was seen as a victory in the North,” the ranger said. And it was, at least in political terms, for it gave Lincoln the momentum to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and steadier base for prosecuting the war. Perhaps the real lesson can still be realized: The ranger invited us all back on Dec. 4, when the battlefield will be lit with candles for each of the 23,000-plus casualties of war.
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Going to Antietam was probably one of the most valuable experiences I had at Pitt, and it’s certainly one that continues to stick out (mumble)teen years later. (We’re getting old, dude…) Freshman year I took “American Way of War” and we went on a field trip to Yorktown, Frederick and Gettysburg. The contrast between the Antietam and Gettysburg parks is amazing and really struck home to me the different ways people learn and understand historical events.