"Visiting Antietam" Topic

As part of Historicon 2018 I'm thinking about visiting Antietam. I've not been to this battlefield before so I'm curious how long I should allocate for a thorough review of the field. If we visit all aspects of the field is it 2 days or is it really a 1 day thing? For reference I spent 3 days at Gettysburg the last time I went and didn't feel like I was wasting any time.

I've been there a couple of times and managed to make it a one day thing both times, but I've also managed Gettysburg in one day as well. With you spending three days at Gettysburg I can definitely see you spending two days profitably at Antietam. Enjoy.

If you like to walk the field and take advantage of the many newer walking trails (best way to fully understand the fighting in/around the west woods/cornfield and fighting after Burnsides bridge), then you will need at least a full day. If you choose you can combine your visit to Antietam with some of the South Mountain locations and Harpers Ferry. Between them they can take 2 days.

The field at Antietam is much smaller than Gettysburg, but it will really depend upon how detailed of a tour/study you want to partake in.

We did it in 1 day easily. We drove to the main points of interest and walked from each of those. The bridge has been re opened and looks very nice. Maybe go to the tower just after the visitor centre to get a good view across the battlefield.They used to do ranger drive tours wherein you would drive around aftera ranger and do stops. Not sure if taht still exists?

hope you really enjoy the battlefield. Do take snacks and water though.

I did three days there and could have easily done more. If you have 2 days it would be well worth it. Of course, I was doing research and taking pictures for my book, so it depends on how in-depth you want to get.

One day would probably let you hit all the major sites. Although, as noted, the South Mountain sites and harpers Ferry are close by and well worth a look, too.

As part of Historicon 2018 I'm thinking about visiting Antietam

You mean "Sharpsburg" suh….

My trips have always been one day visits.

Two days minimum for Antietam. We stayed at very nice B&B in Sharpsburg. We visited it over the July 4th weekend last year. Then we went to Gettysburg for three days. Our plan was to encounter small crowds at Antietam and avoid the July 4th crowds at Gettysburg. Mission accomplished!

Sharpsburg was excellent to visit but nowhere beats Gettysburg. Visiting from Scotland I found all the sites we clambered over from Gettysburg south to Appomattox Courthouse and all down the Shenandoah Valley all were superb. Museum at New Market was a wee gem and definitely worth a visit.

I would highly recommend getting Antietam: The Photographic Legacy of America's Bloodiest Day Paperback – 1978 by William Frassanito You can get it used for $2.50 USD.

link

What Frassanito did was take all the battlefield photos and 1. find where and in what direction they were taken and 2. plot them so you can stand there too with the book and original photos.

It is a mesmerizing and powerful experience to see the same outcroppings, trees and terrain and compare it to the photos, stand where soldiers are seen standing in 1862.

Along with the history, there are photos of soldiers killed and buried in the military cemetery where you can go find their headstones.

With his books, [one is on Gettysburg] Frassanito did more for inspiring the preservation of the battlefields than any other author.

You can pick up walking tour brochures/guides in the visitor center. I recommend those for the various walking tours.

I still say that Antietam, or Sharpsburg if you prefer, is a good battlefield to do by bike. The different locations are not so far apart that you need a car to go from one to another, but there are enough of them so having a bike will let you spend more time at each location.

Was trying to think how you would split up two days at Antietam. Maybe…one day from the Union side covering their approach and deployment and one day from the Confederate side covering most of the fighting.

Or one day on the Dunker Church, East/West Wood, Sunken Lane, side and the next day on the Burnside Bridge side, possibly including a quick side trip to Harpers Ferry then retracing the movements of AP Hill's Division.

I did it in a day, stopped off to visit Monocacy on the way back to DC

Well, having been there many times, always just for a day, I always regretted that I couldn't spend another there, but then I am a battlefield obsessive. For a first time visitor I think a day would enable you to get it all in. If your considering other nearby sites as mentioned above, I believe two days would be necessary. Some of my favorite generals fought there and I find it a really fascinating place. You might consider sticking a book or two, (a la McLaddie, above), on the battle into your haversack to enhance your visit. Thanks, john Miller

Thanks guys for all the suggestions! @ChrisBrantley we were thinking one day for Dunker Church, cornfield, etc, and the 2nd day for Burnside's and the other fighting on the southern half of the field along with going over to the Union side. If we decide we've seen enough we'll swing through Gettysburg for a quick little refresher look before going to Lancaster.

The trick is to GET OUT OF THE CAR. Have Maps of Antietema or the Carman/Cope maps. Park at the Visitors Center and walk to the North Woods. Begin your tour from there. Walk all around the Cornfield and East Woods. Go to lunch. Walk all around the West Woods. Walk all around the Sunken Road and Piper Farm. Go to dinner and call it a night.

Second Day park at the National Cemetery. Walk around the hills and the Middle Bridge battlefield. Park at Burnside Bridge. Walk all along the bridge and the hills around it. Go to lunch. Go back and park at Burnside Bridge. Walk all around the valley. Follow the 9th New York from its jumping off point to the monument. Walk to the end of the battlefield on the Harper's Ferry Road. Follow Hill's attack to the Otto Cornfield and follow the battle there.

If you get really detailed and take lots of pictures, you can easily do 2 days.

And there's nothing like standing the southern edge of The Cornfield at dawn.

I agree, get out of your car. Sure you can do it in day if you stay in your car or just walk around your car. I took a map with all the approaches by various units and walked them. Took my time visited with a couple of the Park Rangers.

I took with me the West Point map. Priest's book, The Army War College Guide to the battle, "Artillery Hell" by Johnson and Anderson and "Death In September" by Jamieson.

I spent more time than I expected at Burnsides Bridge. There was crew there doing some conservation work. They were restoring the bridge to what it looked like at the time of the battle. They had a big white sheet with the pattern of the stones drawn out by the Curators. I could have spent a week there.

I thought it would be reasonably self evident that having spent 3 days at Gettysburg that, in fact, we don't "stay in the car." So it sounds like that in two days we can get a reasonably thorough review of the field.

Thanks for all the thoughts!

PDF link
I recommend reading the US Army staff ride on the battle and following it on your visit. The link takes you to the PDF. I have taken this staff ride when I was at Army War College and it made certain elements of the battles in the campaign much clearer. It should take one and a half to two days to cover the sites on the ground.

Re walking the Antietam battlefield … very seriously:
Keep a sharp eye out for gopher holes in the fields. On my last visit there I put my leg into one up to the knee and considered myself very fortunate to have suffered only a knee sprain.

B

Seriously. They are everywhere.