Antietam Battlefield, Sharpesburg, MD

Antietam Visitors Center

Observation Tower view of
the Sunken Road or
Bloody Run as it was
named

Top of the Battlefield Observation Tower

August 2, 2014 Our last planned battlefield and the bloodiest one day of the war. More Americans died here  on that day than at the Normandy Invasion, (D Day), where 6300 were killed, or Pearl Harbor where 2200 were lost. 23,000 Americans died at Antietam in one day.

















The battle itself was essentially a draw with both sides suffering losses and neither vanquishing the enemy. As the two armies left, Lee to return to the South with his army in tatters, and Meade to retreat to Washington one objective was accomplished. The northern armies had stopped Lee from battling in the North and safeguarded Washington. This battle was a turning point of sorts in the war and Lincoln used it to issue in brief what later became the Emancipation Proclamation. Wow, are you all sick of history? We are steeped in it and the folks here live it.

Burnside Bridge where 500 Confederates held almost
12,000 Union troops for more than 3 hours

 It's time to start our journey home. There are sights to see but the nose of the truck will be pointed West. We are going home through Louisville, Kentucky, then on to Kansas City, MO, St. Paul, MN, and Custer Battlefield, MT., a different war, and home.