Antietam

This historic national park commemorates the bloodiest single day in American history where troops of the Confederate and Union armies met in a quiet Maryland farming community in 1862 during the US Civil War. Having visited Gettysburg two years ago and wanting to see more historic sites (but wishing to avoid the chaos of Gettysburg's 150th anniversary), we drove through PA and WV to arrive in this bucolic town. It is hard to believe that a place so peaceful and idyllic could have seen such violence and devastation.

This is a view from a line of Confederate artillery to the Dunker church (so called for their practice of baptism). The white building of prayer, home to a peace-loving congregation was at the center of the morning fighting as Confederate troops took to the woods behind while Union men pushed them out from a cornfield nearby. It is said that not a stalk of that September corn stood at the close of the day.