The Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College and the American Civil War Museum (Richmond, Virginia) are pleased to announce a special full-day tour of the Antietam battlefield on Saturday, April 20, 2024, to be led by distinguished author and former National Park Service historian, D. Scott Hartwig. Over the course of the day, participants will explore some of the key moments in the fighting on September 17, 1862, discuss the diverse experiences of the soldiers who fought there, and learn, through the words of those who survived that day, how the soldiers sought to make meaning out of all that they had endured. A boxed lunch and dinner at Lilah’s Restaurant in Shepherdstown, WV will be provided; attendees may choose to park at Gettysburg College and ride the coach bus to Antietam (bus departs at 8:00 am), or meet the bus at the Antietam Visitor Center at 9:00 am. The bus will return to Gettysburg around 8:00 pm.
Scott Hartwig retired from the National Park Service in 2014 after serving as supervisory historian at Gettysburg National Military Park for twenty years. He is author of an acclaimed two-volume series on the Antietam Campaign deemed the “definitive account” of the battle. The first book, To Antietam Creek: The Maryland Campaign of 1862 (JHU Press, 2012) takes the reader from the return of George B. McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac through the Confederate invasion and the fight on South Mountain to the eve of battle. The second, just-released volume, I Dread the Thought of The Place: The Battle of Antietam and the End of the Maryland Campaign (JHU Press, 2023) continues the story through the battle itself and its lasting reverberations: military, political, and social. All tour participants will receive a free copy of I Dread the Thought of The Place.
Cost is $175 per person, and SPACE IS LIMITED TO 50 PARTICIPANTS. To register, please visit the Tour Page. Questions may be directed to the CWI office at 717-337-6592 or civilwar@gettysburg.edu.