Antietam

Though we were able to sleep in a bit more this morning, our ride to the Antietam battlefield did not look too promising.  The weather was cloudy and rainy, and I worried about how I was going to take notes and hold an umbrella all at the same time.  Luckily, just as we were arriving, the sky cleared up, and it turned into a beautiful day, not unlike September 17, 1862.  We met our good friend Dennis Frye (our guide from Harpers Ferry) and he began orienting us to the battlefield.  The rolling landscape and dominating mountains that surrounded us were so peaceful, but Dennis was sure to remind us that despite its beauty, some of the hardest fighting in the Civil War happened right where we were standing.  That really put things into perspective.

The Antietam battlefield has some of the most recognizable Civil War landmarks, and we were sure to explore all of them.  After visiting General McClellan's Headquarters at the Pry House, we took a short break for lunch and then made our way back to the scene of the first phase of battle.  We spent some time in the infamous Cornfield where thousands of soldiers lost their lives still in the rows they marched in.

Our next movement was behind the Dunker Church, and we actually did some marching!  Dennis had us all line up in "brigade front" and he marched us the same way Sedgwick's men marched to an unsuspecting flanking by Lee (although, I hope Sedgwick's men were able to organize better than we were!).

The next phase of battle was at the Sunken Lane, which later earned the macabre title of Bloody Lane.  Despite the knowledge that all of us (including Dr. Guelzo and Dennis) have about the men who valiantly perished here, we could not help ourselves from indulging in a little piece of not-as-respectful-as-we-know-we-should-be humor.  We did The Bloat.  That is exactly as bad as it sounds; we all "died" on Bloody Lane and documented it.

At least when we got to the final phase of the battle, Burnside Bridge, we had regained our composure (yeah right).  I already knew Antietam was going to be a great trip, but our next adventure will be in our own backyards, on a battlefield we have all come to know and love!