The Battle of Antietam, also called the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the Southern United States, took place during the American Civil War on September 17, 1862, between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union Major General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek. Part of the Maryland Campaign, it was the first field army–level engagement in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War to take place on Union soil. It remains the bloodiest day in American history, with a tally of 22,727 dead, wounded, or missing on both sides. Although the Union Army suffered heavier casualties than the Confederates, the battle was a major turning point in the Union's favor.
Sharpsburg is a town in Washington County, Maryland. The town is approximately 13 miles (21 km) south of Hagerstown. Its population was 560 at the 2020 census.
The Battle of South Mountain, known in several early Southern accounts as the Battle of Boonsboro Gap, was fought on September 14, 1862, as part of the Maryland campaign of the American Civil War. Three pitched battles were fought for possession of three South Mountain passes: Crampton's, Turner's, and Fox's Gaps.
The Battle of Harpers Ferry was fought September 12–15, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. As Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee's Confederate army invaded Maryland, a portion of his army under Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson surrounded, bombarded, and captured the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
The Battle of Shepherdstown, also known as the Battle of Boteler's Ford, took place September 19–20, 1862, at Boteler's Ford along the Potomac River, during the Maryland campaign of the American Civil War. After the Battle of Antietam on September 17, General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia withdrew across the Potomac. Lee left a rearguard commanded by Brigadier General William N. Pendleton at Boteler's Ford. On September 19, elements of the Union V Corps dueled with Pendleton's artillery before pushing a short distance across the river at dusk. Pendleton inaccurately informed Lee that all of the artillery of the rearguard had been captured. On the morning of September 20, the Confederates counterattacked with A. P. Hill's Light Division, forcing the Union units back across the Potomac. One Union unit, the 118th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, did not withdraw at the same time as the others and suffered heavy losses. Lee's army continued its retreat into the Shenandoah Valley after the battle.
The Battle of Williamsport, also known as the Battle of Hagerstown or Falling Waters, took place from July 6 to July 16, 1863, in Washington County, Maryland, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War. It is not to be confused with the fighting at Hoke's Run which was also known as the Battle of Falling Waters.
The Maryland campaign occurred September 4–20, 1862, during the American Civil War. The campaign was Confederate General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North. It was repulsed by the Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, who moved to intercept Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia and eventually attacked it near Sharpsburg, Maryland. The resulting Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest day of battle in American history.
Antietam Creek is a 41.7-mile-long (67.1 km) tributary of the Potomac River located in south central Pennsylvania and western Maryland in the United States, a region known as the Hagerstown Valley. The creek became famous as a focal point of the Battle of Antietam during the American Civil War.
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park is a unit of the National Park Service in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and elsewhere in Spotsylvania County, commemorating four major battles in the American Civil War: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, The Wilderness, and Spotsylvania.
Isaac Peace Rodman was a Rhode Island banker, politician, and a Union Army brigadier general in the American Civil War, who was mortally wounded at the Battle of Antietam.
The Battle of Crampton's Gap, or Battle of Burkittsville, was fought between forces under Confederate Brig. Gen. Howell Cobb and Union Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin as part of the Battle of South Mountain on September 14, 1862, at Crampton's Gap in Western Maryland, during the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War.
The following Confederate States Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Antietam of the American Civil War. The Union order of battle is listed separately. Order of battle compiled from the army organization during the campaign, the casualty returns and the reports.
Gathland State Park is a public recreation area and historic preserve located on South Mountain near Burkittsville, Maryland, in the United States. The state park occupies the former estate of war correspondent George Alfred Townsend (1841-1914), who wrote under the pen name "Gath" during the American Civil War. The estate's few remaining original structures include the War Correspondents Memorial Arch, which sits alongside the Appalachian Trail. The park is operated by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The arch is a National Historic Monument maintained by the National Park Service.
Burnside's Bridge is a landmark on the U.S. Civil War Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg, northwestern Maryland. Built in 1836, it played a notable role in the 1862 battle.
Maryland Route 34 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as Shepherdstown Pike, the state highway begins at the West Virginia state line at the Potomac River, where the highway continues south as West Virginia Route 480 through Shepherdstown. The state highway runs 9.95 miles (16.01 km) east to U.S. Route 40 Alternate in Boonsboro. MD 34 is the main east–west highway of southern Washington County, connecting Shepherdstown and Boonsboro with Sharpsburg and Keedysville. The state highway, which was preceded by the Boonsboro and Sharpstown Turnpike, was constructed as a modern highway in the late 1910s and early 1920s. MD 34's bypass of Keedysville opened around 1960. The western end of the state highway has had three bridges. A 19th-century bridge was destroyed in a 1936 flood and replaced by the James Rumsey Bridge in 1939. The present bridge, also named for James Rumsey, opened in 2005.
Maryland Route 65 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as Sharpsburg Pike, the state highway runs 11.75 miles (18.91 km) from MD 34 in Sharpsburg north to the southern end of Hagerstown, where the highway continues north as Potomac Street toward the downtown area. MD 65 connects central and southern Washington County and serves as the primary access point to Antietam National Battlefield. The state highway, which was originally laid out as a turnpike, was constructed in its modern form in the mid-1920s. MD 65 was rebuilt in the early 1950s and relocated through Antietam National Battlefield by the early 1980s.
Hoffman Farm is a historic farm complex located at Keedysville, Washington County, Maryland, United States. It consists of an 1840s Greek Revival style two-story brick dwelling, adjacent brick slave quarters, a Federal-style stone house built about 1810 over a spring, a frame wagon shed, a log hog barn, and a frame forebay bank barn. The farm buildings were used as a hospital during the American Civil War in Battle of Antietam from the day of the battle on September 17, 1862, and through the following month. Over 800 men were hospitalized in the barn, house, outbuildings, and grounds.
Mount Airy, also known as Grove Farm, is a historic home located at Sharpsburg, Washington County, Maryland, United States. It is a 2+1⁄2-story Flemish bond brick house, built about 1821 with elements of the Federal and Greek Revival styles. Also on the property are a probable 1820s one-story gable-roofed brick structure that has been extensively altered over time, a late-19th-century frame barn with metal roof ventilators, a 2-story frame tenant house built about 1900, and a mid-20th-century cinder block animal shed. It was used as a hospital for Confederate and Union soldiers following the Battle of Antietam. On October 3, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln and General George McClellan visited Mount Airy, an event recorded photographically by Alexander Gardner.
Hagerstown is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Maryland, United States. The population was 43,527 at the 2020 census. Hagerstown ranks as Maryland's sixth-most populous incorporated city and is the most populous city in the Maryland Panhandle.
The Washington Confederate Cemetery is a Confederate Cemetery in Hagerstown, Maryland. Its burials include Confederate dead from such nearby battles as Antietam, Gettysburg, Monocacy and South Mountain. Less than 20 percent of its burials are identified. It was established in 1871 as a section of the Rose Hill Cemetery (Maryland).
