The residents of Sharpsburg not only witnessed the bloodiest day in American history, but they faced the day-to-day hardships on their doorstep for duration of the Civil War. Before the war, the Sharpsburg was thriving community of merchants, clerks, labors, farmers, and several canal men. Many of those who called it home were of English, German, Scots Irish, and Swiss descent, as well as Methodist, Lutheran, and Dunkers. They were caught up in the social, economic, and political issues of the time.  Sharpsburg became a hotbed of turmoil during the Civil War. Three major military campaigns would pass through the region, almost ¾ million soldiers. The Union garrisons in the area lead to numbers of small unit incursions by the combatants. For the civilians living in the wake of these man-made disasters, the effects of the military actions lasted weeks, months and even years. During this 3-hour guided tour of historic Sharpsburg, visitors will learn about the residents of Sharpsburg, examine how tragedy and hardship touched their lives, discuss how the impact the battle and the war effected the civilians, reflect on their experiences, and see the legacy of can still be seen today.

Antietam’s Cornfield was among the bloodiest areas in American history. Over 25,000 troops fought for this ground for over two and a half-hours, resulting in almost 8,500 casualties. The field changed hands at least five times during that period. The actions here are so complex that they warrant a separate tour.

This three-hour specialty tour will begin with a drive to the North Woods to review George McClellan’s and Joseph Hooker’s attack plans. A brief stop at the Miller farm will examine the topography, and the tour will follow the route of James Ricketts’ movements to the contested areas. The remainder of the tour will be on foot to see and hear about the fighting in and around the Cornfield. Among the areas visited will be: the initial Confederate positions on both sides of Hagerstown Pike and a thorough description of the fighting in the Cornfield/East Woods. The tour route will also venture across Hagerstown Pike to discuss the fighting between a portion of Doubleday’s division and the Stonewall Division. The site of Joseph Mansfield’s mortal wounding will also be visited. The tour will make use of maps, photos, and other graphics to fully illustrate the action, units, and soldiers who fought here.

Thousands of Federal and Confederate dead and wounded filled the Bloody Lane and the surrounding fields after about three hours of combat. Photographer Alexander Gardner captured the gristly aftermath of the fight here that was like no other. This three-hour tour will take a deep dive into the fighting that occurred in and around the Bloody Lane.

This specialty tour will begin at Tour Stop 7 with an overview of the battle during the morning of September 17. Participants will then walk into the Bloody Lane to discuss the initial deployment of the Confederate troops and scale the hill overlooking the lane to review Maj. Gen. William French’s Division’s approach and its actions during the initial part of the fighting. After a short walk, Brig. Gen. Robert Rodes’ Confederate brigade’s position will be discussed in detail, along with its actions. The route will then travel across the road to the Piper Orchard to discuss Maj. Gen. Richard Anderson’s division’s approach, and the action of Buck Miller’s Confederate battery. The tour will continue along the Roulette farm lane to the Roulette barn to discuss the route of the two Union divisions toward the Bloody Lane and the experiences of the men during this march. Picking up the Bloody Lane trail, the tour will follow the route of the Irish Brigade as it launches its attacks against the Bloody Lane. Upon returning to the Bloody Lane, the deployment of Brig. Gen. George B. Anderson’s and actions of Anderson’s division will be discussed. If participants are able, the tour will include scaling the Bloody Lane Observation Tower to get a panoramic view of the topography and a review of the fighting here. The tour will make use a wealth of quotes, maps, photos, and other graphics to fully illustrate the action, the soldiers, and units who fought here.

An Antietam Staff Ride is a powerful tool. Although today’s battles differ from those of the past, they remain a human endeavor. Antietam Staff Rides explore:

• Military decisions made during the carnage of America’s bloodiest day
• Today’s doctrinal elements as applied in the past
• Applications to winning future battles

Antietam Staff Rides follow the U.S. Army Center of Military History three-phased model of preliminary study (pre-work), field study, and integration. Materials and facilitation are provided by National Park Service Certified Antietam Battlefield Guides.

Developed by Veterans: Antietam Battlefield Guides include retired military officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs), graduates of the U.S. Army War College, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, the Advanced NCO Course, and Battle Staff NCO Course.

Staff Ride Logistics:

• For the field study phase at Antietam, large groups are broken down into smaller groups of approximately 20 participants per guide.
• A successful Staff Ride involves maximum participation from group members. Completing the pre-work Battle Analysis is highly recommended to prepare groups to engage in the discussion on the field.
• Lunch and restroom breaks are included in the itinerary. Your guide will help coordinate a local pick-up lunch option if your group does not pack lunches.
• Your guide will electronically provide all study materials and maps required for a successful Staff Ride, along with recommendations for additional reading if desired.

Options and Pricing:

All Staff Rides are customized to your group’s objectives and include the pre-work, field study, and integration phases facilitated by National Park Service Certified Antietam Battlefield Guides. The park entrance fee is waived for Staff Rides upon submission of a request form.

Six-Hour Antietam Staff Ride
Includes all key areas of engagement on the battlefield.
$240 per guide

Eight-Hour Antietam Staff Ride
Includes additional hikes to explore the action at Lee’s center and the Final Attack.
$320 per guide

*Group size: 20–25 participants per guide.

To book a Staff Ride, call the Antietam National Battlefield Museum Store at (301) 432-4329 or email AntietamTours@easternnational.org.

View our Staff Ride brochure below.

The first rays of morning light filtering through the fog just north of Sharpsburg, Maryland on Wednesday, September 17^th, 1862 had no way of knowing the silent stillness of the landscape would soon be changed forever.    Over the next 12 hours, more than 100,000 soldiers in Blue and Gray would contest just four square miles of this sleepy western Maryland landscape.  When the sun mercifully set that evening more than 23,000 casualties would litter the fields and fill the night air with the haunting sounds of human suffering.

Such is the legacy of the bloodiest day of combat in American military history.  In the end, this was a battle that would alter the course of the American Civil War and set in motion a transformation of the American experiment with the issuance of President Abraham Lincoln’s Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Come with me and walk in the footsteps of history, step inside the “Dunker Church,” stand on the rolling terrain of the “Miller Cornfield,” tread the narrow country road that would forever be known as “Bloody Lane,” and stride across the infamous “Burnside Bridge.”  Each an iconic memorial to the soldiers that “gave their last full measure of devotion” for their nation’s cause so long ago.

I first came to the Antietam Battlefield more than 50 years ago as a student at nearby Shepherd University.  After graduation, I spent the majority of my professional career working for a national outdoor recreation trade association gaining great respect for the efforts of the National Park Service in preserving and protecting our national landmarks and battlefields. As an active National Park Service volunteer and certified Antietam Battlefield Guide I continue to study and learn more about this most intriguing, crucial and enlightening chapter in U.S. history and look forward to an opportunity in sharing my knowledge with you.

To schedule a tour with me or another Antietam Battlefield Guide, contact the Antietam Museum Store at (301) 432-4329 or via email at AntietamTours@easternnational.org.

At 3 a.m. on the rainy morning of September 17, 1862, a young captain in the 20th Massachusetts wrote his parents in Boston. The conflict that was sure to come as the first light struggled through the overcast clouds was very much on his mind. “Very probably we shall [fight] in a few days and if we do, why I shall go into it not trying to shirk the responsibility of my past life—I have lived on the track on which I expect to continue travelling if I get through—hoping, always, that though it may wind, it will bring me up the hill once more.”

The young captain was Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. and before the day would end he would, like thousands on that day, enter the ranks of casualties. Surviving, he would live into his 90s but he never forgot that day and spoke about it at Memorial Day events for the rest of his life. Across the field that night thousands of boys penned similar letters to friends and family, left them in the care of sergeants to forward to Savannah, Philadelphia, Richmond, and Boston and hundreds of places in between.

Who were these young men (and in some cases young women) who met on this verdant Maryland field situated along the Antietam Creek? What brought them here from the small farms and villages of places like Cleveland County, North Carolina or the mill towns of the Mumford River Valley southeast of Worcester, Massachusetts? What gave them the courage to stand in the face of near-certain death? What did they feel? What did they hear? What did they see?

As we move across this pristine battlefield, this national treasure, you will learn about the two great armies who met on this ground to determine the future of this country. You will learn about the stories of those who were here that day. You will be introduced to the great leaders of that day, their successes, and their failures. You will visit the farmsteads, hills, ravines, creeks, and bridges where incredible acts of heroism took place, where fates were determined, and lives forever changed. You will learn about the men and women who rushed to the field from distant cities and small towns to help when and where they could. You will learn about brothers in arms who fought together and brothers who fought one another on opposite sides. You will learn about the ties that bound many together—by kin, as neighbors, or as friends.

What you will take away from your visit is a new found appreciation for the individual soldier who stood here over 155 years ago and what they did that late summer’s day that helped shape this nation’s destiny.

I am a semi-retired instructional designer and live in Washington, D.C. where I was born and raised. I grew up in a neighborhood near Ft. Dupont and Ft. Davis–two of the Civil War forts that ringed the city of Washington. Although overgrown then with weeds and brambles, they provided neighborhood kids with a ready-made playground that took on a new meaning as we grew older and came to understand why they were built. I have been pursuing the narrative of the Civil War since then. Part of this pursuit is inspired by my great grandfathers who fought on both sides in the Civil War. One, a Captain in the 72ndPennsylvania, was wounded in the West Woods. And so I joined the Antietam battlefield ambassador program over a decade ago to try to better understand his experience there. He has, since then, led me much further and, in his own way, introduced me to a profound narrative of courage, giving, and sacrifice by those who stood on this ground not so long ago.

I first visited Antietam in 1968 as a 13-year-old from New Jersey and was captured by the human drama emanating from The Cornfield, Bloody Lane, and Burnside’s Bridge. Little could I have imagined that a day would come when I would live near this sacred place and have the privilege to serve among the select group of scholars, historians, and writers comprising the Antietam Battlefield Guides.

I especially enjoy working with families and school groups. And it is a pleasure to help guests of all types gain a contextualized view of the battle of Antietam in American history—to understand anew the timeless nature of the human struggle for justice and freedom. Together, we’ll share some humor surrounding some of the quirky personalities of many of the primary characters, even while it is not unusual to shed a few tears in consideration of the great sacrifices made by our forebears.

Driving north on the old Hagerstown Turnpike, I’ll be sure to introduce you to my favorite guy on the battlefield: Abner Doubleday. I have researched and composed a nearly-completed biography about this very interesting Civil War general.

Passionate communication has been the necessary goal of my life endeavors. I serve as the senior pastor of a church of about 700 people, having also for many years been the head coach of a three-time state championship high school cross country program. Baseball is an additional passion as well, and for many years I wrote opinion articles in coverage of the Baltimore Orioles for an online sports network.

So, do come and visit! You will walk away enriched in your knowledge of history, encouraged by the valor of those who gave all for their ideals, and resolved to preserve such national treasures as this place called “Antietam.”

Dr. Randy Buchman

Antietam Creek. Sharpsburg. Burnside Bridge. The Cornfield. The Sunken Road. These place names held a mystical fascination for me as a boy growing up in Georgia. I often wondered if I would ever see these places, to try to understand what happened that fateful day – 17 September 1862 – and why. Fortunately, my life’s journey brought me to Maryland, and I have been able to spend many hours walking and reflecting on what are now farms and fields of pristine beauty.

If you and your friends or family are considering a visit to Antietam National Battlefield, it would be my privilege to take you around what is one of the most well-preserved battlefields in America. Through decades of care and good stewardship, you will be able to see what the soldiers saw with a minimum of modern-day intrusions, and you will walk the same ground they did. I will help you to understand why the battle was fought, and how it had such profound influence on our country’s history. This is a story woven with courage and tragedy and bravery and fear. Let me help you to understand the desperate struggle that took place here.

You can book a tour with me by calling the Antietam Museum Bookstore at 301-432-4329 or 866-461-5180.

Challenge; what does a mother do to encourage her son to spend less time in front of TV and more time  reading books?

My mother answered that question by taking me to Antietam National Battlefield when I was in the third grade. One simple trip to our local National Park sparked an interest within me that would ignite into a full-blown passion.  How passionate was I at that early age? In third grade art class my fellow students and I used our crayons to create works of art for our classroom walls. Once the masterpieces were taped to the wall, one stood out amongst the group. Rather than use my crayons to depict normal childhood interests such as family, trees or animals; I used my crayons to depict the 9^th corps charging across Burnside’s Bridge.

My passion for the Civil War, specifically Antietam, was started with one simple trip to the battlefield. Throughout my life I have read numerous books on the battle of Antietam which only helped to increase my love for history. My love for history followed me into my college days, my final paper was in regards to the battle of Hagerstown, a town ten miles north of Antietam. In 2007 I graduated from Hood College with a degree in history.  In 2010 I became a volunteer at the battlefield which allows me to pass my knowledge of the battlefield onto others. In 2012 I became a battlefield guide, joining an elite group of distinguished gentlemen.

I am proud to say that not only did I have family who lived on the battlefield during the great battle of September 17, 1862, I also had family who fought in the conflict. I had family who fought on both sides of the conflict and within each of the Army organizations; Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery.

It will be an honor and pleasure to give you a tour of the battlefield, I can give the standard tour or customize the tour to your interests. I can also give my specialty tour on Crook’s Brigade where we can follow in the footsteps of Crook’s men as they attacked Burnside’s Bridge and their progress leading up to the final attack.

“Not for themselves, but for their country,” is the inscription on a monument in the Antietam National Cemetery commonly referred to as Simon or “Old Simon” honoring the hundreds of stories of sacrifice and duty. Simon faces north towards home as he stands guard over the soldiers who served our country in a time of unsettling challenges to our nation. It is a moving moment standing before the monument, reflecting on the battle, and puts into perspective a critical time in our early history in such a bucolic part of Maryland. It is one of many experiences available to visitors of all ages at Antietam National Battlefield Park that engages the thousands that visit each year.

At the end of August of 1862, the Confederacy reached the pinnacle of its political and military prestige as the Union found itself in the dregs of defeat and despair. The Confederate Army, and its commander, Robert E. Lee, embarked on a campaign called the Maryland Campaign of 1862 to invade the north for the first time. In Sharpsburg, the people still went about their peaceful existence wishing the war stay out of the Antietam valley. On a fateful Wednesday, September 17, 1862, the culminating battle, the Battle of Antietam or Battle of Sharpsburg, came to their doorsteps. The battle left horrific numbers of casualties in homes, barns, churches, and schools. It left in its wake a community ill prepared for the devastation which became a long, cataclysmic journey of recovery after 1862. The Union victory allowed President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862 and a turning point in the war. For the Confederacy, James Longstreet later wrote, “at Sharpsburg was sprung the keystone of the arch which the Confederate cause rested.”

Your journey to the Antietam National Battlefield Park welcomes you to showcase the rich beauty, peacefulness, and history of Washington County, Maryland. As a battlefield guide, it is my pleasure to help take a journey, guide you through the battle, and use the well-preserved park as a roadmap when both armies arrived in early fall of 1862. We will explore places such as the “Dunkard Church,” the “Cornfield,” the “Sunken Road,” the “Burnside Bridge,” and around Sharpsburg where soldiers from both sides traversed over 160 years ago.

My love of history began as a kid riding my bike to little league baseball games in Brandywine Hundred (North Wilmington), Delaware. Along the way, I passed through a church graveyard reading grave markers of revolutionary and civil war soldiers. After receiving my Bachelor’s degree in 1989 in Computer Information Systems, Minors in History and Music, I watched the ground breaking documentary, “The Civil War” by filmmaker Ken Burns. From that time and gathering the names from that graveyard, my journey to learn, write, and discover the history of the Second (2nd) Delaware Volunteer Infantry and their journey through the Civil War began. I visited Antietam National Battlefield Park for the first time in 2009. In 2015, I received my Masters in Liberal Arts, History from Washington College to focus on a new career. Years after, on a whim, my wife and I visited a family gravesite at Manor Church in Fairplay, Maryland. Antietam Battlefield Park was seven miles south and we decided on a driving tour as part of our journey. The scenery, my impending retirement, and a desire to talk about history influenced me to volunteer as a Battlefield Ambassador at Antietam. Since 2019, my journey evolved towards becoming a certified battlefield guide, sharing history with people, and enjoy the joy of learning along the way. It was a rewarding decision and one I cherish each day as I meet many people from different walks of life.

To schedule a tour with me or another Antietam Battlefield Guide, contact the Antietam Museum Store at (301) 432-4329 or (866) 461-5180. You can also email at AntietamTours@easternnational.org.

In many ways, the Battle of Antietam is the most pivotal battle of our Civil War. The outcome here allowed Abraham Lincoln, through issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, to fundamentally change and broaden the meaning of the war; from a political contest over restoration of the Union, to a moral imperative freeing the slaves and giving force to the Declaration of Independence. Antietam also holds the painful distinction of remaining the most blood-soaked single day in American history.

I first came to this battlefield when I was 6 years old and have been coming back ever since–learning, studying and contemplating the sacrifices of the men who gave life and limb here. I have been a life-long student of the Civil War period and the Battle of Antietam in particular. In the intervening years, I graduated from Washington and Lee University with a BS in biology and earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Virginia Tech. After a residency in oncology at the University of Pennsylvania, I have practiced veterinary oncology for over 25 years.

But I have always returned to this beautiful, utterly unique place. If you visit Antietam National Battlefield, I would be most happy to serve as your guide as you experience one of the most well preserved, pristine battlefield sites in the National Park Service system. I think you will readily see that it is a place of pastoral beauty and serenity as well as reverential commemoration and remembrance. Let me help you explore this place I so dearly love, and tell you the stories of the people who endured, died and sacrificed to make it such a consequential place in American history.

“Mr. Brady has done something to bring home to us the terrible reality and earnestness of war. If he has not brought bodies and laid them in our dooryards and along our streets, he has done something very like it…

With these printed words, a correspondent for the New York Times tried his utmost to describe the photographs taken by Alexander Gardner just two days after the Battle of Antietam that were put on display at Matthew Brady’s Studio in New York City in October of 1862.

Visitors fined up for blocks on Broadway eager to see the first photographs of dead soldiers taken before they were buried. These photographs were not the pencil sketches or oil paintings people were accustomed to. Rather, they were of swelling corpses and distorted faces of men in the agony of death. Visitors pondered whether this war was worth the toll it was taking of American lives.

To the present day this same question is constantly debated.

The American Civil War still holds a fascination for visitors to battlefields protected by the United States Park Service. Reading and researching aspects of the Civil War is very important. However, walking in the footsteps of these two American armies bring to life not only military decisions and strategies but also the personal journeys of soldiers caught up in our country’s violent struggle.

Retiring in December 2024, I completed twenty-five years as a Career Seasonal Park Ranger at Antietam National Battlefield. I was fortunate to provide interpretative talks, tours, hikes and musical performances to thousands of visitors From United States Congressmen foreign dignitaries, military units, school groups to families passing through on vacation, all were drawn to the historical and personal drama of visiting the most preserved and protected battlefield in this country.

Graduating with a Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts from West Virginia University, pursued a career in Public Education for thirty-two years. In addition, I was commissioned as an Army officer and completed twenty-eight years in the Army Reserve. As a Certified Guide at Antietam National Battlefield, it would be my great pleasure to take you on a journey back in time to that day in September, 1862 when so many Americans were willing to risk their lives for their county and for each other.

Although I live near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, I have chosen to be an Antietam Battlefield Guide for a variety of reasons. Antietam was the turning point of the Civil War and the bloodiest one-day battle in our history. I also find it easier to relate the compelling story of the battle because it is a smaller battlefield and its one-day duration. That does not mean that it was not eventful and complex. The battle of Antietam is filled with troop movements, combat, human interest stories, and drama. I try to relate all of these in my tours.

I have a strong interest in the Civil War, having written fourteen books on the topic. The list is below. Of greatest significance is my Maps of Antietam that follows the flow of the campaign in about 125 maps. Writing this book taught me so much about this campaign, but it was augmented by hours of walking the battlefield.

I am retired now, but I remain an educator. After receiving my Ph.D., I taught full-time for eleven years at three colleges and then entered the ranks of the administration, rising to the role of President for seventeen years at two colleges. I retired as President of the College of Southern Maryland in 2018. I now devote my time to writing and giving tours of the Antietam battlefield.

Brad’s Published Books:

Hell Comes to Southern Maryland: The History of the Point Lookout Prisoner of War Camp

Kearny’s Own: The History of the First New Jersey Brigade

Maps of First Bull Run

Maps of Antietam

Maps of the Fredericksburg

Maps of Gettysburg

Maps of the Cavalry at Gettysburg

Maps of Bristoe Station/Mine Run

Maps of the Wilderness Campaign

Roads to Gettysburg

Stopping Pickett: The History of the Philadelphia Brigade

The Artillery of Gettysburg

Late on the night of Sept. 16, 1862, Union Gen. Joseph Hooker was in a barn on the north end of the Antietam battlefield that was serving as his headquarters. He told those gathered there, “We are through for the night, but tomorrow we fight the battle that will decide the fate of the Republic.”

And that is exactly what Hooker and some 100,000 other soldiers did the next day. Starting before the sun rose and ending after it set, this clash of arms saw more Americans killed and wounded than any other day in our country’s history. It also ensured that the Republic would survive.

It was a day of chaos and confusion for all involved, from the lowliest private to the top generals. For a visitor trying to understand what happened here, a guide is indispensable. A tour will help you appreciate not just the basics of the battle, but also the stories of the soldiers and civilians whose lives were forever altered — by their courage and, sometimes, cowardice; by their triumphs and, all too often, tragedies. It would certainly be my privilege to accompany you on a tour of these fields that rise up from Antietam Creek to the town of Sharpsburg, terrain that has hardly changed in the more than century and a half that has passed since this battle.The Civil War has been a lifelong interest. I grew up in Atlanta on the battlefield of Peachtree Creek and later lived in a small cottage next to entrenchments in Fredericksburg, VA. I first visited Antietam after moving to Baltimore where I had a 35-year career as a journalist at the Baltimore Sun. Instantly moved by this evocative landscape, I came back many times with family and friends, eventually deciding to learn as much about this battle as I could, knowledge you need to qualify as a guide. Now I hope to share that so others can understand that this battle was not just a turning point in the Civil War, it was one of the most important days in American history with stories and lessons still resonate in our contemporary conversations.

To schedule a tour with me or any other Antietam Battlefield Guide, contact the Antietam Museum Store at 301-432-4329 or 866-461-5180.

I have had a passion for the American Civil War since I was twelve years old when I watched the movie Glory for the first time. Ever since that moment I wanted to connect with the lives of the soldiers who lived during America’s Civil War. Being a native Marylander it was fascinating to learn about how the soldiers from across the nation gathered near a rural farming town located in my home state to fight the bloodiest single day in American history. Ten years after I first watched Glory, I became an intern at Antietam National Battlefield when I graduated from Towson University with a Bachelor’s degree in history.

I worked at Antietam for eleven months and spoke to over 1,000 visitors during my programs there. This experience gave me the opportunity connect visitors to the battlefield itself and share the personal stories of those who fought, died, and survived. From the early hours of The Cornfield that saw one casualty every second, to the tragic slaughter in the West Woods, to the simultaneous attacks of Bloody Lane and Burnside Bridge. These locations are incredible to see in person and after seeing them with my own eyes I was inspired to research other factors about the battle. For example, how did the terrain impact the fighting, what information did the commanders know as the events unfolded and how did these events influence the outcome of the Maryland Campaign?

It would be my honor to be your guide on one of the battlefields that changed the course of American history forever and to visit these locations to see how the events unfolded where they happened, explain why they happened, and honor the memory of those who experienced one of the deadliest battles in United States history.

The battle of Antietam was fought on September 17, 1862. Twelve hours of fighting resulted in 23,000 casualties–the single bloodiest day in American History. The battle was the culmination of the Maryland Campaign. Antietam is truly a turning point in the American Civil War. For the first time during the war a Confederate army crossed the Potomac River with the intention to invade Northern territory. For the first time the aftermath of an American Battlefield was photographs with these photos soon displayed to the public. Antietam saw the introduction of military medical procedures that are still in use today. Five days after the battle, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation—transforming the war.

Allow me to take you around this pristine battlefield. I have been with Federal Government for more than 30 years working for an agency that supports policy makers and the military with Geospatial Intelligence. During my career, I conducted multiple staff rides teaching intelligence Analysts and military how terrain and intelligence effects command decision making on the battlefield. Since my first visit to a Civil War Battlefield as a 6-year-old, I was hooked. I’ve been a lifelong student of the Civil War ever since. My personal connection with Antietam is that my ancestor experienced this bloody battle as a member of the 49th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment. I want to share with visitors my knowledge and passion for this fascinating topic at one of the most iconic American Battlefields.

Join me for a tour to visit some of the most recognizable sights in the American Civil War. Learn about the fighting that swirled around a small pacifist church building; and how this iconic symbol earned its nickname: The Dunker Church. We will visit the Miller Cornfield, the sight of some of the most intense fighting in the entire war. Take a walk with me through a sunken farm lane; the scene of bloody fighting. We will view a picturesque stone arch bridge and learn the story behind the “Burnside’s Bridge.” Let’s take a walk in the footsteps and hear the words of the soldiers who fought at Antietam, along with the local civilians that lived here. Join me to experience the stories that make this battle a classic of the American Civil War.

Contact the Antietam Museum Store at (301) 432-4329 or via email at AntietamTours@easternnational.org to schedule a tour with me or another Antietam Battlefield Guide.

Whether you are a serious student of the Civil War or a casual observer, the quiet, rolling farmland of the Antietam Battlefield tells the story of one of the most pivotal battles in American history in a way you can’t get from books or maps. A visit to the battlefield is a walk back in time where you can see the terrain as the soldiers saw it, and follow in their footsteps through a series of hiking trails, if you wish. Original stone-arch bridges, period farmsteads, and ‘witness trees’ are all part of the experience.

As a retired Army officer and U.S. War College graduate, I’ve had a life-long interest in the elements of battles and the experiences of those who fought them. Antietam captured my imagination decades ago when I picked up a book of then-and-now photographs and realized the truly unique place Antietam holds among Civil War battlefields. My fascination grew through individual stories of sacrifice, courage, fear and survival from the soldiers who took part in the bloodiest day in American history.

I look forward to being your guide and sharing those stories with you! You can reach me at marfutl@aol.com.

Good news! No matter which guide you select, you will receive a well-rounded tour of the Battle of Antietam. Every guide has researched and walked the fields around Sharpsburg for years.

In addition to a sound overview of the battle, I like to emphasize the human interest stories. Who were the men that were fighting? What type of weapons did they use? What did they witness?

I also like specialty tours. If you had an ancestor who fought with a particular unit, I can highlight that unit during the tour.

My interest in the Civil War began as a child. My father would take me to battlefields such as Antietam, Gettysburg, and Shiloh. I always considered Antietam my home battlefield because I live close-by in Hagerstown.

You can’t see the rolling hills and uneven terrain in a book. The best way to learn about the Battle of Antietam is to get out on the field.

If you are having a bad day, just think about the brave soldiers who fought at battles such as Antietam. I have never experienced a day as bad as those soldiers did.

My background includes:

•        Antietam Battlefield guide since 2007 with over 1,500 tours conducted
•        Member of the Hagerstown Civil war Round Table for over 40 years, serving as president for three years.
•        Author of six books, the most recent being Colonel Mobley, Seventh Maryland Infantry in the Civil War
•        Speaker for several Civil War Round Tables and veteran organizations
•        Retired battalion chief of the Hagerstown Fire Department
•        Volunteer firefighter with over 48 years of service, including five years as a fire chief

I hope to see you soon!

Justin Mayhue

“Reverent men and women from afar shall come to this deathless field, to ponder and dream; and low the shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls.”  These eloquent words, spoken by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain on October 3, 1889 at the dedication of the 20th Maine Monument at Gettysburg, still resonate today for visitors who come to America’s many Civil War battlefields.

A native Idahoan, with Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in History and a Master of Science in Mining Engineering from the University of Idaho, I first came to Antietam in 2003 with my husband.  I found the landscape picturesque and the story of the soldiers and civilians who experienced the September 17, 1862, Battle of Antietam captivating.  After retiring from the Idaho Department of Lands in 2009 my rottweiler Shiloh and I moved east and I became a volunteer at Antietam National Battlefield.  The rest as they say is history.

Shiloh and I hike Antietam’s many trails where we can follow in the footsteps of the valiant American soldiers who fought on these fields over 150 years ago.  I am an avid photographer, and a living historian who, with other park volunteers, represent Battery B, 4th U. S. Artillery in conducting artillery firing demonstrations for park visitors at Antietam.

I had two great great grandfathers who fought in the civil war, one with the 5th Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery and the other with the 1st Rhode Island Cavalry.  Neither were engaged at Antietam.

Antietam represents many things, courage and cowardice, sacrifice and suffering, competency and incompetency but above all else it stands as the single bloodiest day in American History where Americans slew other Americans in unprecedented numbers. Brothers fought brothers to a standstill after more than 12 hours of combat.  Six generals, 3 in Union blue and 3 in Confederate grey were killed or mortally wounded.  When it was all said and done Lee’s first invasion of the north had been turned back and President Lincoln was able to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.  Now the war would be fought to preserve the Union and abolish slavery.

Antietam National Battlefield is one of the best preserved, most pristine battlefields in the National Park System. When one visits “the cornfield”, Bloody Lane and Burnside Bridge they can almost hear the thunderous roar of cannon and small arms fire and smell the sulfurous odor of gunpowder.  It would be my pleasure to guide you around this hallowed ground.  Come experience with me the sacrifice and serenity that is Antietam.

In September 1862, the landscape of Western Maryland became the focus of a nation divided in two, the focus of a nation that held its breath as Robert E. Lee’s thus far victorious Confederate army advanced north across the Potomac River to deal the final blow to a United States that seemed to be on its last leg.  Lee began his campaign with the goal of defeating a Union army on northern soil and gaining independence for the eleven states of the Confederacy while Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States, and George McClellan, commanding the Union Army of the Potomac, struggled to keep the young United States as one nation instead of two.  This decisive campaign culminated along the banks of Antietam Creek in western Maryland and stopped the Confederacy’s quest for independence while helping to grant freedom to a whole race of people and changing the course of the Civil War and of the United States itself.  The importance of the Maryland Campaign cannot be fully understood unless you join me in seeing one of the best-preserved battlefields in the United States and walking in the footsteps of the soldiers and civilians who experienced the bloodiest single day in American history.

I became a student of America’s greatest struggle after my first trip to the Gettysburg battlefield in southern Pennsylvania when I was nine years old.  There, a licensed battlefield guide sparked my interest in the Civil War and it has grown ever since.  I hope that as a guide, I too can inspire others to find their passion and realize how important the Civil War was in shaping the United States that we know today.

I graduated from Shepherd University in 2014 with a major in the Civil War and Nineteenth-Century America.  I write regularly for the Emerging Civil War blog and published my first book in 2015: Shepherdstown in the Civil War: One Vast Confederate Hospital.  I am also actively involved as a member of the Board of Directors of the Save Historic Antietam Foundation and the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association.

I hope you will join me as we traverse the fields of Antietam that were marred by the horrors of war and forever changed the lives of not only the soldiers but also the civilians that lived around the once peaceful town of Sharpsburg, Maryland.  Come with me to the iconic Dunker Church, walk with me through the infamous Cornfield, step into the Bloody Lane, and cross the Burnside Bridge and experience one of the most important days in American history with me at Antietam National Battlefield.

I can accommodate tours of any size and can personalize your tour to fit a particular interest that you may have in the battle.  You can book a tour with me by calling the Antietam Museum Bookstore at 301-432-4329 or 866-461-5180.

John Michael “Mike” Priest has been studying the Civil War since he was in grade school when his parents took him and his brother to Gettysburg every weekend. A specialist in small unit tactics, referred to by Ed Bearss as the “Ernie Pyle of the Civil War soldier”, he has authored or edited about 12 books on the Civil War.

• Antietam: The Soldiers’ Battle

• Before Antietam: The Battle of South Mountain

• A two volume set on the Battle of the Wilderness: Nowhere to Run and Victory Without Triumph

• Into the Fight: Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg (He can also be seen on the Discovery Channel with Unsolved History: Pickett’s Charge, which is based in part on this book).

• “Stand to It and Give Them Hell”: The Second Day at Gettysburg from Cemetery Ridge to Little Round Top

A retired school teacher, he loves hiking Antietam and South Mountain. His favorite sites on the Antietam Battlefield include Fox’s Gap at South Mountain and the walking trails for the Bloody Lane, West Woods and The Final Attack Trail at Burnside Bridge. Mike specializes in small unit tactics and walking tours of the battlefield.

Mike is available for tours on a walk-in and prearranged basis. See below for information about how to arrange a tour with Mike.

I once read a letter from a soldier who fought across the pastoral farmlands and harvest fields just outside of Sharpsburg, Maryland:

“To those who have not been witnesses of a great battle like this, where more than a hundred thousand men, armed with all the appliances of modern science and skill, are engaged in the work of slaughtering each other, it is impossible by the power of words to convey an adequate idea of its terrible sublimity. The constant booming of cannon, the ceaseless rattle and roar of musketry, the glimpses of galloping horsemen and marching infantry, now seen, now lost in the smoke, adding weirdness to terror, all together make up a combination of sights and sounds wholly indescribable”

How did this peaceful and seemingly safe place, tucked away in the gentle folds of western Maryland, become indescribable?

I am Martin Pritchett and I look forward to being your guide at the Antietam National Battlefield. I am from Kansas and a career Coast Guardsman that became interested in Civil War about 25 years ago. Life events brought me to nearby West Virginia and I began volunteering at the Antietam Battlefield where I spent seven years as a Battlefield Ambassador. Every weekend rain or shine, hot or cold, I could be found on the field assisting visitors in understanding the events that occurred here. Through constant study, mentoring and testing on an unparalleled scale under the auspices of the National Park Service, I became a Field Guide. Let us explore and discuss the most intriguing and influential campaign and battle of the American Civil War.

A campaign of wills; a campaign for the future of a country and of a people; a campaign that had the world holding its breath; the Maryland campaign and the Battle of Antietam are here for you to explore at your Antietam National Battlefield.

Gary was born and raised in Washington County, MD where his family has lived for at least 225 years.  His interest in the Civil War and passion for the 1862 Maryland Campaign go back more than 55 years to his days as a Boy Scout camping on the battlefield in the final attack area near Burnside Bridge and at Crampton’s Gap on South Mountain.  There, he listened to the true stories from E. Russell Hicks, noted county historian.  Gary also attended Antietam’s Centennial (1962) events as a young Boy Scout passing out brochures for the last re-enactment held on the battlefield.  Those wonderful memories came flooding back as he worked alongside of the NPS Interpretive Rangers during the Sesquicentennial in 2012.  Since his retirement, Gary has traveled to many of our country’s Civil War battlefields throughout the west and the south in an effort to be as well informed and knowledgeable as possible to further enhance his tours at Antietam.  In recent years, he has toured numerous WWI and WWII battlefields in five European countries.

For nearly 36 years, Gary’s grandfather owned the South Mountain House (Tavern) and large tracts of land on the mountain encompassing much of the original battlefield.  During his boyhood, he spent many summer days playing in this very historic area.  These experiences, together with the Mountain House having served as Confederate Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill’s HQ eventually fueled his thirst to learn more about the events that took place in his backyard.

Gary’s longtime enthusiasm for Civil War history lead him to explore many of our nation’s battlefields. As a registered professional engineer, he is credited for leading the restoration and preservation of many of the county’s 19^th century stone arch bridges.  Upon his retirement, he became involved as a Battlefield Ambassador while pursuing the National Park Certification for Battlefield Guide.  In 2013, he became one of the first four guides ever certified by the National Park Service as a Battlefield Guide at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park for the 1862 Maryland Campaign. He has led hundreds of tours with clients ranging from the very young to the very seasoned students of the battle including retired officers of flag rank, college professors and war college students. He is certified to conduct Military Staff Rides.

Today, Gary is actively involved with the Antietam Battlefield Guides in promoting the history and the true stories of the 1862 Maryland Campaign, particularly at Antietam.  Gary is a member of the Washington County Historic District Commission, Save Historic Antietam Foundation (SHAF), a founding member of the Antietam Institute, Inc. and its Board of Directors, and the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area Board of Directors.  He resides near Boonsboro, MD with his family.  He is also a proud veteran of the U.S. Navy.

Areas of Special Interest on the field: Hood’s Division, The Irish Brigade at Antietam

I have been fascinated by the Civil War ever since I was a little boy, when I listened to my grandmother talk about her grandparents’ experience amid the chaos of the Civil War in southwest Virginia. I graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in History in 2009.  I’ve studied the Civil War for a long time, but after I started visiting Antietam several years ago, I learned that you cannot really understand a battle until you walk the ground where it happened. I volunteer at Antietam as a Battlefield Ambassador, and I’m also a member of the Battlefield’s artillery-living history unit, which commemorates Battery B, 4^th U.S. Artillery.

For me, Antietam National Battlefield is one of Maryland’s, and our country’s, greatest treasures. I believe Antietam is the best-preserved battlefield in the United States. But the terrain is only half the story. The men who fought, and bled, and died there, are the other half. I believe the most interesting stories at Antietam are not about generals in gold-braid, but about the average soldier or junior officer, who did their duty, suffered the hell of battle, and weren’t mentioned in the history books, but were the heart-and-soul of an army, and the heart-and-soul of this battle.

The night before the Battle of Antietam, one Union general said: “tomorrow we fight the battle that will decide the fate of the Republic.” He was right. Antietam did indeed put our nation on a new course. President Abraham Lincoln used Antietam to issue the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation was the beginning of the “new birth of freedom” Lincoln spoke about later at Gettysburg. Lincoln was only able to set that course because of what happened at Antietam. It is my goal to show you what happened, using the terrain, and the words of the soldiers, nurses, and civilians who were there.

If you come with me on a tour of Antietam, I will tell you about the 50,000 artillery shells that were fired in just 12 hours. I will tell you about men in blue and gray fighting up-close with bayonets in one corner of the Cornfield. I’ll tell you about a 15-year old boy volunteering to man a cannon along the Hagerstown Turnpike, and winning the Medal of Honor. I’ll tell you about a Union general bravely riding through enemy fire in the West Woods to lead his men to safety, and a Union soldier seeing his friend get shot down beside him at the Sunken Road, while every blade of grass seemed to have a bullet passing through it. I’ll tell you about civilians whose homes were looted by the armies, and about a family whose home was destroyed during the battle. We’ll talk about Confederate artillery shells raining down on Union soldiers after they captured the Sunken Road. Then we’ll talk about Union soldiers running down a “shooting gallery” of a road along Antietam Creek to get to the Burnside Bridge, running past Confederates firing at them just 50-150 feet away. We’ll talk about a soldier from New York who lost a leg trying to capture Sharpsburg, and about New Englanders and South Carolinians fighting at close range in a cornfield south of the town, just before the end of the battle. Then I’ll show you Antietam National Cemetery, where the men I feel I work for, rest in peace.

My perspectives on history proceed from my career in the U.S. Army. Travels took me to World War II battlefields in Europe and the Pacific where American valor ended the tyranny of Nazism and Empire. But our country faced its own greatest challenge 80 years earlier during the Civil War. And it was the critical late summer of 1862, when Robert E. Lee launched the Maryland Campaign, that fortune could have gone either way. It is an incredible story of drama, carnage, bravery, and missed opportunities that culminated around the fields and woodlots of peaceful Sharpsburg Maryland.

I am fascinated by the military aspects of the terrain on the battlefield of Antietam. Subtle and apparently innocuous, the lay of the land had a tremendous impact on the course of the battle. The high ground south of the North Woods, the rock ledges parallel to the Hagerstown Pike, the intermittent streams that cut across the field, and the frowning heights of Cemetery Hill may not be as well-known as the Cornfield, Bloody Lane, and Burnside Bridge, but they nevertheless shape the field and the outcome of the battle. The terrain greatly impacted the use of artillery at Antietam. In 2023, I completed my first book The Artillery of Antietam, which is an examination of every Federal and Confederate artillery battery (135 in all), their commanders, and the cannoneers that participated in the Maryland Campaign of 1862. I was also a contributing author to The Brigades of Antietam, published in 2021.

Born and raised in the Buffalo New York area, I currently live with my family in Jefferson, Maryland. I earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian history from Niagara University in 1976 whereupon I was commissioned in the United States Army and served for 28 years retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2004. My military career included assignments in Germany during the Cold War, deployment to Grenada with the 82nd Airborne Division in 1983, and duty as an instructor at the Combined Arms and Services Staff School (CAS3). I graduated from the US Army Command and General Staff College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces where I was awarded a master’s degree in National Resource Strategy. I subsequently worked for the federal government where I retired from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2021 as an operations officer and liaison to FEMA helping to coordinate Federal law enforcement response to natural disasters. I volunteer at Antietam National Battlefield and currently work with Antietam’s artillery detachment, Battery B, 4th United States Artillery. I have been an NPS certified battlefield guide at Antietam since 2009, and led the guide service from 2012 to 2018. I am a founding member of the Antietam Institute.

I look forward to showing you around Antietam National Battlefield. I particularly enjoy taking families with children, school groups, and scouting organizations around the field. It is important to excite the next generation of young Americans on the history of their great nation.

I will see you on the field.

100,000 soldiers. 12 hours. 23,000 casualties. These numbers only begin to tell the story of what became the bloodiest one-day battle in American history – the Battle of Antietam. My passion for the American Civil War, and history in general, lies in creating a connection between the stories of the past and current generations. I was born and raised in Arizona but developed a strong interest in the Civil War at the age of 10. While most of my classmates asked for money, CD players, and a trip to Disney World for their 8th Grade graduation, I asked for a trip to Civil War battlefields, and at age 13 I visited Antietam, Gettysburg, and many other battlefields, for the very first time.

It’s been many years since that first visit, but my desire to visit our country’s battlefields is as strong today as it was when I was 13. Life took me in many different directions along the way, including service in the United States Marine Corps, a BA in History, a beautiful wife and four amazing children, and a career with the National Park Service. After spending three years at Zion National Park, it was my extreme honor to spend nearly nine years as an Interpretive Ranger at Antietam National Battlefield. In late 2023, new challenges called my name, and I now work as an Architectural Historian for the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center, working on projects around the country geared toward saving our country’s most treasured historic sites.

My goal in becoming a guide is to share that passion I had as a 13-year-old, begging my parents to drive me across a continent, in search of the soldiers, civilians, generals, and families, Americans of every race, color and creed, whose actions I had read so much about. There is more to understand about the twelve hours of the Battle of Antietam than any one person can learn in a lifetime, and definitely more than we can discuss in one battlefield tour, but my hope is to create a new appreciation of this great battle for every visitor to Antietam. Whether it’s your first time to Antietam or your twentieth, there is always more to learn, new concepts to consider, and more stories of honor, courage, and commitment, to discover. I look forward to taking that journey with you and sharing my passion along the way. Thank you.

John Schildt was introduced to the Civil War by his great-grandmother who fed Union troops on the way to Gettysburg when she was a little girl. While giving tours, he likes to make history come alive by sharing human interest stories about people and places. His fields of specialty are the XII and IX corps, as well as Antietam’s Hospitals and Lincoln’s visit to Antietam in October 1862. So, in addition to the regular Antietam tours John also gives Antietam Hospital tours and “In the footsteps of Lincoln” tours that are approximately two hours long. He offers short tours of the Antietam National Cemetery and Shepherdstown as well.

John has been a lecturer and guide for the Gettysburg College Civil War Institute and Bud Robertson’s “Campaigning with Lee” as well as for the Chicago Civil War Round Table and many other groups. He was the main speaker at the 125th anniversary of Antietam. John led three tours to Normandy and took part in the American and French commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the D-day landing in 1994.

Having been a lifelong student of Antietam, John has written many books on the subject, including September Echoes, Drums along the Antietam, Four days in October, Roads to Antietam, Jackson and the Preachers, Antietam Hospitals, and Antietam through the Years. Other recent publications include Frederick in the Civil War, Hills of Glory and New Hampshire at Antietam, all of which are now available at the Antietam Museum Store.

John can also offer the following Lectures and Tours:

Lectures:
Drums Along the Antietam
A Distinguished Marylander – Henry Kyd Douglas

Tours:
Antietam Hospitals
Four Days in October – Lincoln at Antietam
Twelfth Corps at Antietam
Frederick, Crossroads of the Civil War
Roads to Gettysburg

Thanks to the National Park Service, determined preservation efforts and good fortune, Antietam lives as one of America’s most pristine battlefields. A visit here reminds us that the Civil War not only pivoted American history, but also rendered tens of thousands of individual tragedies. As a student of the war for more than 40 years, I know that books and museums are invaluable, but nothing beats walking the ground where history happened. When I visit a museum or cultural or historical site, I look for a docent or guide to bring it to life, sharing his or her enthusiasm and knowledge. One of our guides can do that for you at Antietam, ensuring that you will leave here with appreciation and understanding of why this place commands our attention and respect. I want visitors to “long remember” their experience at Civil War sites, in large part so you will keep coming back and asking questions long into the future.

How did the war come to what one Antietam veteran called “the incomparable beauty of the valleys of Western Maryland” in September 1862? Over the three previous months, the military outlook in the east had reversed. In early June, a large Union army was right outside Richmond, threatening the Confederate capital. In late August, Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia crushed a Federal army just 25 miles from Washington after pushing the war northward that summer. By early September, the Confederates were crossing the Potomac River for the first time, campaigning now on Union soil. That campaign would culminate on this battlefield.

Every American who is able should come to Antietam. Like Pearl Harbor, Ground Zero, Independence Hall and Gettysburg, Antietam is part of our identity, who we are as Americans. The Maryland Campaign of September 1862 was one of the most far-reaching moments of the central event of American history, a humbling, tragic, cataclysmic civil war that killed two percent of the population and devastated communities like Sharpsburg, Maryland. The appalling cost in lives lost or forever damaged – in the two armies and in the local communities – should sober all Americans about our shared history. The men and women and families of the Maryland Campaign deserve to be remembered. I look forward to sharing my passion for Antietam and Civil War history with you in the best possible place: on the field.

Welcome to Antietam, one of the most important battlefields in American History. My name is Joe Stahl. I am a member of the Company of Military Historians, Save Historic Antietam Foundation, the Hagerstown Civil War Roundtable and the North-South Skirmish Association. I am also certified by Harpers Ferry NPS to lead tours of their Battlefield.  Let me share with you the stories of these historic sites. Come and visit these famous sites; the corn field, the sunken road, Burnside’s bridge, and Harpers Ferry.  See them today as they looked those many years ago in our history.

When I moved to Washington D.C. about 30 years ago I was able, for the first time, to visit the many battlefields of the East that I had read about years before.  I have spent the years walking these battlefields. As I increased my knowledge I began to write about primarily the individual soldiers and their experiences. I have authored more than 35 articles for various civil war publications, including Gettysburg Magazine, the Washington Times Civil War Page, Manuscripts, America’s Civil War, Military Collector & Historian, Civil War Historian and the Skirmish Line. In 2023, I also received the Henry Kyd Douglas Award from the Hagerstown Civil War Roundtable.

When I retired in 2008 I determined to move close to Antietam as it is a battlefield that remains very close in appearance to what it was like on September 17, 1862! Here I can share my passion for the individual soldiers who marched across this ground so many years ago.  I have written about them in the book I co-authored Identification Discs of Union Soldiers in the Civil War. These discs remind me of the many soldiers that came across this ground. Let me take you across time to visit the locations these soldiers traveled so long ago. I also began to collect images of Union soldiers that fought here.  I will introduce you to several of them and share their individual stories with you as we travel the battlefield.

In less than a week in late September 1862 almost 30,000 American soldiers were rendered killed, wounded, or missing in one of the most crucial military campaigns in our nation’s history. At stake was the very existence of the United States as a single nation. Had Confederate intentions been successful, it is very likely that the late nineteenth century would have seen at least two independent nations between Canada and Mexico. On September 17 at one location near the small town of Sharpsburg in rural western Maryland 23,000 of those campaign casualties occurred in just a single day. Our country has never seen such bloodshed or loss of human treasure on any other single day in any other conflict we have ever fought. Although considered by many to be a tactical stalemate, the battle of Antietam was an operational victory for the Union for several reasons. None the least of which was the opportunity presented to President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation which changed the nature of the war on the world stage from one nation’s struggle for independence to another nation’s moral crusade to end the institution of slavery.

I am a native of Hagerstown, Maryland. As a child I played among the monuments at Antietam National Battlefield during many family picnics to that area. I also remember Saturday afternoons watching my father play pool with his friends at Captain Bender’s Tavern in Sharpsburg. When I got old enough I was allowed to visit the battlefield and the refreshment stand at Bloody Lane on my own. I have literally walked Antietam since I was knee high to the proverbial grasshopper. As a boy scout I remember several camping trips around Burnside Bridge. After a stint in the U.S. Navy I earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Frostburg State College and a Master of Arts from Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. I taught in the Washington County Public School System for ten years. One of the high points my fifth-grade students looked forward to in the spring was the day long field trip to the Antietam Battlefield. Eventually I made a career change into civil engineering and my new employment took me to Frederick where I spent over twenty years. My morning commute throughout those years carried me directly through the South Mountain battlefield.

In 1988 I became extremely interested (my wife would say obsessed) in the fate of 58 dead Confederate soldiers dumped down a farmer’s well at Fox’s Gap after the battle of South Mountain. I knew that Fox’s Gap, just like Antietam, was a real place and this led me to seek out the location and story of those unfortunate souls dumped in that well. That search resulted in my becoming a founding member of the Central Maryland Heritage League in 1989. I served as the group’s Historian and briefly as President before my departure in 2000. The league gained a modest amount of success in not only increasing the public’s knowledge of the battle of South Mountain but in also preserving portions of that battlefield. I have also served as a part-time volunteer and historical consultant for the fledgling South Mountain State Battlefield. My research into the fate of those dead 58 Confederate soldiers put into the well at Fox’s Gap resulted in the publication of The Bivouacs of the Dead: The Story of Those Who Died at Antietam and South Mountain, Toomey Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 1992.

Recently, Savas Beatie, LLC, announced the August 2019 release of Too Useful to Sacrifice: Reconsidering George B. McClellan’s Generalship in the Maryland Campaign from South Mountain to Antietam.

The importance of Robert E. Lee’s first movement north of the Potomac River in September 1862 is difficult to overstate. After his string of successes in Virginia, a decisive Confederate victory in Maryland or Pennsylvania may well have spun the war in an entirely different direction. Why he and his Virginia army did not find success across the Potomac was due in large measure to the generalship of George B. McClellan. History has typecast McClellan as the slow and overly cautious general who allowed opportunities to slip through his grasp and Lee’s battered army to escape. I disagree and argue persuasively that he deserves significant credit for moving quickly, acting decisively, and defeating and turning back the South’s most able general.
For most of my life the story of Lee and McClellan in the Maryland Campaign of 1862 has been little more than a comic book caricature pitting Robert the Bold against George the Timid. The accepted stereotype of George B. McClellan as the slow, overly cautious timid commander who did not want to fight has assumed the status of historical consensus. It is my sincere hope that this book not only contributes to an accurate historical account of McClellan’s accomplishments during the campaign, but also debunks the myths surrounding McClellan and leads to a better more balanced understanding of one of the most capable commanders of the Civil War.

A visit to the Antietam National Battlefield can sometimes be a very confusing experience. There are so many monuments, so many interpretive markers, so much information and so little time to take it all in. I offer my services to families and groups of all sizes from the individual to the busload and the novice to the serious history buff. I try to concentrate on the story of the soldiers, who they were, where they fought, and what they accomplished or failed to achieve. Every visitor to Antietam is unique and comes to the battlefield with their own set of beliefs and preconceptions. I strive to accommodate all viewpoints with an open mind and ask that the visitor do the same. The men who gave up that last measure of devotion on this field did so for a variety of reasons that we may, or may not agree with. It was their war, not ours and no matter what their cause they were Americans and I would like to think that we can come together as Americans to appreciate their sacrifice.

The battle of Antietam did not occur in a vacuum. It was an integral part of the Maryland Campaign of 1862 and to fully appreciate its significance requires some knowledge of the events of the campaign both before and after. Understanding an event such as the Maryland Campaign is an ongoing process and I have been involved in that process for almost 40 years (and still amazed at how much I have yet to learn). I feel uniquely qualified to provide the visitor to Antietam a rich experience and better understanding not only of the significance of the battle, but of the sacrifice of those 30,000 men who wore the uniforms, both Blue and Gray.

In addition to tours of Antietam and/or South Mountain I can also offer the following lectures:

• The Story of Barbara Fritchie
• The Legend of Wise’s Well
• All the Injury Possible: The day between South Mountain and Antietam
• Too Useful To Sacrifice: Reconsidering the Generalship of George B. McClellan during the Maryland Campaign
• John Pope at Antietam

Thank you so much for your interest in touring Antietam National Battlefield! My name is Jon Swain, and I was born and raised just over the mountain from this hallowed ground. I was brought up listening to the stories from the fateful Maryland campaign, and it is now my distinct pleasure as a Licensed Battlefield Guide to pass these stories on to you.

In the past, I worked as a National Park Ranger at parks and historic sites all over the country, including Grand Canyon, the Everglades, the Eisenhower Farm, and most recently, right here at Antietam National Battlefield. I have a Masters Degree in Public History and I run a private business which specializes in historic ammunition for 18th and 19th century firearms. Most importantly, however, I had the honor of serving as a rifleman in the United States Marine Corps from 2007 to 2013.

I would be happy to accommodate whatever related interests you may have into our tour together, whether it be in leadership and strategy, technology and tactics, or the fascinating stories of the soldiers and civilians who experienced the battle. If you have an ancestor of yours who fought at Antietam, I would love to know about them, and I would be honored to take you to the places where they fought.

See you on the field!

Born and raised in Benton, Pennsylvania, a small farming community much like Sharpsburg, I enlisted and began my adventure in the U.S. Army in 1984. My 24-year career was spent in and around light infantry units like the 10th Mountain Division, the 25th Infantry Division, and the 101st Airborne Division including combat operations during the first Gulf War (Desert Storm) and Kosovo. During my career as a senior non-commissioned officer, I held a variety of leadership and staff positions at all levels. I hold an undergraduate history degree from Excelsior College and a Master’s Degree in Military History from the American Military University. Upon my military retirement I continued to serve as a defense contractor for both the Army and the Navy. After moving to Maryland I started to volunteer with the National Park Service at the Antietam National Battlefield as a Battlefield Ambassador throughout the park. Over the years I have led military staff rides and guided scout groups on hikes across Shiloh, Chickamauga, Manassas, Gettysburg and Antietam.

In 2015, I moved to Sharpsburg to become the proprietor and Innkeeper of the Jacob Rohrbach Inn, Bed & Breakfast. In 2021, I founded the Antietam Institute, a nonprofit organization that focuses on educating the public on the importance of Antietam and the Maryland Campaign through programs, publications and philanthropic activities. Today I serve as the Executive Director of the Antietam Institute.

My interest in the American Civil War and the Battle of Antietam in particular occurred many years ago when I was told the story of a young man named Henry. In August of 1862, Henry, who was from Montour County, Pennsylvania answered President Abraham Lincoln’s call for 300,000 nine-month militia. Henry enlisted in the ‘Danville Fencibles’ which was comprised of men mostly from the Danville Iron Works. Before the end of the month they were mustered into service as Company A, 132nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment and in defensive works outside Washington.

With General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate invasion into Maryland, they were quickly assigned to Brigadier General Nathan Kimball’s First Brigade, 3rd Division, Second Army Corps, alongside three veteran regiments. In just over a week’s time Henry and the 132nd Pennsylvania would receive their ‘baptism of fire’ fighting for a Sunken Road among the fields and farmsteads that reminded them so much of home.

Henry survived the battle at Antietam as well as the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville unscathed. After being mustered out he returned home to Danville to become a successful businessman, farmer, and family man. This story was passed down to me through the generations, as Henry Vincent was my great-great Grandfather.

Come join me at the Antietam National Battlefield to walk the Sunken Road and the pristine countryside to hear the stories of other men like Henry Vincent and understand their experience during the bloodiest day in American history. I look forward to seeing you at the battlefield!

The Ezra A. Carman Award honors the memory of Antietam’s first historical expert of the battlefield. No single person has had more impact on the Antietam battlefield than Ezra A. Carman. A veteran of the battle, the United States War Department hired Carman in 1896 as “historical expert” to create detailed battle maps, design the tour route, mark points of special interest, and create a “pamphlet” to guide the government in future modifications of the battlefield. His “pamphlet” became a 1,800-page manuscript providing the most detailed account of the campaign ever written. It is the book still used today for most histories of the battle. Carman also authored the cast-iron tablets seen on the battlefield today. For his works, he used official and private sources and amassed over 2,800 accounts from veterans of the battle.

Past Recipients:
2019: Tom Clemens
2020: John Schildt
2021: Kevin Pawlak
2022: Brad Gottfried
2023: Steven Stotelmyer
2024: Jim Rosebrock

2018: Justin Mayhue
2019: John Michael Priest

Gordon Dammann
Bill Sagle
Tom Clemens