This was the one and only picture I took while we are Antietam Battlefield. We decided to go there on Wednesday. We were probably just excited to use our brand new spanking National Parks passes. Now for a little history lesson for you all, in case the name Antietam doesn't ring a bell. The date was September 17, 1862. General Lee had come as far north as Sharpsburg, Maryland (the first Civil War battle to be fought in Union territory) because he was being pursued by Union Major General George B. McClellan. The Union Army outnumbered the Confederated army two to one, but McClellan was too cautions and only used a third of the army against Lee's full number. The battle that ensued lasted about 12 hours and ended up being the bloodiest 12 hours ever in the history of the United States. When all was said and done there were 23,000 dead, wounded or missing. There was no decisive victor due much to the fact that McClellan didn't use the full force of his army in beating General Lee. Lee was able to retreat back into Virginia pretty much without incident. Even though no one was touted as the winner President Lincoln felt confident enough in the North's abilities that he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which ultimately discouraged British and French recognition of the Confederacy.
I have a really good reason for not taking any more pictures than what you see at the top. In order to see the battle field better we bought a CD from the Visitor Center bookstore, that took you on an auto tour of the battlefield sites around the visitors center. It was pretty neat and very educational, but I was the driver so my hands were on the wheel most of the time. This last weekend they commemorated the 150th anniversary of the battle that claimed so many. Visiting the battlefield was just another fine example of the history that is right here in our very own backyard.
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