Living history: Battlefield marks milestone
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The graves of soldiers rest at the battlefield.
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Cannons help depict the lines of battle in September 1862 at Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland.
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Thundering cannons no longer break the silence of a quiet dawn.
But stories of bravery and sacrifice have been passed down from generation to generation in the hopes those memories will never be lost.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle at Antietam. History scholars and students alike have found their way to the battlefield near Hagerstown, Md., to relive the battle that pitted Union Gen. George McClellan against the Confederacy’s Robert E. Lee. This was Lee’s first attempt to take the war to the North.
In the end, after 12 hours of intense combat on Sept. 17, 1862, 23,000 men had been killed, wounded or listed as missing. Close to 10,000 soldiers were killed or wounded during the first four hours of battle alone. This battle would prove to be the bloodiest day in the history of the United States.
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