BGuthrie Photos: MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Visitor Center

MD -- Antietam Natl Battlefield -- Visitor Center:

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. ANTIVC_120916_023.JPG: "This Is Not The Way We Bury Folks At Home" -- Pvt. Roland Bowen, 15th Massachusetts Infantry In the days following the battle, Union soldiers buried thousands of bodies from both armies. Burial details performed their grisly task with speed, but not great care. Graves ranged from single burials to long shallow trenches which held dozens. In 1864 a National Cemetery was established to provide a more proper burial for the dead of Antietam. Three years later, construction was complete and the bodies of Federal soldiers were then reinterred. Confederate soldiers remained in the fields, but eventually were re-buried at three local cemeteries. The National Cemetery not only provided a final resting place, it also established a site for people to gather and reflect upon the sacrifices made by these men. Photographer Alexander Gardner captured these images of the initial battlefield burials. Gardner titles these two images "Graves of Federal soldiers at Burnside Bridge" and "Federals buried. Confederate unburied, where they fell." The creation of the Antietam National Cemetery transformed the scattered remains of the Union dead into neat rows of graves, organized by state. The colossal statue of the "Private Soldier" was added and dedicated on September 17, 1880.
2. ANTIVC_120916_046.JPG: "Deliver Us From This Terrible War" -- Hagerstown resident Lutie Kealhofer Sharpsburg was settled in the mid eighteenth century when this land was the western frontier. For years, local residents worked the land, raised families, and worshipped in peace. On one terrible Wednesday in September, the terror of battle forced the 1,300 people of Sharpsburg to take refuge in cellars, caves, and nearby churches. Returning to their war torn farms, local citizens found extensive property damage and thousands of dead and wounded soldiers. Homes, barns and churches were converted to hospitals and needed supplies were taken for use by the army including food, clothing, blankets, and firewood. Graves replaced crops. Though no civilians were killed during the battle, many died afterward from diseases brought by 80,000 Union soldiers who stayed for six weeks. Residents comforted those searching for loved ones and guided visitors found walking across their farms trying to make sense of this battle. Amid this tragedy, the resilient people of Sharpsburg survived, endured, and rebuilt their community. The people of Sharpsburg fled the gathering armies and returned to find: Suffering: More than one hundred field hospitals were established in barns, churches, and woodlots to care for approximately 18,000 wounded soldiers. Death: Bodies were gathered for burial. About 4,000 soldiers were killed during the battle. Destruction: The Mumma Farm was burned to the ground by Confederate soldiers during the battle.
3. ANTIVC_120916_047.JPG: The portraits before you are of William and Margaret Ann Miller Roulette. The furniture is from their home, which stands today 700 yards behind the visitor center. The Roulette farm was one of the first established in the area and was known for successful production as well as for its serene beauty. The Battle of Antietam brought a sharp contrast, as the farm was in the path of thousands of Union soldiers marching towards the Sunken Road. Intense fighting swept through the area and the Roulette's lives would be forever changed.
4. ANTIVC_120916_062.JPG: The Earl Roulette Collection: This case contains a portion of the battle relics collected by Earl Roulette. During his forty years of tilling the soil of his Sharpsburg farm, Mr. Roulette often said, "I must have been up and down off that tractor a thousand times," recovering bullets and other artifacts. He was also a historian and caretaker for the family letters, documents, and bibles that help us understand more about this community and the life of his great-grandparents, William and Margaret Roulette.
5. ANTIVC_120916_076.JPG: Bayonet, curved into a hook, found on the field after the battle. Matches soldier descriptions of bayonets bent and then used to drag bodies into mass graves.
6. ANTIVC_120916_090.JPG: After the battle, William Roulette wrote: "The battle caused considerable destruction of property here. My nearest neighbor lost his house and barn by fire. I lost three valuable horses and sheep, hogs, poultry, vegetables, and indeed everything eatable we had about the house so that when we came back we was obliged to bring provisions with us." After the battle, the Roulette's home and barn were used as hospitals for wounded men and seven hundred dead were interred in their farm fields. The biggest impact, however, was felt through a direct loss to the family itself, as Mr. Roulette continued: "Our youngest died since the battle, a charming little girl twenty months old, Carrie May -- just beginning to talk."
7. ANTIVC_120916_101.JPG: "A Nation Should Preserve the Landmarks of its History" -- Committee on Military Affairs, 1891 In 1890, legislation was passed to create Antietam Battlefield for the purpose of, "surveying, locating, and preserving the lines of battle." The US War Department was to supervise this undertaking not only at Antietam, but at four other Civil War battlefields. The Antietam Battlefield Board, composed of Civil War veterans, was established to research and oversee the early preservation efforts. The Board reached out to veterans for their assistance in creating a thorough history of the Maryland Campaign and began constructing tour roads and placing historical markers. Eventually, Antietam and the four other military parks were transferred to the National Park Service in 1933. An observation tower at Sunken Road was completed in 1897. Over 300 War Department tablets were placed on the new tour roads in the 1890s to mark the location of different parts of each army during the battle. Early military tours of staff rides to Antietam were conducted on horseback. This 1907 image shows the Army War college at the Burnside Bridge. From its inception in 1890 until today, military groups have trained at the park. In 1924 the US Marines marched here from their base in Quantico, Virginia. After arriving, they conducted exercises on the battlefield, which even included tanks and aircraft. The training concluded with a re-enactment on September 12th before a crowd of 40,000 spectators. The Battlefield Board established over five miles of tour roads to, "enable the visitor to reach, by public highways, the points of greatest military interest." Today, visitors still travel essentially the same roads created over one-hundred years ago to tour the field.
8. ANTIVC_120916_109.JPG: Mapping the Battle: Ezra Carman, former colonel of the 13th New Jersey Infantry, was appointed as "historical expert" on the Antietam Battlefield Board. Carman wrote the text for the tablets and helped in the production of fourteen maps published by the Board in 1904 to document troop movements during the battle. Carman claimed that it was the "best map ever made." These maps are still used by the park today to restore and interpret the battlefield.
9. ANTIVC_120916_136.JPG: Printer's proof "error" of silk invitation presented to President William McKinley for dedication of Maryland Monument, 1900
10. ANTIVC_120916_153.JPG: Thenceforward and Forever Free: President Abraham Lincoln altered the course of the Civil War and he nation when he issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation five days after the battle. During the summer of 1862, he agonized over issuing a proclamation to abolish slavery in those states in rebellion. Some of his cabinet thought that such a move would look like an act of desperation in the face of Union military setbacks. The president needed a victory to give him the opportunity for such a move. The Battle of Antietam, followed by Lee's withdrawal to Virginia, was the decisive moment. The proclamation was issued in two parts. The preliminary document was introduced on September 22, 1862 and the final on January 1, 1863. Both documents freed slaves in those states in rebellion. In addition to setting the stage for the abolition of slavery in 1865, it was a decisive war measure. The proclamation went far in discouraging European nations from allying with the Confederacy. It also deprived the South of valuable labor for their war effort and led to the recruitment of almost 200,000 African American soldiers for the Union cause.
11. ANTIVC_120916_159.JPG: Legacy of Change: When the soldiers of two American armies converged on the peaceful village of Sharpsburg, they transformed the once tranquil farms that surrounded the town into horrific fields of combat. This community would never be the same. Five days after the guns fell silent, President Abraham Lincoln redefined the meaning of the war when he announced the Emancipation Proclamation. No longer was this conflict being waged solely to reunited a divided country, now this war would also be fought to abolish slavery. As the years passed, the site of the Civil War's bloodiest single-day battle evolved into a place of reflection and national remembrance. Though the scars of war have faded from the landscape, Antietam National Battlefield remains hallowed ground. It is a place where America forever changed -- a place to ponder the meaning of sacrifice and freedom. The Community: Sharpsburg citizens took shelter in basements to escape the battle. No civilians were killed during the battle, but the community suffered for years. The Nation: President Lincoln first introduced the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet in July of 1862, but he had to wait until the Confederate withdrawal after Antietam to present it to the nation. The Battlefield: Early commemoration efforts began with the dedication of the National Cemetery in 1867. President Andrew Johnson, seven governors, and over 10,000 people attended the event.
12. ANTIVC_120916_165.JPG: An Enduring Heritage: As part of congressional legislation to mark and preserve Antietam Battlefield, the Committee on Military Affairs noted in 1891 that "the field on which the battle took place is practically unchanged from what it was on the day of the action. It is proposed to maintain the field in the same condition as to roads, fields, forests, and houses." Since becoming a national park, the mission has been to preserve and protect the battlefield and restore the landscape to its September 1862 appearance. 1933: The battlefield was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service in 1933. At the time of the transfer, the park was owned only sixty-five acres. [sic] 2012: One hundred and fifty years after the battle, Antietam National Battlefield has grown to more than 3,000 acres, making possible the restoration of significant parts of the battlefield. 1862: Dunker Church: 1961: The church blew down in a wind storm in 1921. Today: The church was reconstructed for the 100th anniversary of the battle. 1862: Sunken Road or Bloody Lane: 1961: Souvenirs and snacks were sold on private property next to the Sunken Road. Today: As the park expanded, modern intrusions were removed. 1862: Burnside Bridge: 1961: Cars drove across the bridge until 1964. Today: A bypass was built and now the bridge is a preserved walkway.
13. ANTIVC_120916_171.JPG: "Antietam symbolizes something even more important than combat heroism and military strategy. It marks a diplomatic turning point of world-wide consequence. From this point onward our Civil War had a new dimension which was important to the whole course of human liberty." -- John F. Kennedy
14. ANTIVC_120916_186.JPG: Samuel Mumma's pocket watch was the only heirloom saved by the family before their farm was burned during the Battle of Antietam. It features a fob made from his wife Elizabeth's hair. The original gold housing was removed and sold in the years after the battle.
15. ANTIVC_120916_190.JPG: Letter written by James F. Clark of New Bern, North Carolina, to the postmaster, Sharpsburg, Maryland, dated March 17, 1906. As a member of the 3rd North Carolina Infantry during the battle, Clark was involved in the burning of the Mumma house and farm buildings. In this letter, Clark asked for some information in order to apologize to the Mumma family. Coincidentally, the postmaster turned out to be Samuel Mumma Jr., who sent a return letter to Clark expressing no hard feelings since he was "just carrying out orders."
16. ANTIVC_120916_194.JPG: Nancy Camel's manumission, for nineteenth century Americans of African descent freedom was proven by the possession of a document manumitting (or releasing) them from enslavement. This is the one carried by Miss Camel. The purchase and manumission of persons who recorded in the county property records office.
17. ANTIVC_120916_200.JPG: Nancy Camel
18. ANTIVC_120916_205.JPG: Flee! Stories of Flight from Maryland In Black & White The Underground Railroad touched all parts of society, enslaved and free, black and white. Runaway slaves looked to friends, family and strangers for assistance. Slave owners and supporters of slavery worked to capture escapees for financial gain and to preserve their local system. This exhibit explores previously unknown stories of slave owners, fugitives and accomplices to show how slavery and the flight to freedom shapes the lives of all Marylanders. The Maryland State Archives produced this exhibit as part of its ongoing effort to study the legacy of slavery in Maryland. For more information, please visit: The Study of Legacy of Slavery at the Maryland State Archives www.mdslavery.net
19. ANTIVC_120916_212.JPG: Slaveholders: Slaveholders in Maryland used slaves to cultivate wheat and tobacco, or to perform domestic work and skilled labor. Slave owners saw their slaves as property, sources of revenue, status symbols and important investments. They also saw them as dangerous threats who needed to be controlled and kept at bay. Owners feared runaways would encourage other slaves to escape-or rebel. When slaves escaped, masters might punish those who remained. Case Study: Ricksom Webb was a free black man who owned slaves, an unusual but not unheard of situation. Like his white counterparts, he enforced the cruelties of slave labor system in Maryland. Owning slaves possibly elevated Webb's status in society, even among whites. Webb owned at least six slaves, including Alfred, who tried to escape from his Caroline County farm in 1844. Case Study: Rev. John Ashton, a Jesuit priest at the White Marsh Church in Prince George's County, lost many slaves who not only ran away, but who also challenged him in court. Two groups of slaves escaped from Ashton at the end of the eighteenth century. The Queen family, a group of twelve, fled in 1795. Three years later, brother Charles and Patrick Mahoney also ran away. Both groups unsuccessfully sued Ashton for their freedom. Ashton manumitted the Mahoney brothers in 1804, but the Queen family remained in slavery. Ashton and Webb challenge the traditional portrait of slave owners. As a clergyman and a free black, respectively, they illustrate that slavery was an institution which sometimes outweighed moral and racial conventions.
20. ANTIVC_120916_223.JPG: Fugitives: Fugitive slaves in Maryland often fled without knowing whom they could trust. Runaways sometimes received help from relatives and friends, and sought shelter in cities like Washington, DC, and Baltimore. They could be captured by slave catchers for large rewards. Case Study: Slaves occasionally made multiple escapes and, at times, chose to return to their owner. Ben Orme escaped from Three Sisters Plantation of Prince George's County at least three times. In his attempt in 1812, Ben was caught. he escaped again with Peter and Andrew Ridout during the British invasion of Maryland in 1814. Perhaps fearing that recapture would bring harsher consequences than voluntarily returning, Ben left the Ridout brothers to go back to his masters, Tilghman Hilleary. When he returned, Orme testifies that it was the Ridouts who persuaded him to escape and that he last saw them riding off with the British. Ben Orme fled again in 1815, but records show he was returned to slavery by 1835. Case Study: Fugitives frequently fled during holidays and periods when their absences were more likely to go unnoticed. Henry H. Smith and William Little, indentured apprentices, escaped from Fells Point in Baltimore on a Sunday in 1832, during a cholera epidemic. The following day their master, William Williams, placed runaway advertisements in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston newspapers. Smith and Little's escape is a rare example of blacks and white fleeing together. While their fate remains unclear, running away as a pair increased the risk of capture.
21. ANTIVC_120916_225.JPG: Accomplices: Freed and enslaved blacks, as well as sympathetic whites, assisted runaway slaves by offering refuge, advice and legal assistance. Accomplices risked ostracism, imprisonment and death. Fugitive slave laws required all citizens to report runaways to authorities. People who "enticed" slaves to escape and aided fugitives could receive years in prison. Case Study: Anyone suspected of enticing a slave to flee could be prosecuted. The story of Ann Matthews, a white woman from Baltimore City jailed for encouraging her neighbor's slave to escape, reveals the aggressiveness to Maryland's pro-slavery sentiments. Matthews received a ten-year prison sentence in 1848, even though Margaret, the slave she allegedly encouraged, never attempted to run away. Detractors in the community wrote to Governor Philip Francis Thomas that Matthews was "a perfect pest" and "a terror." However, the jury sympathized with Matthews, recommending that she be pardoned because she was "no abolitionist, or in any way hostile to the Institution of Slavery." Matthews was pardoned, but died three years later. Case Study: The fear of separation from friends and family was a common motivation to attempt an escape. Abraham Brogden, a free black, worked in Anne Arundel County near his enslaved wife, Cinderella. The Brogdens fled together in 1848, fearing the Cinderella would be sold to a distant master to settle her owner's debts. Their attempts failed and Abraham was sentenced to the Maryland Penitentiary, while Cinderella was sold outside Maryland. Sympathetic Annapolis residents wrote that Abraham's "crime was in endeavoring to set his wife at liberty." Sadly, Cinderella passed away before Abraham was pardoned in 1853.
22. ANTIVC_120916_238.JPG: Toward Freedom: All slaves in Maryland were freed by the stat's Constitution of 1864, and a new chapter was opened in the lives of African Americans. The fate of many fugitives and former slaves is unknown. Some fugitives settled in the North, and other returned to Maryland to live near family members or find work. A few, like Harriet Tubman and Emily and Mary Edmonson, remain well-known today. The stories of fugitive slaves were featured in works such as The Refugee: or Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada by Benjamin Drew and The Underground Railroad by William Still. These books give personal accounts of the experience of flight, and when combined with original records, reveal the very human stories that are the key to understanding the Underground Railroad.
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