Existing comment:
Reunions and Dedications:
The designation of Antietam as a War Department battlefield not only brought active duty soldiers to the battlefield, it also increased the number of veterans who returned to Sharpsburg. States and surviving veterans began placing monuments near the locations where they fought. In many instances, medals, ribbons, and books were created to remember these gatherings.
One of the last and largest reunions at Antietam was held in 1937 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the battle. An address by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a re-creation of the battle drew 25,000 people to Sharpsburg. Twenty-one of the sixty-five known living veterans of the battle attended the event. |