From the Gettysburg area we drove down I-81 to Harrisburg/Williamsport, MD KOA. It was within 14 miles of Antietam National Historic Battlefield so the next morning we drove to the battlefield, expecting that since it was after Labor Day it would be nearly deserted. WRONG! The parking lot was quite full.
We watched a 25 minute video explaining the battle, went through the museum and attended a ranger talk on the war from the observation room. By this time it was after noon so we found a convenience store i where we ate lunch. Best darn sub sandwich i've ever tasted!
When we returned to the battlefield we followed the park map to the 11 important sites. It was a bloody battle! Of the 100,000 troops there, 23,000 died in the battle. Clara Barton brought lanterns, food and bandages to the hospital, and Surgeon Charles Dunn christened her The Angel of the Battlefield. In 1881 she founded the American Red Cross. For the people of Sharpsburg, the battle and presence of thousands of soldiers caused sickness and death from disease, and great property damage. Antietam made feasible the Emancipation Proclamation and reshaped the logistics of field medicine.
Some of the important sites were: The Sunken Road, the Burnside Bridge, and the Dunker Church.
The next day we went to Williamsport to see the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. While this site is considered a National Historic Site, it is not well developed. The Visitor's Center is in the old Cushwa warehouse. Little has been done to expand the site.
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