Before starting your tour, stop at the visitor center where exhibits and audio-visual programs provide an introduction to the battle and the Maryland Campaign. The numbered tour stops below are arranged according to the sequence of the battle. Battlefield map Morning Phase (6 a.m. to 9 a.m.) 1 Dunker Church This was the focal point of repeated clashes as both armies sought to occupy and hold the high ground around it. Leveled by a storm in 1921, the church was rebuilt in 1962. 2 North Woods General Hooker launched the initial Union attack from this point. It was stopped by Jackson’s troops in The Cornfield, ½ mile south. 3 East Woods Union Gen. Joseph Mansfield was fatally wounded here as he led his XII Corps into battle. 4 The Cornfield More fighting took place here in the Miller cornfield than anywhere else at Antietam. The battlelines swept back and forth across the field for three hours. 5 West Woods Union Gen. John Sedgwick’s division lost more than 2,200 men in less than half an hour in an ill-fated charge into these woods against Jackson’s troops. 6 Mumma Farm Burned by the Confederates to prevent their use by Union sharpshooters, the Mumma farm buildings were the only civilian property purposely destroyed during the battle. Midday Phase (9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.) 7 Roulette Farm Union troops under French and Richardson crossed these fields on their way to meet the Confederates posted in the Sunken Road. 8 Sunken Road (Bloody Lane) For nearly 4 hours, Union and Confederate infantry contested this sunken country road, resulting in over 5,000 casualties. Thus the name “Bloody Lane”. Afternoon Phase (1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.) 9 Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge) The fighting here was a key factor in McClellan’s failure at Antietam. Called Burnside Bridge after the Union general whose troops were held off most of the day by a few hundred Georgia riflemen, it is the battlefield’s best-known landmark. 10 The Final Attack After taking the Lower Bridge and reforming his corps, Burnside marched his men across these hills toward Sharpsburg, threatening to cut off Lee’s line of retreat. Just as the Federals reached this area, A. P. Hill’s Confederate division arrived from Harpers Ferry and drove them back. 11 Antietam National Cemetery The remains of 4,776 Federal soldiers, including 1,836 unknowns, are buried in this hilltop cemetery near town. Most of the Confederate dead are buried in Hagerstown and Frederick, Md., Shepherdstown, W. Va., and in local church and family cemeteries. The battle of Antietam, fought over an area of 12 square miles, consisted of the three basic phases—morning, midday, and afternoon—shown on the maps at right. During the morning phase, three piecemeal Union attacks drove back Jackson’s line, but did not break it. The midday phase saw two Union divisions break D. H. Hill’s line in the sunken road, but McClellan’s failure to follow it up lost him the advantage that had been gained. In the afternoon phase, Burnside’s slow pincer movement beyond the lower bridge was broken by A. P. Hill’s timely arrival. Morning Phase Midday Phase Afternoon Phase |