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Foundation Document Overview
Antietam National Battlefield
Maryland
Contact Information
For more information about the Antietam National Battlefield Foundation Document,
contact: anti_superintendent@nps.gov or 301-432-7648 or write to:
Superintendent, Antietam National Battlefield, P.O. Box 158, Sharpsburg, MD 21782
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Significance statements express why Antietam National
Battlefield resources and values are important enough to merit
national park unit designation. Statements of significance
describe why an area is important within a global, national,
regional, and systemwide context. These statements are linked
to the purpose of the park unit, and are supported by data,
research, and consensus. Significance statements describe
the distinctive nature of the park and inform management
decisions, focusing efforts on preserving and protecting the
most important resources and values of the park unit.
- Antietam National Battlefield is the site where more than
23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing—the
bloodiest single-day battle in American history.
- The result of the Battle of Antietam provided President
Abraham Lincoln with the opportunity to issue the
preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which elevated the
purpose of the war to include abolishing slavery.
- The high level of landscape integrity at Antietam evokes a
powerful sense of place that allows visitors to make personal
connections to the battle and to its participants.
- The photographs taken at Antietam within days after the
battle were the first to publicly display the carnage and
horrors of the American Civil War.
- The Confederate retreat from Maryland following the Battle
of Antietam ended the Army of Northern Virginia’s first
invasion of the North and had a significant impact on the
momentum, morale, and politics of the American Civil War.
- Antietam National Cemetery, dedicated in 1867 as the
final resting place for Union soldiers who fell at Antietam,
continues to serve as a memorial to honor military sacrifice.
- The commemorative landscape at Antietam National
Battlefield illustrates America’s evolving values and views on
the Civil War.
Purpose Significance
The purpose of A ntietAm nAtionAl
BAttlefield is to preserve, protect,
restore, and interpret for the
benefit of the public the resources
associated with the Battle of
Antietam and its legacy.
Mumma Farmhouse
Miller Farmhouse
J. Poffenberger Farmhouse
A. Poffenberger Farmhouse
Roulette Farmhouse
Piper Farmhouse
Newcomer Farmhouse
Parks Farmhouse
Otto Farmhouse
Sherrick Farmhouse
To 70 and Hagerstown
To and Boonsboro
ALT 40
Maryland Monument
Hawkins’ Zouaves Monument
SHARPSBURG
N I C O D E M U S
H E I G H T S
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Mumma Cemetery
Picnic area
Lodge
J. Poffenberger Farm
Observation Tower
Georgians Overlook
No wheeled vehicles, including bicycles, allowed on Snavelys Ford Trail. (^) Snavelys Ford Trail
Final Attack Trail
Sherrick Farm Trail
Three Farms Trail
Union Advance Trail
Cornfield Trail
West Woods Trail
Bloody Lane Trail
Site of Lee’s Headquarters
Pry House Medical Museum (McClellan’s 1 Headquarters)
Dunker
Church
North
Woods
West
Woods
East
Woods
Cornfield
Mumma Farm
Antietam
National
Cemetery
Final
Attack
Sunken Road
(Bloody Lane)
Lower Bridge
(Burnside Bridge)
Union Advance
Upper Bridge
Pry Ford
Snavelys Ford
Site of Middle Bridge
Visitor Center
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A N T I E T A M
N A T I O N A L
B A T T L E F I E L D
Tour stop and tour route
Trail
Historic building, closed to public
Restrooms
Relic hunting is prohibited.
North
0.5 Mile
0.5 Kilometer
Antietam National Battlefield was established in 1890 to
commemorate the bloodiest single-day battle in American
history. The battlefield was initially administered by the U.S.
War Department. The Battle of Antietam, or Sharpsburg as
it was referred to in the South, began at dawn on September
17, 1862. About 40,000 troops of the Confederate Army of
Northern Virginia under the command of General Robert E.
Lee fought against 80,000 troops of the Federal Army of the
Potomac commanded by General George McClellan.
At day’s end, more than 23,000 soldiers were dead, wounded,
or missing. The commemorative landscape at Antietam
National Battlefield includes monuments; roadways,
fences, curbing, the observation tower, and other associated
features established by the War Department; tablets
documenting troop movements and artillery locations.
Antietam is considered one of the best-preserved Civil War
areas in the national park system. The farms and farmlands in
and near the battlefield appear much as they did on the eve of
the battle in 1862.
The battlefield is in a rural area of south Washington County,
Maryland; agriculture is the predominant land use. Antietam
attracts approximately 350,000 visitors per year. The 11-stop
automobile tour takes visitors through areas of historical
interest, tracing troop movements, interpreting battle tactics
and military strategy, and relating human interest stories.
Additional interpretation is provided at the visitor center.
According to many historians, the Battle of Antietam was
a major turning point in the American Civil War. Although
neither side could claim victory at battle’s end, Lee’s failure
to effectively carry the war into the North allowed President
Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
and caused Great Britain to postpone recognition of the
Confederacy. From that time onward the American
Civil War had a dual purpose— to preserve the Union and
abolish slavery.
Description