Antietam National Battlefield

The Battle of Antietam ( an-TEE-təm), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek. Part of the Maryland Campaign, it was the first field army–level engagement in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War to take place on Union soil. It remains the bloodiest day in American history, with a combined tally of 22,727 dead, wounded, or missing. Although the Union Army suffered heavier casualties than the Confederates, the battle was a major turning point in the Union's favor. After pursuing Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee into Maryland, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan of the Union Army launched attacks against Lee's army who were in defensive positions behind Antietam Creek. At dawn on September 17, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's corps mounted a powerful assault on Lee's left flank. Attacks and counterattacks swept across Miller's Cornfield, and fighting swirled around the Dunker Church. Union assaults against the Sunken Road eventually pierced the Confederate center, but the Federal advantage was not followed up. In the afternoon, Union Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside's corps entered the action, capturing a stone bridge over Antietam Creek and advancing against the Confederate right. At a crucial moment, Confederate Maj. Gen. A. P. Hill's division arrived from Harpers Ferry and launched a surprise counterattack, driving back Burnside and ending the battle. Although outnumbered two-to-one, Lee committed his entire force, while McClellan sent in less than three-quarters of his army, enabling Lee to fight the Federals to a standstill. During the night, both armies consolidated their lines. In spite of crippling casualties, Lee continued to skirmish with McClellan throughout September 18, while removing his battered army south of the Potomac River. McClellan successfully turned Lee's invasion back, making the battle a Union victory, but President Abraham Lincoln, unhappy with McClellan's general pattern of overcaution and his failure to pursue the retreating Lee, relieved McClellan of command in November. From a tactical standpoint, the battle was somewhat inconclusive; the Union Army successfully repelled the Confederate invasion but suffered heavier casualties and failed to defeat Lee's army outright. However, it was a significant turning point in the war in favor of the Union due in large part to its political ramifications: the battle's result gave Lincoln the political confidence to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all "persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion," as of the first of the following year, shall be "forever free." This effectively discouraged the British and French governments from recognizing the Confederacy, as neither power wished to give the appearance of supporting slavery.

The American Volunteer – also known as The American Soldier – is a colossal granite statue that crowns the U.S. Soldier Monument and forms the centerpiece of Antietam National Cemetery in Sharpsburg, Maryland. The monument is also known as the Private Soldier Monument. The monument was designed by sculptor Carl Conrads and architect George Keller of the New England Granite Works of Hartford, Connecticut. The statue, described as "the largest work of its kind in the country", was prominently exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was transported to Sharpsburg, installed atop the monument, and dedicated at the National Cemetery in 1880. The total cost of the monument was over US$32,000. The statue's nickname is "Old Simon".

The Piper House is a historic home located at the southeast corner of Main and Church Streets in Sharpsburg, Washington County, Maryland, United States. It has a two-story limestone main block, constructed between 1792 and 1804, with a two-story brick wing, added about 1834. The house features a hip-roofed porch that shelters the main central entrance.The Piper House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

The William Chapline House in Sharpsburg, Maryland, United States is a large stone house built about 1790. The house has shaped stonework at the front and rubble stonework on the sides with a cast-iron porch added around the turn of the twentieth century. The house was damaged during the Battle of Antietam, when it was hit with canister shot. At that time it was occupied by Dr. Augustin A. Biggs, who treated the wounded from the battle in the house.William Chapline House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

The Good-Reilly House is a historic home located at Sharpsburg, Washington County, Maryland, United States. It is located at the northeast corner of the town square and is a 1+1⁄2-story stone house with combined Maryland colonial and Georgian stylistic influence. The house likely dates from the 1780s, and features flush stone chimneys on each gable end.The Good-Reilly House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Tolson's Chapel and School is a historic African American church located at Sharpsburg, Washington County, Maryland, United States. It was built in 1866 and served as a church and a Freedmen's Bureau school for black residents of Sharpsburg in the years following the American Civil War. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2021.

The Joseph C. Hays House at 103–105 West Main Street in Sharpsburg, Maryland, United States, was originally built in 1823 as a three-bay side hall double-parlor house in the Federal style. It was soon expanded to the east with a two-bay parlor and one commercial bay. The east parlor entered commercial use during the mid-19th century as a dry goods store operated by Benjamin F. Cronise. Circa 1920 a storefront was added and a copper front was applied with BANK lettered under a central pediment, behind a marquee. The property combines early 19th-century Federal architecture with a good example of early 20th-century commercial architectural ornament.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

Sharpsburg is a town in Washington County, Maryland. The town is approximately 13 miles (21 km) south of Hagerstown. Its population was 705 at the 2010 census. During the American Civil War, the Battle of Antietam, referred to as the Battle of Sharpsburg by the South, was fought on what is now Antietam National Battlefield, in the vicinity of Antietam Creek.

Sharpsburg Historic District is a national historic district located at Sharpsburg, Washington County, Maryland.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

The Jacob Highbarger House was built circa 1832 in Sharpsburg, Maryland, United States. The Greek Revival-influenced house is a late example of limestone construction in the Cumberland Valley of Maryland, with an attached log workshop. The log structure is an unusual example of corner-post log construction with diagonal bracing.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Burnside's Bridge is a landmark on the Civil War Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg, northwestern Maryland.

Hitt's Mill and Houses, also known as Pry's Mill, Valley Mills, Hitt (or Cost) House, is a historic home and mill complex located at Keedysville, Washington County, Maryland, United States. It is a five-story stone and brick structure built as a grist mill. The ground story and the first full story above ground level are constructed of coursed limestone; the upper stories are built of brick. Also on the property is a square log outbuilding with a hipped roof, a large frame bank barn, and part of a fieldstone barnyard fence. The mill and the Hitt house served as hospitals during and after the nearby Civil War Battle of Antietam.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.