Antietam National Battlefield created in 1897

kholland

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Location
Howard County, Maryland
In 1890, Congress authorized the Antietam National Battlefield Site. The purpose was to preserve the battle lines of the two armies in order to study and understand the fighting that was so deadly on this ground. Under the Antietam Battlefield Board, property was secured, the history of the battle was recorded and the many War Department plaques were installed across the battlefield.

A member of the Board, Major George B. Davis, Army Judge Advocate, proposed the stone tower that now stands above Bloody Lane. The view in itself is impressive but it also allows an informed visitor a birds-eye view of the farmland to better understand the battle action that day in September 1862. Access to the top of the tower is by a spiral iron staircase inside.​

The Observation Tower was constructed at the end of the Sunken Road in 1897 by the War Department as part of its efforts to make the Antietam battlefield into an open air classroom. Originally constructed open, the roof was added around 1909. The Irish Brigade Monument is just to the right of its base, with the mortuary cannon to Major General Israel Richardson to its left, flanked by a series of tablets.

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http://www.antietam.stonesentinels.com/PX/Tower.php
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM7TZC_Antietam_Battlefield_Observation_Tower_Antietam_MD
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/md1073.photos.085385p/resource/
 
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