I know that this topic is 5(!!!) years old, but I wanted to add my two-cents in. Antietam is one of those places that EVERY American should go see. Walking upon that hallowed ground is an experience that one isn't soon to forget. I've been there four times now, and each time I go, it's a sobering reminder of the fragility of life. One cannot describe the feeling that comes upon them when entering Miller's bloody cornfield. Treading upon the exact same ground that saw such horrorible fighting and death is incredible.
I like to take Antietam:The Soldier's Battle with me, and read the accounts of the metal on the rifles being so hot that flesh was being stuck to them. And the account of the air smelling of sulphur and blood. Just imagining and visualizing the Texans' gallant charge, pushing the Yankees to the northern tip of the cornfield, only to be mowed down by point-blank artillery fire. Imagining the Yankees charging through, seeing all the carnage from the previous attacks, and then watching as a company of North Carolina infantry rise up from 15 feet away and mowing them down. Walking upon that upper part of the battlefield alone is enough to knock you over. Then you head to the Dunker church and the West Woods. Walking in the same forest that was so hotly contested and seeing the terrain one had to cross, in formation, to make the attack. The Dunker church also is powerful. Knowing the long history that the building suffered (even having a convenience store built on it's foundation!) makes you respect it even more. Imagining it during the aftermath of the battle, used as a hospital, and the scene that you would have experienced. After digesting the enormity of the first phase of the Battle of Sharpsburg, THEN you move-on to the Sunken Road!
Walking in the same Roulette farm lane that soldiers did in 1862 is an unreal experience. Looking to your left and seeing the Mumma farm and cemetery, you can imagine the artillery batteries posted at the top of the rise, and the Confederate reinforcements making their way north. Looking to your right is the field across which the Irish Brigade charged the Sunken Lane. Walking up the same rise that the Yankees did on the way to Bloody Lane really gives you a feel for the heat and effort that went into climbing it, and the anticipation and fear of what was surely to come. The second you reach the crest, you see Bloody Lane. By that time, it was too late as a wall of flame erupts in the Yankees' faces. While standing in the lane, you can get the idea of what the Confederates were seeing, as the top of the flags appeared over the horizon, then the heads, then the shoulders, then finally the whole soldier as the command to fire is given. What a tragedy it would have been to lose this sacred ground to development!
The Burnside bridge area is pretty cool too. Walking across the bridge, and filling up your canteen in Antietam Creek is a memory not soon to be forgotton. Seeing the rifle pits from the Georgia Confederates holding the hill and their proximity to the bridge makes you appreciate what the Yankee attacks really did.
As you can tell, Antietam is one of my favorite battlefields to visit, and favorite battles to study. There is nothing like pulling onto MD 65 and seeing the Piper farm, knowing that Dunker Church Road and the visitor's center are just a short ways off!
Bringing the