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The Battle of Antietam, also called the Battle of Sharpsburg was fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek. The Battle of Antietam was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties, including more than 3,600 killed. While the Union Forces outnumbered the Confederate forces by 75,000 to 38,000, the battle ended up in a tactial draw, with no clear gains for either side. This was due to poor communication and inadequate leadership on the part of the Union generals.
The battle of Antietam took place in three separate phases, although the phases were actually supposed to take place simultaneously. The first phase took place in the north part of the Antietam Battlefield on Miller's Farm in a field now known simply as The Cornfield (or the Bloody Cornfield), and the surrounding wooded areas known as North Woods, East Woods and West Woods. The Union objective was a small church known as Dunker Church.
As the fighting took place in the Bloody Cornfield, it rolled over to the middle of the Antietam Battlefield into the second phase of the Battle of Antietam. Much of the fighting in this phase took place around a small rural road known as Sunken Lane. After the battle, Sunken Lane became known as Bloody Lane in response to the terrible casualties that took place there.
Phase three of the Battle of Antietam was south of Bloody Lane. Starting on Antietam Creek Union forces under command of General Burnside fought their way across a small bridge now known as Burnside's Bridge. Union troops ultimately drove through this part of the battlefield and had the Confederate forces on the run until they collided with 3,000 Rebel soldiers who were part of General A. P. Hill's Light Division, who arrived on the scene at the last moment, following an exhausting 17 mile march from Harpers Ferry.
Although the battle of Antietam was tactically inconclusive, it ended Robert E. Lee's Maryland campaign and the Confederate forces were forced to withdraw to Virginia. The Battle of Antietam was also enough of a victory to give President Abraham Lincoln the confidence to announce his Emancipation Proclamation. This proclamation changed the dynamics of the Civil War, and discouraged the British and French governments from potential plans for recognition of the Confederacy.
the Dunker Church ranks as perhaps one of the most famous churches in American military history. This historic structure began as a humble country house of worship constructed by local Dunker farmers in 1852. It was Mr. Samuel Mumma, owner of the nearby farm that bears his name, that donated land in 1851 for the Dunkers to build their church. During its early history the congregation consisted of about half a dozen-farm families from the local area.
On the eve of the Battle of Antietam, the members of the Dunker congregation, as well as their neighbors in the surrounding community, received a portent of things to come. That Sunday, September 14, 1862, the sound of cannons booming at the Battle of South Mountain seven miles to the east was plainly heard as the Dunkers attended church. By September 16 Confederate infantry and artillery was being positioned around the church in anticipation of the battle that was fought the next day.
During the battle of Antietam the church was the focal point of a number of Union attacks against the Confederate left flank. Most after action reports by commanders of both sides, including Union General Hooker and Confederate Stonewall Jackson, make references to the church.
At the end of the Battle of Antietam the Confederates used the church as a temporary medical aid station. A sketch by well known Civil War artist Alfred Waud depicts a truce between the opposing sides being held in front of the church on September 18, in order to exchange wounded and bury the dead. At least one account states that after the battle the Union Army used the Dunker Church as an embalming station. One tradition persists that Lincoln may have visited the site during his visit to the Army of the Potomac in October 1862.
The old church was heavily battle scarred with hundreds of marks from bullets in its white washed walls. Likewise artillery had rendered serious damage to the roof and walls. By 1864 the Church was repaired, rededicated and regular services were held there until the turn of the century. Ultimately, the congregation built a new church in the town of Sharpsburg. In 1921 a violent storm swept through the area flattening the church.
The land and church ruins were put up for sale and purchased by Sharpsburg resident Elmer G. Boyer. He salvaged most of the undamaged material of the building and in turn sold the property. The new property owner built a home on the foundation of the old church and in the 1930’s operated a gas station and souvenir shop on the site. This structure was removed in 1951 when the property was purchased by the Washington County Historical Society. They in turn donated the site, then just a foundation, to the National Park Service. The Church was restored for the 100th Anniversary of the Battle in 1962 on the original foundation with as much original materials as possible.
