Antietam

The American Battlefield Trust recently preserved a 1.2-acre portion of the North Woods. Here are two views of this portion of the battlefield, one from the 19th Century and the other from today.

The American Battlefield Trust is currently working to preserve six acres in the East Woods. Like other portions of the northern region of the battlefield, the Union First, Second, and Twelfth Corps did battle on and advanced through this property, on their way to the Cornfield, the West Woods, and the Epicenter property we saved earlier in 2015.

The American Battlefield Trust worked to preserve 44 acres of hallowed ground at the heart of the Antietam battlefield in 2015. Surrounded on three sides by the "icons of Antietam," here we see a portion of our target tract bordering the famous Cornfield.

A key feature of the battlefield, the East Woods was actually larger than it is today, extending partially across the eastern portion of the Trust's target property. This sign at the edge of the target tract marks the historic edge of the East Woods.

Much of the rural beauty of the Antietam Battlefield has been preserved to this day.

Alexander Gardner's famous photo of Confederate dead before the Dunker Church on the Antietam Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Md., 1862.

Alexander Gardner's photos of the widespread death and destruction at Antietam shocked many civilians who saw these images.

Civil War artillery pieces on the Antietam Battlefield, not far from the NPS Visitor Center and the 20th New York Infantry Monument.

View of the Bloody Lane on the Antietam Battlefield. In 1862 Confederate dead filled this sunken road.

Heavy fighting in and around this rural sunken road produced enormous casualties for both sides.

View of the Rohrbach Bridge (later renamed Burnside's Bridge) over the Antietam Creek. Union forces under the command of Ambrose Burnside suffered heavy casualties trying to cross this bridge late on the morning of September 17, 1862

Ron Callaghan won the 2008 Civil War Trust Photo Content Grand Prize with this majestic photo of the Antietam Battlefield.

Alexander Gardner's photo of President Lincoln and Army of the Potomac commander George McClellan.

Alexander Gardner took this photo of Union soldiers standing by the new grave of a comrade on the Antietam Battlefield. This site is not far from the NPS Visitor Center.

This photo, taken in the 1920s, shows a new Lincoln automobile touring the Antietam Battlefield. A battlefield observation tower is in the background.