PRY HOUSE and other Antietam, MD Things to Do Tips

Driving west of Sharpsburg on Maryland 34 (Boonsboro Pike) in the direction of Boonsboro, you cross Antietam Creek and about one mile on the left, look for a small sign that points to the Pry House. The little unpaved lane will take you to a graveled parking lot below the house. Federal commander Maj. Gen. George McClellan used this home as his headquarters during the battle. You can get an idea of what he could see from the bank above the back of the house - though the trees grow more profusely and higher today. The soaring New York monument and the battlefield Visitor Center can be clearly seen 1.5 miles to the west. You also might get the impression that with smoke obscuring much of the actions, McClellan may have been a bit too removed from the scene. Once the battle started, he sat back and let his corps commanders fight their own battles in what turned out to be a disjointed manner. He missed many potential opportunities to reinforce local successes that could have led to a decisive victory over Lee on this Sept 17, 1862, but that was not in McClellan's nature. Plus, he was convinced that here at Antietam, as at about every other place he had faced Rebel forces, that there were twice as many of the enemy as were actually there.
The Pry House was also used as a hospital during and after the battle, to which most of the displays in the house are devoted.

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Website: http://www.nps.gov/anti/planyourvisit/pryhouse.htm

From the Pry House, take the second road to the left - Keedysville Road - which descends to cross over the Antietam Creek via the Hooker Bridge - a very pretty stone bridge of a design you will see later at when visiting the Burnside Bridge, a little further downstream. Across the bridge, you can head directly to the battlefield on the Mansfield Monument Road (left turn after the bridge) - Maj. Gen. William Sumners' II Corps approached the battle on this approximate axis - or you can continue on the Keedysville Road (right turn after the bridge) and then right turn when you reach the Smoketown Road. This is the approximate route taken by the divisions of Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's I Corps and by Maj. Gen. Joseph Mansfield's XII Corps, a little later, as they approached the battlefield. As Luvaas mentions in his book, the rural nature of the Smoketown Road can get you into a 19th Century frame of mind, leaving the interstates far behind. At the intersection with Mansfield Avenue, turn right and proceed to the line of monuments next to the North Woods, across from the northern edge of the Cornfield. This is where the Union attacks began from. Note the little forested hill to the west - Nicodemus Heights. This was festooned with Rebel artillery which blasted away at the Federal flank as they attacked through the Cornfield.

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Website: http://www.nps.gov/anti/historyculture/moh-2.htm antietam medals of honor

Drive - or walk via the Cornfield trail - to the monuments lining the south end of the Cornfield along Cornfield Avenue. For three hours, attack and counterattack raged through this field. Over 8500 men became casualties in this time. The Cornfield changed hands 6 times. Union I Corps commander Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker wrote, "... every stalk of corn ... was cut as closely as could have been with a knife and the slain lay in rows precisely where they had stood in ranks a few moments before." Hooker himself was wounded in the foot, which was to have serious complications to McClellan's battleplans. McClellan had thought of Hooker as to be the man in charge of the Federal attempts on the Rebel right. He gave him the opportunity to call for reinforcements from both XII and II Corps as he saw fit. When he was wounded, XII Corps commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Mansfield would have taken over, but that was to prove impossible. The Cornfield, as costly as the attacks were to the Federal side had a serious effect on Confederate defenders, as well. In the end, the Rebel defenders of Stonewall Jackson's Corps barely held on.

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The XII Corps joined the I Corps in its murderous assault in the Cornfield, coming into the fray a little further east through the East Woods. They managed to increase the pressure on the Confederate defenders of Stonewall Jackson's Corps, but at a high cost. Early on in the XII Corps involvement in the battle, Corps commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Mansfield was shot down - dying later on - as he tried to move troops into position in the East Woods. Six generals died at Antietam - either outright or later from wounds received here - with three going down from each side. Mansfield was the highest ranking of all. Mortuary cannons are placed to mark the site where each general went down. Mansfield's cannon is next to a monument raised for him at the intersection of Mansfield Avenue and Smoketown Road.

With both Hooker and Mansfield down, Union command of the attack on the right devolved to II Corps' Maj. Gen. William Sumner, whose troops were coming onto the scene directly from the east. As it turned out, Sumner had enough trouble controlling his own corps, let alone the troops of I and XII.

A monument to the other side commemorates the efforts of the Texans of Hood's Brigade which lost an incredible 82% in a counterattack against Mansfiled's soldiers.

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Website: http://www.nps.gov/anti/historyculture/6generals.htm

With the I and XI Corps attacking the Rebel left, the original plan had been for Maj. Gen. William Sumner to bring his II Corpsfrom the east to support. Sumner rode with his lead division - Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick - becoming separated from the other two divisions. They attacked through an area on the edge of the East Woods, south of the Cornfield at a time when Confederate Maj. Gen. 'Stonewall' Jackson was reforming his men after the horrific early morning. Sumner's other two divisions veered off to the south to attack the Rebel center - more in the direction of the Visitor Center. This resulted with no support on Sedgwick's left as he advanced into the West Woods. Drawing upon reinforcements, Jackson sent them into Sedgwick's flank - Because of forest cover, Sedgwick and Sumner could not see what was coming. 5500 Federals were involved in the attack and 2200 fell in the first 20 minutes. The survivors were swept back north through the Cornfield, their day done.
The tall monument in the West Woods is dedicated to the Philadelphia Brigade - with the misfortune to be the far left of Sedgwick's division. The Brigade came apart quickly from the unexpected fire on their flank. Consisting of the 69th, 71st, 72nd and 106th Pennsylvania Regiments, the Philadelphia Brigade would go on to write more chapters beyond this day of loss, including on the Third Day of Gettysburg. The 71st has been originally commanded by Colonel Edward Baker, personal friend of Abraham Lincoln and sitting Senator from Oregon. He had been killed several months previously in an action near Leesburg, Virginia, known as Ball's Bluff - more on both battles and the Philadelphia Brigade to come.

Near the Philadelphia Monument is a mortuary cannon dedicated to Confederate Brig. Gen. William Stark who died earlier leading his men from here actions Hooker's earlier attacks. It is interesting to note that there are more trees in the West Woods now than previously, having been planted by survivors of the Philadelphia brigade.

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Website: http://www.nps.gov/anti/historyculture/mnt-pa-phil-brig.htm

As you walk over the battlefields of the American Civil War, one of the first things you might notice they share in common with each other are the monuments erected by survivors and/or grateful citizens. Those battles considered to have been Federal victories seem to accrue the most monuments with Gettysburg taking the prize - over 3000 statues and battlefield tablets describing the positions of the different units. Here at Antietam, there are 93 monuments memorializing units - regiments, brigades, batteries - individuals or efforts on the part of men coming from an entire State. Most of the monuments commemorate Northern efforts - though a few Southern States have erected monuments in honor of the men. Maryland was a Border State during the War - there was strong Confederate feeling in the eastern areas of the State, while sentiment for the Union was strong in the central and western regions. One of Lee's original ideas in invading Maryland was to encourage Marylanders to come over to the South's side. He failed to realize the cultural differences within the State. There was little flocking to the Stars and Bars from among the local citizens in the wake of Lee's armies. Still, men from Maryland fought here at Antietam on both sides of the coin. Maryland's graceful monument - dedicated May 30,1900 with President William McKinley, a veteran of the battle here, giving the keynote address - honors all of her men, whether they fought for or against the Union. The monument sits atop a rock outcrop across from the Dunker Church at the edge of the West Wood - a short walk away from the Visitor Center. Looking at the plaques within the monument, memorializing the different Maryland units involved in the fighting here, the hard nature of a civil war - brothers against brothers - is brought home in illustrative fashion.

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Website: http://www.nps.gov/anti/historyculture/mnt-md.htm

New York was the most populous State in the Union. As such, New York also supplied the most troops - a quarter of the Federal force, of whom 3765 were counted among the casualties after September 17,1862 was over. This monument was dedicated on September 17,1920, the 58th anniversary of the battle. There are nine other monuments dedicated to separate New York regiments that you can find elsewhere on the battlefield - and one to a brigade. Units, officers are commemorated on this soaring monument, a short walk away from the Visitor Center.

Nearby, sits one of those monuments to a New York Regiment - the 20th New York Volunteers, known as the Turner Regiment. This unit was comprised of German-Americans and they were heavily involved in actions around the Dunker Church, suffering 145 casualties. The 20th New York had erected an earlier monument for their fallen comrades in the Antietam National Cemetery before putting this monument up next to where their fight had been. The symbols on this monument include, the owl - wisdom; the wreath - athletic glory; the sword - military prowess and the torch - learning -- all symbols of the Turner Movement, a movement that German immigrants had brought with them from Germany when they came to the United States. The movement had originally arose in Prussia after Napoleon had vanquished the country in the very early part of the 19th Century. Turnervereins served as clubs and bases of familiarity for the new immigrants in their new homeland.

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Website: http://www.nps.gov/anti/historyculture/mnt-ny-state.htm

Troops of Maj. Gen. Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson used the ground around the Dunker Church to fight off the attacks of the Union I Corps and later the XII Corps, which actually captured the ground for a short time. The church was heavily damaged by the battle and souvenir hunters afterwards. Eventually it fell down in a storm in 1921, but has been restored by the NPS. You can visit the interior and witness the simplicity which is inherent in the Dunker faith. Dunkers were of German heritage and were so-named for the way they performed baptisms - by total immersion, or dunking, as opposed to sprinkling of water.

Across the way, the proud Ohio State Monument soars in commemoration of the Ohioans who fought on the fields here by the Dunker Church and elsewhere on the battlefield of Antietam.

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Website: http://www.nps.gov/anti/historyculture/dunkerchurch.htm

For many, the Visitor Center will be the first stop in exploring the battlefield here at Antietam. Picking up the Park brochure, you can follow the map inside which gives the route of an 8.5 mile auto tour of the Park, including stops at some of the most important sites. Inside the Center, you can watch a couple of films which are regularly shown to further educate you on what happened here and why it is important. You can look through the exhibits, ask questions of the knowledgeable staff or join in on one of the Park ranger battlefield talks.

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Website: http://www.nps.gov/anti

Leaving the Visitor Center northward, go right on Smoketown Rd and right again on Mumma Lane, passing Mumma Farm on your left. Turn left at the next intersection - Richardson Avenue and approach the next main contested ground - the Sunken Road, or as it was know after the battle, Bloody Lane.

As the Union II Corps advanced into battle, after crossing the Antietam Creek via fords near the Pry House, the lead division lost touch with the two other divisions behind. Corps commander, Maj. Gen. William Sumner was ahead with the first division, unaware the other two were not close behind. As a result, the lead division went on to get slaughtered in the West Woods. The other two veered off to the southwest and instead of supporting the lead division in the West Woods, they attacked the Rebel center defended by Maj. Gen. D. H. Hill. The Sunken Road - 'sunken' being a result of leading to a grist mill and years of heavy wagons moving over it - was a natural trench for the Rebel defenders, plus attacking Union soldiers had another cornfield to move through, plus a small hill to come out over, perfectly silhouetting them against the sky for the Confederate sharpshooters. The results were as bloody as the scenes earlier in the morning further to the north in the Cornfield, a little over a half mile away. Here, the battle raged for almost four hours until the Confederate line was broken following a mistaken withdrawal by a group within the Road. When that unit pulled out, Union troops were able to fire flanking fire down the Rebel lines within the Sunken Road with the Bloody Lane as the direct result. "The corn-fields in the front are strewn with their dead and wounded, and in the first ditch occupied by them, the bodies are so numerous that they seem to have fallen dead in line of battle, for their is a battalion of dead rebels." USA Brig. Gen Nathan Kimball.

Note the mortuary cannon for Confederate Brig. Gen George Anderson, killed when he climbed out of the Sunken Road to observe what was happening around him.

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