Америка Азамат Соғысының тарихи алабы

Historical area from the American Civil War

Established as Antietam National Battlefield Site August 30, 1890, the park was transferred from the War Department on August 10, 1933, and redesignated November 10, 1978. Additional documentation on the site was recorded by the National Park Service on February 27, 2009.

Antietam National Cemetery, which adjoins the park, covers and contains more than 4,976 interments (1,836 unidentified). The cemetery was commissioned in 1865, and interments began in 1867, following an arduous process of identifying the remains, which was only successful in about 40% of the cases. The cemetery also contains the graves of veterans and their wives from the Spanish–American War, both World Wars, and the Korean War. it was transferred to the National Park Service on August 10, 1933. The gatehouse at the cemetery entrance was the first building designed by Paul J. Pelz, later architect of the Library of Congress.

The Antietam National Battlefield Visitor Center contains museum exhibits about the battle and the Civil War. The Visitor Center was constructed in 1962 as part of the Mission 66 plan. A 26 minute orientation film narrated by James Earl Jones is shown on the hour and the half hour. The visitor center is open seven days a week from 9:00 a. m. to 5:00 p. m., except on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. Park rangers offer interpretive talks and an audio tour is available for purchase to accompany the self guided 8.5 mile (14 km) driving tour of the battlefield with eleven stops. Park Grounds are open daylight hours. There is a park entrance fee of $10.00 per person (age 17 or older; 16 and under FREE) or $20.00 per vehicle. The entrance fee is valid for three days.

The Pry House Field Hospital Museum is located in the house that served as Union Commander General George B. McClellan's headquarters during the battle. Exhibits focus on period medical care of the wounded, as well as information about the Pry House. The museum is sponsored by the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

This memorial illumination was started in 1989 and continues to this day on the first Saturday in December. Every year, over a thousand volunteers place 23,000 luminaries in rows on the northern portion of the battlefield. The luminaries consist of a paper bag filled with sand and a candle, and represents a soldier that was killed, injured, or went missing during the Battle of Antietam.

The Antietam National Battlefield was listed as one of America's Most Endangered Places in the years 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Battlefield was added to the list in response to a " flawed proposal to construct a shopping center and other buildings on battlefield land, the listing helped to galvanize support and action by local, state and federal agencies and non profit organizations." By 2017, the Antietam National Battlefield was deemed a success story and was included alongside ten other sites that previously named to the Most Endangered and also became the focus of successful preservation efforts. The American Battlefield Trust and its federal, state, and local partners, including the Save Historic Antietam Foundation, have acquired and preserved of the overall battlefield through mid 2023, including the "epicenter" tract, a 44.4 acre, previously privately owned parcel in the heart of the battlefield park between the Cornfield and the Dunker Church. The land, also known as the Wilson farm, was purchased by the Trust in 2015 for about $1 million. The preservation organization has since removed the postwar house and barn that stood on the property along Hagerstown Pike and returned the land to its wartime appearance.

The Battle began at dawn on September 17, 1862, when Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker began the Union artillery bombardment of the Confederate positions of Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson in the Miller cornfield. Hooker's troops advanced behind the falling shells and drove the Confederates from their positions. Around 7 a. m. Jackson reinforced his troops and pushed the Union troops back. Union Maj. Gen. Joseph K. Mansfield sent his men into the fray and regained some of the ground lost to the Confederates.

As the fighting in the cornfield was coming to a close, Maj. Gen. William H. French was moving his Federals forward to support Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick and veered into Confederate Maj. Gen. D. H. Hill's troops posted in the Sunken Road. Fierce fighting continued here for four hours before the Union troops finally took the road.