ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD
On September 17, 1862, the most savage 1-day battle of the Civil War took place here on the banks of Antietam Creek near the village of Sharpsburg, Maryland.

Lee had crossed the nearby Potomac with the intention of striking deep into Pennsylvania, but a copy of his plans had accidently fallen into Union hands and McClellan had his army in positioned on the east side of the creek, prepared to strike Lee on both flanks and then in the middle.

Of the three bridges Union forces used to cross Antietam Creek this was by far the most hotly contested.

There were nearly 100,000 soldiers engaged in this battle. As darkness finally brought an end to the fighting, battle lines had not shifted significantly, but, there were 23,000 killed, wounded or missing. It proved to be the bloodiest day of the entire Civil War. Like Gettysburg, the Antietam battlefield became a national shrine.