Thursday, September 25 (7:30pm) – Saturday, September 27 (5:00pm)
Frederick, Maryland
Our Tour Leader: Dr. Thomas G. Clemons
Registration Fee: $325
While Gettysburg has been termed the Confederacy’s “High Water Mark,” the battle at Antietam Creek is acknowledged by many historians as the South’s real chance to win the war. This two-day tour will include all the major sites you have read about: the North Woods, Miller’s Cornfield, the West Woods, Dunker Church, the Sunken Road or “Bloody Lane” and Burnside’s Bridge. But you will also visit sites not normally seen by visitors to this pristine battlefield location. Many of these sites are off the beaten track and some are on private property. By touring this campaign with a historian who is known by his colleagues as “Mr. Antietam,” you will enjoy a truly unique battlefield experience. Here are some of the sites that are seldom seen: the Smoketown Road, Hooker’s approach to the northern end of the battlefield still maintains the historic integrity of an 1862-era road; the different sites of McClellan’s headquarters during the battle because the Pry House was not his only headquarters; Nicodemus Heights (private property) was the site of Jeb Stuart’s horse artillery; the Shepherdstown Ford and A. P. Hill’s approach to the Sharpsburg in the eleventh hour of the battle; and the Alfred Poffenberger/Locher Farm behind the West Woods. We’ll also visit several hospital sites and generals’ headquarters: Pry’s Mill, Hoffman Farm, Smoketown hospital site, Crystal Spring Farm and the Jacob Cost House. In addition, we’ll walk to several locations like the Roulette Farm, the Ninth Corps’ attack field and we’ll visit the 16th Connecticut Infantry monument. Dr. Clemens also will discuss the strategic situation in the east in the early fall of 1862 as well as the major personalities involved in this campaign. We will follow the action as Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker initiates the Union army’s attack from the North Woods. You’ll tramp the Miller Cornfield where Hood’s Texas Brigade won everlasting glory. We’ll also go to the site where Confederate artillery was massed to turn back the Federal attacks which Confederate Col. Stephen D. Lee later termed “Artillery Hell.” You will stand in the Sunken Road, bravely defended by Alabamians, Georgians and North Carolinians against attacks by such famed units as the Irish Brigade. And you’ll walk across Rohrbach’s Bridge, now immortalized as Burnside’s Bridge, where Union IX Corps troops sought to roll up Lee’s right. If you enjoy studying the Maryland Campaign and the battle of Antietam, this tour will show you sites you probably have not seen. This tour is the first of a multi-year plan to study the Maryland Campaign of 1862 in-depth and we’ve engaged one of the most knowledgeable historians on the subject to lead us. Our Tour Leader: Dr. Thomas G. Clemens is editor of The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, the papers of Ezra Carman, Antietam’s first historian. He has published numerous articles on the Maryland campaign, is a licensed battlefield guide at Antietam and is a founder and current president of the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Tom recently retired as history professor at Hagerstown Community College. Ted Alexander, chief historian at Antietam National Battlefield has called him “Mr. Antietam.”
Registration Fee: $325
What’s included: motor coach transportation, two lunches, beverage and snack breaks, a map and materials package, all admissions and gratuities, and the services of an experienced tour leader. Our hotel will provide a complimentary breakfast each day. Tour participants are responsible for transportation to the headquarters hotel, and securing a room reservation, if necessary. Dinner is on your own. Tour goes out rain or shine. Please see our policy page for information about cancellations. Hotel: We have arranged with the headquarters hotel for a group rate of $74.00 per night plus tax (double or single occupancy.) Please call the Spring Hill Suites by Marriott, 17280 Valley Mall Road, Hagerstown, MD 21740 at 301-582-0011 and ask for the America’s History group rate. This rate will be guaranteed until August 21, so please make your reservations soon.
Register Online:
Register by phone, e-mail or postal mail:
- Toll-free: 1-855-OUR-HISTORY (687-4478)
- Email us at: info@AmericasHistoryLLC.com
- Postal mail: America’s History LLC, P. O. Box 1076, Goochland, VA 23063
Visa, Master Card and Discover accepted. We take checks too!