Antietam National Battlefield National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Ages 9-12
Welcome to Antietam National Battlefield. 

Junior Rangers are special people. They learn 

about national parks and help the park rangers. 

To become a Junior Ranger, just complete ANY 

FIVE of the activities in this book. (It’s OK to ask 

a ranger, volunteer, or parent for help).

Introduction

When you are done, bring your booklet to the 

information desk at the visitor center. A park 

ranger or park volunteer will review your answers 

and award you a Junior Ranger certificate and a 

Junior Ranger badge.

Good luck!

Union Cavalry Soldier at Antietam
Activity #1 Go To The Movies

(Watch One of the Movies in the Visitor Center Theater)

List three things you remember from the movie.

1)

2)

3)

Write down three feelings you think the soldiers experienced during or after the battle.

1) 2) 3)

Activity #2 Meet A Ranger

(Visitor Center)

Attend a program given by a park ranger or a park volunteer. 

What was the most interesting thing you learned?

Interview the ranger or volunteer before or after the talk:

What do you like best about your job?

What do they think everyone should remember about the Battle of Antietam?
Activity #3 Critic’s Choice

(Visitor Center)

Captain James Hope fought in the Battle of Antietam. He returned home to Vermont and painted what 

he saw during the battle. Several of his paintings are in the visitor center museum. Pick your favorite 

painting and describe what is happening in the painting.

Find the painting with the burning house. That was the house where the Mumma family lived. 

Before the battle, Confederate soldiers came to the house and told Mr. and Mrs. Mumma and their 

13 children to leave their home. The battle would soon start, and the family was in danger. On the 

morning of the battle the Confederates burned the house so it could not be used by Union soldiers. 

For the soldiers, the battle lasted one day. How long do you think it took for this family and others in 

Sharpsburg to repair the damage caused by the battle? 

Photograph of the destroyed Mumma family farm taken just after the battle.

If you had to leave your house in a hurry, what would you bring with you?

How would you feel if soldiers came to your house and told you that you had to leave because there 

would soon be a battle in your neighborhood? 
Activity #4 Angel of the Battlefield

(Auto Tour Stop #2 - The North Woods)

The Smith family barn was one of seventy-five field hospitals in the area.

When you get to Tour Stop #2, find the large stone 

Clara Barton Monument. Read the inscription to 

help you answer the following questions. 

What did Clara Barton do to help the doctors and 

soldiers at Antietam?

Clara Barton

Wounded soldiers were often carried to barns to get them away from the battle so the doctors could 

care for them. At Antietam, the army doctors ran out of bandages and medicine until Clara Barton 

arrived with more. One doctor called her “Angel of the Battlefield.”

What organization did Miss Barton establish after 

the Civil War?

Circle the places below that were used to shelter 

wounded soldiers during the Battle of Antietam:

Miller Cornfield Roulette Barn

Poffenberger Barn Visitor Center

Observation Tower Piper Barn

Circle the items below that were used to care for 

wounded soldiers:

Bandages Bayonets

Horseshoes Water

Blankets Gunpowder
Activity #5 The Brave Young Cannoneer

(Auto Tour Stop 4 - The Cornfield)

How old was Johnny Cook at Antietam?

Johnny Cook

Why did he receive the Medal Of Honor?

Do you think you would be able to load and fire 

the cannon during the battle?

The Medal of Honor is America’s highest 

recognition for soldiers who have distinguished 

themselves in combat by extraordinary courage, 

by risking their own lives, and by going beyond 

the call of duty.

You can walk to the place where Johnny earned 

his medal. From Stop #4, make a right hand turn 

onto the Hagerstown Pike and you will see the 

cannons that mark the spot on the left hand side 

of the road. Watch for traffic as you walk to the 

cannons.

How many years older was Johnny Cook in 1862 

than you are today? (Subtract your age from his 

age).

Extra credit: Find the Medal of Honor on 

display in the visitor center. What do you think 

the decorations on the medal symbolize?
Activity #6 Interview a Monument

(Any Tour Stop)

 There are about 100 monuments on the 

battlefield. In the years after the battle 

surviving veterans returned to Antietam to 

place monuments on the field to mark where 

the soldiers were during the battle and to 

commemorate fallen friends. 

PLEASE BE CAREFUL NOT TO CLIMB ON THE 

MONUMENTS. THEY COULD BE DAMAGED, 

AND YOU COULD GET HURT IF YOU FALL.

Pick your favorite monument and draw it in the 

space to the right.

What geometric shapes do you see in this 

monument?

Who or what does this monument honor?

Does the monument represent a state? If so, 

where is the state located, North or South?
Activity #7 The National Park Service Mission

(Various Places on the Battlefield)

The mission of the National Park Service is to 

protect and preserve the history and natural 

beauty of our country. Rangers want to ensure 

that future generations will be able to enjoy our 

national parks like you do today.

As you visit the battlefield, you will notice that 

in many ways Antietam looks like it did in 1862. 

The goal of the battlefield staff is to restore the 

landscape to its 1862 appearance. While driving 

or hiking the battlefield, look for a wayside panel 

that has a historic photograph of the battlefield. 

(Good places are the Union side of the Burnside 

Bridge, the four cannons between the Visitor 

Center and the Dunker Church, and Tour Stop 

#6). Use the photographs on these panels to 

answer the following questions.

Name two things that are different today compared to the 1862 view.

Name two things that are the same.

Do you think the National Park Service has accomplished its mission at Antietam? Why or why not?

What can you do to help save and protect Antietam National Battlefield?

Bonus: Who owns Antietam National Battlefield and all national parks?
When you reach Tour Stop #8, walk down the 

steps into the Sunken Road and walk up the hill 

on the northern side of the road. You should be 

looking past the fence to the open field in front of 

the road. Your location is marked by an X on the 

map below. The map shows what this area looked 

like at the time of the battle in 1862. 

You will have to read the map for this activity. 

Map reading was an important skill for soldiers. 

Maps helped them learn where roads went and 

what types of obstacles they were facing. Map 

reading is also important for park rangers in 

case they have to give directions or look for lost 

people.

Activity #8 Mapping the Sunken Road

(Tour Stop #8 - The Sunken Road)

Sunken Road

You Are Here

x

N

S

W E

LEGEND

FENCES GROUND COVER

Post & 

Rail

Picket

Worm 

(zig-zag)

Stone

Orchard

Corn

Pasture

Plowed

Use the map to help you answer the questions 

below using the compass and the legend:

As you face northeast, what type of fence 

bordered the Sunken Road in 1862? 

____________________________________________

What type of fence is in front of the Sunken Road 

today?_______________________________________

As you face northeast, what was the ground cover 

in front of the Sunken Road in 1862? 

____________________________________________ 

What is the ground cover northeast of the Sunken 

Road today? _________________________________

What type of ground cover was southwest of the 

Sunken Road in 1862? ________________________

What type of ground cover is southwest of 

Sunken Road today? __________________________

Look down the Sunken Road to the southeast. 

What do you see at the end of the Road?

____________________________________________

Was it there in 1862? (Hint: Use the map.) 

____________________________________________
Activity #9 A Bridge Through Time

(Tour Stop 9 - Burnside Bridge Overlook)

The Burnside Bridge is one of the most famous 

places at Antietam Battlefield. As you stand on 

the overlook above the creek, you are now where 

the Confederate soldiers were during the battle. 

The Union soldiers were on the other side of the 

creek. The Confederates were outnumbered, but 

their excellent firing position on this hill made it 

very difficult for the Union soldiers to take the 

bridge. Many Union soldiers were wounded and 

killed as they tried to cross the bridge. 

Walk down to the bridge. This is the same bridge 

that was here on the day of the battle. You can 

measure the bridge and practice your math skills. 

Civil War armies used math skills to estimate 

distances. Math skills are also important to park 

rangers when they estimate the height of trees or 

the number of plants or animals living in a given 

area.

Measure the bridge by using your steps as a 

measuring stick.

Walk across the width of the bridge (from one 

wall to another) at a comfortable speed.

How many steps is it?___________________

Assume your step is 2 feet long. Figure out 

the width of the bridge in feet. (Hint: 2 x the 

number of steps). ________________feet wide.

Now walk the length of the bridge (across the 

creek) at the same speed.

How many steps is it?___________________

Figure out the length of the bridge in feet. 

(Hint: 2 x the number of steps.)

_____________________________feet long

WORK SPACE FOR BRIDGE MEASUREMENTS

WITNESS TREE

As you stand on the Union 

side of the bridge, you 

will see a large sycamore 

tree. Sycamores can be 

recognized by the white 

patches on their bark. 

This tree “witnessed” Union 

soldiers crossing the bridge, 

however, it was much 

smaller as you can see in this 

photograph taken just after 

the battle.

Witness Tree in 1862
Activity #10 Take a Hike

(Various Places on the Battlefield)

There are several trails that you can hike while visiting the battlefield. Ask a park ranger or volunteer 

for a trail guide and for their suggestions on which trail to explore.

A Magic Moment

Stand or sit quietly by yourself or with your family along the trail. Draw or write what you see, hear, 

smell, and feel during this time.
Activity #11 You’re the Boss

(To Be Completed at Home)

Every national park is a place to explore and 

learn. There are many people who work at 

Antietam to make sure that visitors and museum 

objects are safe, flowers are planted, restrooms 

are clean, trails are in good condition and that the 

landscape is restored to look the way it did the 

day of the battle. 

The person in charge of the park is called a 

superintendent. Write the superintendent and 

tell him/her what you liked best about your visit 

to Antietam National Battlefield. You can also 

suggest what we could do to improve the park. As 

a Junior Ranger your ideas are important.

Send your letter to the Superintendent, Antietam 

National Battlefield, P.O. Box 158, Sharpsburg, 

MD 21782.

Congratulations! You are now a Junior Ranger. Return to the visitor center and 

present your booklet at the information desk. You will be awarded a Junior 

Ranger badge and certificate.