Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1906-05-04
THE FIELD OF BATTLE
INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES OF
THE WAR.
Inc veterans of the Rebellion Tell of
"hlstling Bullets, Bright Bayonets,
Bursting Bombs, Bloody Battles,
camp Fire, Festive Bugs, ETC., Etc.


VI the five battIefelds of the war
when have been set apart for memo
RAJ purposes Gettysburg,
Chlckamauga, Shiloh and Vicksburg-
the nrst named has certain interesting
features not possessed by all. The in
crease of population and the march of
material progress have not disturbed
Antletam. II is in the rugged and pic
tGfes4ue mountain country of western
Maryland, which today looks about as
lt dld in 1862. The farmhouses are
scattered at about the same intervals
or space as on the day of the battle.
Not mile of pike" exists today
which was not here then. Burnside's
bridge over Antietam creek is the same
structure that saw the terrible slaugh-
Ter forty-four years ago. and the Dun
ker church. around which the sharpest
or the conflict ragged, is still the place
Of worship of the little society Of Ger
man brethren.
This makes the battle maps clearly
Ineligible, besides giving the visitor
the charm Of seeing real things, in
stead Of being obliged to interpret all
objects as standing where something
else Stood or occupying the space
where so-and-so could once have been
observed. For the historical student
therefore, it is fortunate that there has
been no rush of population to the poor
farm country of western Maryland.
Even the little grist mills which abound
in this region of quick mountain
streams are generally deserted and are
falling to pieces. Fate has decreeI
that Antietam shall remain as on the
one day which made the name memoir
able in all the world. In only single
respect has the face of nature changed,
and that the battlefield commission
purposes to set back as soon as they
have the means. The woods have been
considerably cut off, and many acres
are now cleared that were we'll for
ested in 1862. But the farmers are
raising the same crops and everything
in nature looks just as it did then.
Antietam is sufficiently near Wash
ington to make it convenient place
for leisurely tourists to visit. keelys-
vile, on the HagerstoWn branch or the
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, about six
ty miles northwest Of Washington, is
the most accessible station, although
the Norfolk & Western road comes
nearer the field at a station formerly
called Sharpsburg, but now named An
tietam Between the villages OF
Sharpsburg and Keedysvill" lies the
battlefield. Sharpsburg is on the Po-
tomac. ten miles north of Harper's
Ferry, the village being about mile
from the river; while keedysville Is
five miles inland to the north. Tae
country is about as mountainous as
the southern part Of New Hampshire
or the most rugged regions of Vermont.
CaDland. where the war correspond
ents' memorial has been erected, is
only a few miles away, and along the
same Hagerstown branch while the
clustered spires of Frederick, made
famous by Whittier's verses. and tn
thriving city Of Hagerstown arc dis
tant hut a few hours drive. Gettys-
burg is perhaps forty miles to the north
east It should be recalled that AN
tietam'' Is not the name Of town, but
of a small mountain creek which emp
ties into the Potomac above Harpers
Ferry. The neighboring town is Sharps
h,rg. by which Southern historians
designate the battle. But it was along
the stream. particularly at the Burnside
bridge. that some of the sharpest fight
ing occurred.
Near the village of Sharpsburg
miles from the Keedysville station, are
the national cemetery and the obserVa-
tion tower beside the Bloody lane.
Ahout n mile to the north are the Dun
kers' chapel and the Massachusetts
monument. while Burnside bridge lies
mile south of the village, and the
most picturesque scenery of the field
is there found All the main roads,
as throughout rural Maryland and West
Virginia, are turnpikes on which the
traveller who is able 10 rue pays Toll
of : cents. There is a tollgate just out
side of Keedysville and one near the
Bunker church. In addition the govern
ment has built six miles of narrow
avenues following important battle
lines. the object being to make drive
nv the iron tablets, which state the
nosition of the various corps and other
facts of historical interest. These mark
ers begin as soon as the visitor leaves
Keedysville The first one is in a
farmers coward and points to a rough
lane with these words: u. S. A. route
of the Twelfth Corps to the crossing of
the Antietam." But the tablets are most
plentiful along the battleline. especially
about Piper's cornfieid and the Bloody
lane on the north side of it. They are