Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-09-26
NTIETAM is an American name
that is written in large letters

N AAXu Is AihciiSd HdHiC
IN that is written in large letters
IN in our history. and without
q y transcending the bounds of
reasonable speech, dropping into per-
fervid words. or giving too free rein
to rhetorical fancy. It might be said
that the name Antietam is inscribed in
the book of America in letters of flame
and smoke, blood, death, misery and
glory.
Those fields of wonderful and quiet
beauty have been hallowed by the SUI
preme sacrifice which men may make
for their country. and are sanctified by
memories that stir the pride of Ameri-
cans and make the blood Jingle in the
cheeks. On those green fields and in
those patches of woodland, around
stone bridges that span a romantic
stream and around old farmhouses and
little church. the virtue of the SOL
dier and the heroism of the patriot
shone grandly as on any other red
soaked battle-ground of the civil war.
or any other war.
Perhaps. you walk today over
those fields. through the wales and
across the sloping ridges and the gen.
tly rounded hills your ina gination will
reconstruct one of the master tragedies
of the world. With the eye of the mind
YOU can see the crimson drama partly
yelled in white smoke. and with the
inner ear you can hear the roar of guns
and cheers that made immortal the
names of little creek and an obscure
village.
You will walk along the tree-fringed
and ridge-rimmed banks of Antietam
creek, cross the Upper bridge. the Mid
die bridge and the Burnside bridge. and
pause at the fords where thousands Of
the men of Hooker. Mansfield, Sumner
and Rodman crossed. You will walk
over the lands of the battlefield pro-
prietors whose names have become his
toric-Nicodemus. Mumma. Roulette.
Hoffman, Poffenberger. Miller, Lyon,
Middlekauff. Heinz, Neikirk. Pry. Piper.
Clipp. Myers. Snavely. Blackford. Reel
and Hauser-many of whose descend
ants occupy those lands today:
You can follow that terrible road.
which was the Sunken road. but which
during the battle was rechristened
Bloody lane. You can walk where the
cornf1eld grew and where men were cut
down in regiments. You can pray or
listen to the preaching in the plain lit
tie Dunkard church. which was one of
the focal points of the battle, the lines
of which. for that period in the worlds
time, were far flung. and in the vener-
able walls of that church you can note
the patches that mark the wounds made
by shot and she'll.
You can study fine monuments and
simple markers by the score. You can
read in bronze and iron and marble
such brave names as Mcclellan, Hook
- "~--s-h Burnside. Sumner,P Pleas
anton W'''cox. Couch. Slocum, Ham
cock, Sedgewick. Doubleday. Mead
dc icke
Hazlet, Morrell, Kusserew, Won Klieser.
Taft, Weed, Durell, Clark, Simmonds,
Sturgis. Benjamin. Muhienberg, COOK.
-u.---..-... ..ounnan, Scammon. French,
Richardson, Tidball and Van Reed. You
can read the names of D. r. Jones. ].
r. Jones, A. p Hill, D. II. Hill, Lawton,
Stuart. Henderson, Toombs. Archer,
Gregg, Fender, Brockenbrough, Branch,
son and r E. Lee. What American can
wander over fields. walking in the foot
steps of the soldiers of such men. with
out feeling that in the word Ameri-
can" there is solemnity and majesty:
:;
1t may be that you will walk along
the main roads that from Sharpsburg
lead north to Hagerstown, east to
Boonsborough. west to Shepherdstown
and south and east to Harpers Ferry.
After walking over this big and stir
ring tract of country you may climb
to the top of the stone observation
tower which was erected at the east
end Of Bloody lane by the battlefield
commission. and you may survey the
whole fighting ground. After this you
may go to the national cemetery. rest
in the shade Of the trees and ponder
on the fine marble monument of SOL
der of colossal size, and look around
at the thousands of white and gV1y
slabs marking the graves of Union