150-year Anniversary of Bloodiest One-Day Battle in American History
LA PLATA, Md.—The College of Southern Maryland is offering a continuing education course on the Civil War Battle of Antietam from 7 to 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 25 and Nov. 1 with a field trip to Antietam National Battlefield Park near Sharpsburg, Md., from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 3. The course will be led by CSM President Dr. Brad Gottfried, who has recently completed a detailed map study of the campaign.
On September 17, 1862 during the Battle of Antietam, 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after 12 hours of savage combat. Six generals died as a result of the bloodiest one-day battle in American history: three Union and three Confederate. The battle ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's first invasion into the North and led to Abraham Lincoln's issuance of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
Today, the location where they were killed is marked by a mortuary cannon, a cannon barrel muzzle down in a block of stone. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the battle.
Gottfried is a Civil War historian and the author of nine books, including The Battle of Gettysburg: A Guided Tour (1998); Stopping Pickett: The History of the Philadelphia Brigade (1999); Brigades of Gettysburg (2002); Roads to Gettysburg (2002); and Kearny's Own: The History of the First New Jersey Brigade (2005). He is currently working with Theodore P. Savas on a Gettysburg Campaign Encyclopedia.
In addition, Gottfried is the president of the Southern Maryland Civil War Roundtable which meets on the second Tuesday of each month, September through May, at CSM’s La Plata Campus and features a guest speaker and group discussion.
“The Maps of Antietam: An Atlas of the Antietam (Sharpsburg) Campaign, including the Battle of South Mountain, September 2-20, 1862” by Gottfried breaks down the entire campaign into 21 map sets or “action-sections” with 124 original, full-page color maps. The detailed maps indicate troop locations and trace movements by the hours at the regimental and battery level, and include the march into Maryland, the Harpers Ferry operation, the Battle of South Mountain, operations in Pleasant Valley, the Confederate withdrawal to Sharpsburg, the Battle of Antietam, the retreat across the Potomac River and the sharp fighting at Shepherdstown.
To register for the course, visit http://www.csmd.edu/CommunityEducation/LifestyleLeisure.html.
For information on the Southern Maryland Civil War Roundtable, contact Gottfried at bgottfried@csmd.edu or 301-934-7625.