Antietam: The Bloodiest Day

Description

Click here for the brochure and pricing: Antietam: The Bloodiest Day Civil War History Conference. 
We are excited to bring you the largest Antietam conference ever! We have a fantastic array of tours, talks and panels to present to you featuring some of the nations top historians and authors.   

More than 15 of the top historians and tour guides in the Civil War history field will cover  diverse topics such as the opposing forces, medical care, photography, the historic Dunker Church and more. In addition, you will have the opportunity to engage in  micro tactical tours of the battlefield, and the campaign led by expert guides.

We would like to thank our sponsors: the Franklin County Visitors Bureau, the Hagerstown - Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau, SHAF - Save Historic Antietam Foundation, and the historic Rohrbach Inn for their generous support. Also, many thanks to Chris Vincent and Jim Rosebrock of the Antietam Guides for helping with the coordination of this event.

As you know, part of  our efforts through the seminars is to raise funds and awareness for education and battlefield preservation. We have raised more than $215,000 and through your help we hope to raise more this July. Thank you for assisting in this endeavor.

We are proud of our strong Civil War heritage, and look forward to sharing it with you at this conference.
 
Tuesday, July 23 
12-1 p.m. Check-in/Registration at Ramada Plaza
1 – 4:30 p.m. Sessions
The Opposing Forces at Antietam - Ted Alexander. Join the Antietam National Battlefield Historian (retired) and author for an examination of the two armies that battered each other in America's bloodiest day.
Miller, Mumma et al: The People of the Battlefield – Chris Vincent – an examination of the battles impact on the civilians and how many farmers dealt with destruction and financial ruin.
Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation – James Broomall – a leading authority on Lincoln and Emancipation will discuss one of the most decisive results of the battle.
4:30 - 6 p.m. Dinner on your Own
6 p.m. Check-in/Registration at Ramada Plaza 
6:30 p.m. Welcome Introduction by Ted Alexander
Antietam Artifacts -  Wayne Motts, CEO of the National Civil War Museum. He will present a hands on program featuring Antietam related artifacts from the museum's collection. Here is your opportunity to examine and handle actual items from the battle.
What’s New at Antietam – Susan Trail, Superintendent of Antietam National Battlefield
September Mourn: The Story of the Dunker Church - Terry Barkley and Alann Schmidt.  One of the great landmarks Antietam is the Dunker Church. It ranks with the Alamo and Shiloh Church as part of the trilogy of famous historic battlefield churches in America. The authors of the first detailed study of this legendary edifice will present the results of their extensive research.
 
Wednesday, July 24
8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. Bus Tour
· Bus leaves from Ramada Plaza at 8:30 a.m.
· Lunch on your own
· Return by 5 p.m.
· Dinner on your own
Antietam  never would have occurred without Harpers Ferry -  bus tour led by Dennis Frye. Featuring the brilliant tactical exploits of Stonewall Jackson that resulted in the largest surrender of U.S. troops during the Civil War.  Tour stops  include Bolivar Heights, Camp Hill and School House Ridge - and include some of the most spectacular scenery on any Civil War battlefield.
12 - 2 p.m. Lunch on your own
2 – 5 p.m. Bus Tour
Fire on the Mountain: The Battle of South Mountain - bus tour with Steve Stotelmyer.  This important and largely overlooked battle came about primarily because General McClellan was moving his army through the Maryland countryside much faster than his opponent anticipated. The battle of South Mountain was the turning point of the Maryland Campaign. Before South Mountain, Lee held the initiative. After South Mountain the initiative passed to McClellan. Our guide will make the case that the high tide of the Confederacy crested not on the banks of Antietam Creek, but rather against the slopes of South Mountain. Sites visited include: Turners Pass, Fox’s Gap, Crampton’s Gap and more.
5 - 6:30 p.m. Dinner on your Own
6:30 - 9 p.m. Sessions
Evading Capture: The Union Cavalry Escape from Harpers Ferry, September 14, 1862 - Sharon Murray. This PowerPoint program covers the principal players, how the escape was planned and organized, the approximate route and the capture of Longstreet's train. The speaker concludes with a review of what ifs and to whom should go the proper credit for the escape. 
Prelude to Antietam: The South Mountain Fights Using a wealth of maps from his Maps of Antietam book, Brad Gottfried will illustrate in detail the important fight for the South Mountain gaps on September 14, 1862.
Saving the Burnside Bridge - In 2016 extreme cold temperatures and ice nearly destroyed the historic Burnside Bridge. Hear how this battlefield landmark was saved by the National Park Service.

 Thursday, July 25
Antietam Tour Clusters
· Bus leaves from Ramada Plaza at 8 a.m.
· Lunch Included
· Returning to Hotel by 5 p.m.
· Dinner on your own
8 -11:30 a.m. Morning Tours
The Basic Antietam Battle Tour - bus tour led by Tom Clemens.  
A beginning to intermediate look at the Antietam battle.  (minimal walking)
“After a while the woods became too hot to hold anybody:” The Struggle for the West Woods - walking tour with Jim Buchanan.
This tour will explore the key terrain, obstacles, and avenues of approach that challenged commanders and troops fighting in the West Woods on September 17, 1862. We will cover a lot of ground on this walking tour — from the Philadelphia Brigade Monument to the Alfred Poffenberger and Hauser farmsteads to just south of the Dunker Church. We’ll follow brigade and regimental movements on both sides. Using contemporary and post-action letters and diaries, we’ll hear from survivors and eye-witnesses about what it was like to be caught up in the swirl of the over two hour battle that resulted in over four thousand casualties. (moderate walking)
The Attack of the First Corps – walking tour with Justin Mayhue.
Follow the route of  “Fighting Joe” Hooker and his men on the morning of September 17. (moderate walking)
 12 – 1 pm Lunch Included
1 –4:30 p.m. Afternoon Tours
Antietam Hospitals – Dr. Gordon Dammann.
This bus tour includes visits to sites that treated the wounded of both sides and a visit to the Pry House Medical Museum.
“Holding on for Dear Life: Stonewall Jackson and the Confederate Left Flank at Antietam” bus & walking tour led by Jim Rosebrock.
This tour will focus on Jackson's initial deployments along the Hagerstown Pike and Smoketown Roads north of the Dunker Church on September 16, the opening skirmishes that evening, and the early morning fighting in the North and East Woods and Mr. Miller's Cornfield on September 17, 1862.
 The Union Attack on the Sunken Road – 1pm 3pm Gary Rohrer – follow the route of Federal assault on “Bloody Lane”.
Follow the route of the Irish Brigade and other Union commands in the assault on Bloody Lane.
5 - 7 p.m. Dinner on your Own
7 - 9 p.m. Sessions
The Army of the Potomac in the Maryland Campaign – Dan Vermilya. Our speaker conducted extensive research at the National Archives, utilizing many records previously not used by Antietam scholars and authored That Field of Blood: The Battle of Antietam September 17, 1862.
Antietam: Then, Now and When - Robert Kalasky.
In this presentation Robert Kalasky will introduce a new concept to "then and now photography" by adding times to when the images were recorded at Antietam. Once the times were established for each image, he was able to determine the dates as well.   Follow along as he takes us from September 18th through the 24th in the footsteps of Alexander Gardner and James Gibson in their trek across  the battlefield as they photographed it.
 
 Friday, July 26
8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. Sessions
· Sessions held at Ramada Plaza
· Book Vendor Civil War & More
· Lunch on your own
· Dinner Included at Ramada Plaza
The Search for McClellan's Headquarters -  Tom Clemens. The Pry House has been part of Antietam tradition as the headquarters of General McClellan. Dr. Thomas Clemens will focus on his search for the real headquarters of the army, and the evidence which disproves the Pry location and proves the actual location.
Antietam Myths and Realities – panel featuring Tom Clemens, Dennis Frye and Steve Stotelmeyer
The Iron Brigade and the Texas Brigade: A Comparison – Scott Hartwig. One of the nations premier Antietam scholars will examine the two legendary fighting units and their role in the battle.
12 – 2 p.m. Lunch on your own
2 – 6:30 p.m. Sessions Continue
The "Stonewall" Brigade in the Maryland Campaign  - Jerry Holsworth. This program will cover the attitude of the brigade towards fighting outside of the Shenandoah Valley, its depleted ranks after participating in six bloody battles prior to entering Maryland and how those casualties affected its leadership and its effectiveness. He will also cover events taking place in Winchester both before and after the Battle of Antietam that affected the Army of Northern Virginia in what he calls “The Miracle at Winchester.”
Lee in the Maryland and Gettysburg Campaign – Jeffry Wert. The Army of Northern Virginia’s advances across the Potomac River in the fall of 1862 and the summer of 1863 reflected the strategic vision of its commander. To Robert E. Lee these offensive strikes held the possibilities, if not promises, of ultimate Confederate victory. Were there, however, other roads to be followed?
“A Severe and Damaging Fire” - Jim Rosebrock. In Stonewall Jackson’s report on the Battle of Antietam, he described the Union artillery as inflicting “a severe and damaging fire” on the Confederate positions.  A major element of that fire came from the 21 regular army artillery batteries that fought in the Army of the Potomac.  The “regulars” were the professional soldiers of the United States Army and they played a major role in training and preparing for battle the many volunteer batteries that entered service.  Our talk covers the action of several of these regular batteries and the key role they played in the Battle of Antietam.
 Confederates Photographed in Frederick, Maryland: September 1862 or July 1864? – Alexander Rossino. An unidentified photographer in Frederick, Maryland captured the only known photograph of Confederate troops on the march during the Civil War. Historians have long thought the photo showed men with Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson's command during the 1862 Maryland Campaign, but new research challenges that notion, suggesting that the men shown night have been with Jubal Early's Army of the Valley when it passed through Frederick on July 9, 1864. In this historical analysis, Rossino provides the most detailed examination yet undertaken of the circumstances surrounding both years--1862 and 1864--in an attempt to provide a definitive date when the image was taken. 
7 p.m. Dinner Included
8 p.m. Evening Sessions
Lt. John Mead Gould and the mortal wounding of General Joseph K.F. Mansfield - Nick Picerno. “It would be bad enough and sad enough that General Mansfield should be mortally wounded once, but to be wounded six, seven or eight times in as many localities is too much of a story to let stand unchallenged,” so wrote John Mead Gould. Picerno's  presentation  covers the observations of Lt. John Mead Gould and the mortal wounding of General Joseph K.F. Mansfield in the East Woods during the battle.
 

Annual Luhn Memorial Silent Auction Closes

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All proceeds donated to battlefield preservation. More than $210,000 raised to date!