Part 15 of my "Heritage" travel campaign.
I visited the Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Maryland. https://www.nps.gov/anti/index.htm
The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single-day battle that has ever taken place on American soil, that involved American troops.
About 27,000 casualties (dead, wounded, missing/captured) resulted after the Battle took place on September 17th, 1862.
The Union force was about 87,000 strong, compared to the Confederate force of about 38,000. The commanding generals were George B. McClellan (Union) and Robert E. Lee (Confederate).
The Battle of Antietam is considered by many historians to be the prelude "springboard" to the Battle of Gettysburg, which occurred the following year.
Though the Battle of Antietam is considered to be a strategic Union victory, it is widely believed to be tactically inconclusive, or a draw.
Though Maryland was a "slave state," it was not a member of the Confederacy, but it was known to be a "border state." Furthermore, this means that of the 85,000 men from Maryland who fought in the Civil War, over 21,000 of them fought for the Confederacy. There is a monument, the "Maryland State Monument," which commemorates Maryland's troops from both the Union and the Confederacy. It is the only monument at Antietam that recognizes both sides.
In 1937, the Battle of Antietam half dollar was issued to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle, and can still be collected today on currency platforms such as APMEX: https://www.apmex.com/…/1937-battle-o... #HeritageTravelCampaign #AmericanCivilWar #Maryland