There is a story behind the pictures I take. This one filled me with dread and despair.
It was a rather dull and dreary day in March when we stopped at the Antietam National Battlefield, one of the first stops of our March Break trip to Virginia Beach. I was eager to undertake this trip because it would be full of history. Antietam is the site of the bloodiest battle the United States has ever been in.

We have been finding ourselves travelling increasingly into the USA simply because there are more people and history than in our part of Canada. This trip aimed to delve deep into the founding and makeup of the United States of America. The Civil War played a huge part in the development of the USA’s character.
I know little about American history besides what I have seen on TV. I heard of Antietam only because I watched a TV series about this violent period. We had visited other battlefields before, but never one of this magnitude. At Antietam National Battlefield, we would learn of the true horror of men killing men.

When we arrived, it became evident how enormous the Battlefield was. The only way to truly understand the scale of the battle and the land on which the Civil War was fought is to drive from location to location.
Entry into the visitor centre is a must. There are some displays and an introductory film. At this location, I wish I knew my cell reception was going to be poor, and I would have downloaded the audio tour of the Battlefield before driving out.




Even though our audio tour failed, information panels at each site describe the significance of the location. Only a few buildings are in the preserved grounds. The goal is to keep this area looking as it would have on the day of the battle.
The one thing that stands out is the multitude of monuments to various groups, companies, and individuals dotting the landscape. Seeing who these 300 monuments are dedicated to helps paint a picture of the enormity of the conflict, death, and destruction.

As we toured the grounds, I stopped the car to photograph one of the monuments. At this point, we had learned a lot about what had taken place, and from what I knew before visiting, the high ground is the best ground to have if there is a battle. I had been looking at the Battlefield’s topography and considered it relatively flat. I had always considered the “high ground” to be a hill or even a mountain. But I gasped when I stopped and looked at what this particular monument commemorated.
In the background, almost impossible to see in the photo, is a cannon. I saw that cannon, and for the briefest of moments, I felt what it must have been like to be facing an enemy who had his cannons pointed at you. The elevation, which I had considered to be inconsequential when I was on the other side of this slope minutes prior, came to scale when I stared breathlessly at this relic of war from long ago. I knew then that high ground is any ground that gives even the slightest advantage.

I snapped the picture, making sure I captured the cannon in the background, and spoke to my wife, Charlene, about how this location had grabbed me so emotionally. Fortunately, we have never experienced war and hope to keep it that way. But my grandparents lived in Nazi-occupied Netherlands, and I cannot even begin to fantom the horror they encountered for all those years. I know it affected them very badly because they never once spoke of that time.
We spent more time than anticipated absorbing the gravity of the site’s history. We walked “Bloody Lane,” a sunken road that was to offer protection but became the site of 5,500 casualties. Had we just looked at pictures or simply driven by, we would have missed how a modest-looking road could become the site of so much carnage. We saw another group hurrying through the same site as us and rushing to the following location of the Battlefield tour. It has always been a peeve of mine that people would come all this way and not appreciate what they came to see. Here, 5,500 families were told that a loved one was killed or seriously injured. It is not a place to hurry through and ignore the price paid here.

Here, we would also learn that the Civil War had about 10,000 battles and skirmishes. As we left this site, I wondered how many places we hurried by as we rushed to our next destination, not understanding what may have occurred there. We take for granted the peace and prosperity we enjoy and fail to remember that it can be an expensive luxury to have, to keep, and to claim.
- Visit my Places We Have Been To Map to find out how to get to Antietam National Battlefield.
- The Wikipedia link about this battle.
- We visited this location on March 9, 2024. Photos of this location and every other place we visited in 2024 can be found here.
- There is a small admission fee to this National Battlefield, but it is well worth the price.
- To truly appreciate this destination, plan on spending two to three hours.
- Understanding the battle before touring is best, making the introductory film an asset to watch. Touring the grounds will help bring out the significance of the events during the battle. Bloody Lane looks like an old road, but knowing what happened here emphasizes the scale of the battle and the war.
