Antietam National Battlefield

We celebrated a great friend’s birthday at a campsite near Antietam National Battlefield. We listened to music, roasted marshmallows, danced under the stars, bonded in the woods, visited Antietam Creek Vineyards, and visited the quaint town of Shepherdsburg, WV to complete a weekend we would never forget.

Through all the jubilation during this celebratory event, we kept in mind the solemnity of the significance of the battlefield and the lives lost on this hallowed ground. 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of savage combat on September 17, 1862. The Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's first invasion into the North and led Abraham Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln chose this victory to declare that slavery would end in the rebellious states on New Year's Day, 1863.