Last weekend Debbie and I went for a motorcycle ride to Antietam Battlefield. The American Civil War battlefield is near Sharpsburg, Maryland about half way between Martinsburg, WV and Frederick, MD.
Ride to Antietam
This was the worst one day battle in American History. 23,000 soldier were killed, wounded or went missing in only 12 hours. After seeing the battlefield and understanding the tactics of the time I find it hard to understand how these men walked into the open for the cannons to…just wipe them out!
The battlefield itself is well maintained and there are monument to many of the units and men that fought and died on that day. The museum has a thirty minute movie covering the action, I suggest you see the film first as it will lay out what occurred in a broad scope so you will have some context as you move outside.
You may run across two, non-military, names that were unexpected to see in a place like this. Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross and, then Captain, Oliver Wendell Holmes. Holmes, who was left for dead at Antietam, would later become a famous member of the American Supreme Court.
We also spent part of the day just wheeling around and by the time we arrived at home we had put nearly 120 miles on the bike. And for a great change, there was never even a threat of rain.
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- Train Tunnel, Point of Rock, MD
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- Ride to Antietam
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- Ride to Antietam
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- Ride to Antietam
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- Ride to Antietam
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- Ride to Antietam
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- Brunswick, Md
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- Brunswick, Md
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- Brunswick, Md
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- Brunswick, Md
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- Brunswick, Md
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- Brunswick, Md
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- Ride to Antietam
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- Potomac River and Harpers Ferry in the distance
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- Boonsboro, MD (like it says)
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- Boonsboro, MD
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- Boonsboro, MD
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- Boonsboro, MD
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- Antietam National Battlefield
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- Confederate Atillery Battery
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- Dunkers Church
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- Inside Dunkers Church
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- Monument to Maryland Soldiers
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- Bronze on the Maryland monument.
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- Bronze on the Maryland monument.
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- Bronze on the Maryland monument.
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- Bronze on the Maryland monument.
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- Monument to New York soldiers
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 
Than ks. Great story and good photos!
Nice! The Brunswick church photo is actually a place called Beans in the Belfry, a neat place to stop for a coffee or a milkshake, or something to eat. They often have live music.
Great post and pictures. We need to ride up that way. I love history and there is much to see. What’s the best time of the year to ride?
Ride safe…
Spring and fall are great up here. If you come this way from Texas, I would come via the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline drive. Those great roads would put you in the middle of Civil War Virginia. If you time it right in spring you could always hook up with Rolling Thunder in DC!
We have been wanting to do Blue Ridge Parkway & Skyline drive anyway. I have a couple of friends from Alabama and Georgia that have been wanting us to ride that. We will have to add some of the places from your blog. Thanks Warren.
[…] This road kind of parallels the Potomac River and the C&O Canal starting in the south on the Maryland side of the river across from the town of Harpers Ferry, WV and is a great road for motorcycles. We rode from there to Sharpsburg, MD which is where the Civil War battle of Antietam was fought (this link will take you to our ride to the Antietam Battlefield). […]