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Antietam National Battlefield Antietam Visitor Center in 1964
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Antietam National Battlefield
Artillery at Antietam, Part 3
"A converging storm of iron slammed into the batteries from front and flank. Wheels were smashed, men knocked down, horses sent screaming, to stay in the field was to sacrifice units needlessly."
 
artillery battery
 

"The smoke rolled backward to the mountains... the destructive shot and shell were falling, it would appear, on every foot of land....I doubt not that at one time there was one piece of artillery firing at the hill to every five men we had defending it."

"A great tumbling together of all heaven and earth."

 
Cannons in battery
 

"A savage continual thunder that cannot compare to any sound I ever heard."

"The air around us seemed to be alive with shot and shell from the enemy's artillery. The his seemed to have become an active volcano, belching forth flame and smoke."

 
Artillery ready for action
 

"I could hear the bones crash in my division like glass in a hail storm."

"Shells burst around us, the fragments tearing up the ground, and grape shot whistled through the corn above us."

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The Maryland State Monument at Antietam

Did You Know?
The Maryland State Monument is the only monument at Antietam dedicated to both sides. Marylanders fought for both the Union and the Confederacy. 20,000 people attended the dedication on May 30, 1900. President William McKinley, a veteran of the Battle of Antietam, was the keynote speaker

Last Updated: August 01, 2006 at 12:25 MST