Antietam Remembered Trail-Stop 2

Alexander Gardner’s photograph of this position looking north along the Hagerstown Turnpike.

 

Stop 2 - Colonel S.D. Lee’s Artillery Battalion

Confederate Col. Stephen D. Lee held this position with about nineteen guns, including units from Virginia, Louisiana, and South Carolina. After three desperate hours, Lee’s guns were finally driven from this position by long-range artillery fire from across Antietam Creek (one mile to the east) and by a series of Union attacks during the morning hours of the battle. Lee wrote, “A converging storm of iron slammed into the batteries from front and flank. Wheels smashed, men knocked down, horses sent screaming; to stay on that field was to sacrifice units needlessly.” Of the 300 men Lee commanded, 25% were killed or wounded and 60 horses were lost. Four types of Civil War cannons that represent Colonel Lee’s position are on display.

Continue on the paved walkway, towards the Hagerstown Turnpike and the Dunker Church.

 

• Introduction and Map
• Stop 1 - The Visitor Center
• Stop 2 - Colonel S.D. Lee’s Artillery Battalion
• Stop 3 - Crossing the Hagerstown Turnpike
• Stop 4 - The Dunker Church
• Stop 5 - The Maryland Monument
• Stop 6 - New York State Monument
• Stop 7 - 20th New York Monument and Conclusion