One of the cool things about living in Virginia is the proximity to Civil War and other historical sites. I come from Massachusetts, where Revolutionary history abounds and everyone who grew up there has been beaten over the head with this history from a young age. However, having only traveled to DC once when I was in high school, I never really got a chance to see much from the Civil War period. Living down here gives me the rare chance to visit these sites, and I chose the Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland as my starting point.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to see all 1900 acres that make up the battleground, but Mochi and I did walk around for 90 minutes or so while I waited for Misha to finish up a training in West Virginia. Aside from the visitors’ center, the grounds are a massive field with monuments to soldiers from all sorts of different states, backgrounds, and ranks scattered throughout.
Mochi had a blast. We visited on an afternoon weekday, so there weren’t many other visitors at the park. I let Mochi roam around off-leash, and she loved getting to dash back and forth across the paths like a little ball of energy, tail wagging and smiling big. This girl loves the outdoors! She can also strike a pose with the best of them.
Antietam is home to the bloodiest single day of battle on American soil in history. Nearly 23,000 men were slain, wounded, or reported missing, including 6 generals. The battle, fought on September 17th, 1862, is also the bloodiest day of fighting in the western hemisphere as a whole.
As I walked through the fields, I found it kind of strange that they had massive pieces of farmland fenced out to grow crops. It’s perfectly good farmland and it makes plenty of sense, but something about the idea of eating food grown in soil where men were killed creeps me out, even if it was 150 years ago. It just makes me think of that old Johnny Depp movie Secret Window.
I’ve read that The Bloody Lane, where the Confederates were overrun and killed en masse, is the most haunted place at Antietam. Some say gunpowder wafts through the air, and the sound of gunfire and rebels singing in the field can be heard breaking the church-like quiet on the walk to the observation tower. Unfortunately, I did not experience any of these hauntings.
I credit my dad for making me the history buff that I am today. Growing up, history was always my favorite class, and I feel lucky to live so close to so many historical sites. Within two hours I can visit most of the major battlegrounds from the Civil War. Not a bad place to explore our nation’s history! All in all, this was a nice trip, and I look forward to going back!
Beer and Diplomacy 
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