Antietam

(Sharpsburg, MD: 5 April 2010) Before we left Maryland I wanted to take the opportunity to visit Antietam National Battlefield. While I am not an official "Civil War buff" I do find the war interesting from many angles: the struggle to preserve the Union, the indignity and incongruity of slavery in an "all men are created equal" democracy, the battles and tactics, the overall strategies and the people and personalities to name a few. Antietam was the bloodiest one day of fighting in the Civil War. Walking through a place like "Bloody Lane", where over 5500 men lost there lives in less than 3 hours of battle, is chilling and the thoughts of what happened here disturb the soul nearly 150 years later. I was reminded once again of the costly cost of freedom. The National Battlefields are here...lest we forget. I pray we won't!