Antietam honors its fallen

There are ninety-six monuments at Antietam National Battlefield, the majority of which are Union. After the war, the former Confederacy was so devastated it was difficult for the veterans to raise the needed money to build monuments. The Maryland state monument is the only one dedicated to both sides. Maryland also has a monument at Gettysburg that honors both sides.

Maryland state monument

Dedicated May 30, 1900

The Irish Brigade

51st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Monument

There is a monument to Clara Barton at Antietam.  Clara Barton was an American nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She was known as the "Florence Nightingale of America" and was also called the "Angel of the Battlefield. She tended to the wounded at Antietam, laboring in some of the worst conditions possible.

Dedicated in 1962

Pennsylvania infantry monument (1906)

Six generals (three Union, three Confederate) were mortally wounded at the Battle of Antietam. The US War Department erected six Antietam mortuary cannons in 1898 to commemorate their service and death. Each four-foot bronze cannon is mounted upside-down on a four-by-four-foot stone pedestal that marks the approximate location where the general fell. 

Mortuary cannon (fallen general)

Three rifles Pennsylvania (reconstructed 2004)

Color bearer at Bloody lane

The "Wounded Lion" monument honors the 15th Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry. The regiment suffered the highest number of casualties of any Union regiment at Antietam:  330 men fell in 20 minutes. 

Wounded lion:  15th Massachusetts (1900)

A second Maryland monument (Union)

Can't find a reference to these cannonballs

Looks so peaceful

The Robert E. Lee monument was erected on private property by a private citizen in 2003. The property and statue were acquired by the National Park Service in 2005. In 2020, the US House of Representatives voted to remove the statue. I have mixed feelings about this, but lean towards having it removed. There are no other statues honoring generals at Antietam. There are only mortuary cannons. Lee is on the wrong side of history. The monument is historically inaccurate. Regardless, it still stands.

Post created 28 May 2026