Guide to the Battle of Antietam

Edited by Jay Luvaas and Harold W. Nelson; 336 pages, 29 illustrations, 24 maps, 5-1/2 x 8-1/4
U.S. Army War College Guides to Civil War Battles
Paper ISBN 978-0-7006-0784-6, $14.95

“America’s bloodiest day”–the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862–left more dead American soldiers in its wake than any other 24-hour period in history. Antietam and the related battles of the Maryland Campaign that led up to the lethal confrontation did not result in decisive defeats for either side. But they did serve as a brutal warning to an out-gunned, out-commanded, and out-organized Union army.

Eyewitness accounts by battle participants make these guides an invaluable resource for travelers and nontravelers who want a greater understanding of five of the most devastating yet influential years in our nation’s history. Explicit directions to points of interest and maps–illustrating the action and showing the detail of troop position, roads, rivers, elevations, and tree lines as they were 130 years ago–help bring the battles to life. In the field, these guides can be used to recreate each battle’s setting and proportions, giving the reader a sense of the tension and fear each soldier must have felt as he faced his enemy.

“These guides are the most thorough, detailed, and accurate of their kind. I have used them to lead guided tours of several battlefields, with great success.”–James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom: The Era of the Civil War

“I highly recommend this important and valuable series of guidebooks.”–Herman Hattaway, coauthor of How the North Won the Civil War and Why the South Lost the Civil War

“These guides can be enjoyed without ever leaving the easy chair, or they can become indispensable companions on tramps over the scenes of the greatest engagements of the Civil War.”–William C. Davis, author of Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour

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