New Trail Will Provide First Access To Antietam's Final Phase
By Deborah Fitts
January 2005

SHARPSBURG, Md. - A mile-long trail through a newly acquired 145-acre property at Antietam National Battlefield will give visitors their first-ever access to the final phase of the September 1862 battle, America's bloodiest.

Park Superintendent John Howard said the "Final Attack Trail" could be ready as early as this summer. The park bought the property, known by its modern name as the Shade Farm, last year. During the war it was part of the historic Otto Farm and lies at the south end of the battlefield.

"We've had a lot of really good progress at the north end of the field," said Howard, "but the southern end has been a little bit ignored except for Burnside Bridge. It was never brought up to the level it should be, and now we have a chance to do that."

Near the close of the battle, Union troops who had forced Burnside Bridge pressed the Confederates back until they unexpectedly encountered Southern troops arriving on the road from Harpers Ferry.

"A lot of people don't realize" the extent of the fighting in the final hour and a half of the battle, Howard said, and "the John Wayne ending."

The trail will follow the advance of the Union troops. The route has been laid out, and last September, on the battle anniversary weekend, park rangers took about 150 visitors on the proposed trail and asked for feedback. The trail will be "low-impact," Howard said: it will involve a couple of small bridges, but mostly it will comprise merely a mowed swath.

Three monuments on the park's new property will be finally accessible from the trail, one to Connecticut troops and two to Ohio troops. Howard said the park is also considering interpretive panels, but doesn't want to erect anything that would adversely impact the view from the park tour road.

"We're trying to figure out how to do that, maybe make them close to the ground," he said.

The Shade Farm fields have been neglected for several years, and have grown up in brush and non-native plant species. About half of the 145 acres has been cleared, according to Howard, most of it by hand and mostly by volunteers, including workers from Save Historic Antietam Foundation and the Boy Scouts. The park will begin leasing the fields to farmers as early as this winter.

Meanwhile, the park is planning for major repairs to park roads in 2007, when Howard said $3.7 million in federal funding is scheduled to become available. The bulk of the money will be spent on the roads, which "hasn't been touched, except for patching, in 30 years," he said.

And $1.2 million of the total will be spent on restoration of the historic D.R. Miller house at the Cornfield. "Not a lot of people realize that it's a log house under the modern siding," said Howard. "It was probably covered with stucco at the time of the battle."

The work will include exterior restoration, a new roof and foundation repairs. "Minimal" restoration will be conducted inside, where Howard said there were "a lot of really interesting architectural features." The front of the house will continue to be open to visitors "as often as possible," while the back will likely be set aside for administrative use.