Antietam — Recover the Lost Order

Your quest begins at the Antietam National Battlefield Visitor Center in Sharpsburg, Maryland. Opened in 2002, this modern building is the official starting point for tours, housing maps, uniforms, and period artifacts from the Battle of Antietam. Here, you collect your first clues, scrutinizing the permanent exhibits to understand troop movements on September 17, 1862. From there, you head to the Dunker Church, officially the Church of the Brethren, built in 1852 by the pacifist Dunkard Baptists. This edifice, faithfully reconstructed in 1962 for the Civil War's centenary, served as a command post and field hospital, a central location for unraveling the day's secrets.

Continue your investigation north, where The Cornfield, an agricultural area, was the scene of fierce fighting. This plot, planted with corn, saw thousands of casualties during successive assaults by Union and Confederate forces, lasting approximately three hours. It is here, in the heart of this now infamous field, that you must locate the exact position where McClellan's order might have been lost. Your path then leads to Bloody Lane, a sunken road where Confederate troops entrenched themselves. The name "Bloody Lane" attests to the massive losses suffered by both sides, with a Union assault finally breaking through the line after violent clashes. Monuments and explanatory panels help you reconstruct regiment movements and the extent of casualties, crucial information for your mission in Maryland.

Your route takes you to the Pry House Field Hospital Museum, a farmhouse built around 1830 that served as General George B. McClellan's headquarters during the Battle of Antietam. After the battle, the house became a field hospital where thousands of wounded were treated. Today, the museum features exhibits on Civil War military medicine and the role of figures like Clara Barton. It's a prime location for discovering medical documents and testimonies that might contain fragments of the lost order. Clues are sometimes hidden in the most unexpected places, amidst period surgical instruments.

Next, cross Antietam Creek, a natural waterway that played a strategic role as a Confederate defensive line. The creek is particularly famous for Burnside's Bridge, an early 19th-century stone bridge defended by a small Confederate contingent against waves of Union assaults. This preserved historic monument, with its panels detailing troop movements and human losses, is a key stop for understanding the Union army's delays. Fishing is now permitted on Antietam Creek, but your objective is to find clues along its banks, near this iconic bridge, to reconstruct the events of September 17, 1862.

Finally, your investigation leads you to the Maryland Monument, located on the Antietam battlefield. This monument, dedicated in the early 20th century, commemorates Maryland soldiers who fell during the Civil War. Near Bloody Lane, it offers a regional perspective on the battle. After exploring these iconic sites of Sharpsburg, Maryland, you will have gathered all the pieces of the puzzle. This journey will have allowed you not only to recover the lost order but also to grasp the complexity and tragedy of the Battle of Antietam, a day that marked the history of the United States and the heritage of the National Park Service.