Key artillery positions on the field of Antietam are marked by cannon. And 10 large-scale field exhibits at important points on the field indicate troop positions and battle action.
The War Correspondents’ Memorial Arch and the 1st New Jersey Regimental Monument are located at Crampton’s Gap, and at Fox’s Gap is the memorial to Maj. Gen. Jesse Reno, who was killed while leading the Federal attack there.
Outstanding in the observance of battle anniversaries at Antietam was the occasion of the 75th anniversary on September 17, 1937. Thirty-five thousand persons, including 50 veterans who fought at Antietam, joined in the observance held on the battleground near the Sunken Road.
The National Cemetery.
The Robert E. Lee Memorial tablet, located in a plot at the western limits of Sharpsburg, marks the headquarters of General Lee. General McClellan’s headquarters were in the Philip Pry house, 2 miles east of Sharpsburg near the Boonsboro Pike.
McClellan’s headquarters, the Philip Pry House.
The National Cemetery, located at the eastern limits of Sharpsburg, is the burial place of Federal dead from the Battles of Antietam, South Mountain, and minor engagements. The cemetery was established by an act of the Maryland legislature in March 1865; the dedication took place September 17, 1867, the fifth anniversary of the battle. The cemetery plot of 11 acres was deeded by the State of Maryland to the United States Government on March 13, 1878. Of 4,776 Civil War burials, 1,836 are listed as unidentified. The total number of burials, including nearly 300 from recent wars, is more than 5,000.