A Converging Storm of Iron - Sharpsburg, MD
N 39° 28.488 W 077° 44.730
18S E 263841 N 4373066
A somewhat disturbing interpretive at the Antietam Battlefield Visitor Center gives folks a bloody glimpse into the events that transpired here in September of 1862.
Waymark Code: WMDCRF
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 12/26/2011
Views: 6
This interpretive is to the left of the visitor center if you are looking at it. It is next to an artillery display of four guns/cannons. There is another interpretive next to it on an angle. The background of this marker features Gardner's famous photograph of the wrecked battery in front of the Dunker Church. There are bodies strewn about like sacks of potatoes in the aftermath of the great battle. In the background can be seen the Dunker Church. Looking at my photos of the marker, the Dunker Church can be seen in the back as well and at the same angle. The sign looks fairly new, held horizontally in a great, thick, black metal frame. The marker was erected in 2009 by Antietam National Battlefield - National Park Service - U.S. Department of the Interior.
About the photo: One of the most recognized photographs from the war. The photo is often titled "Wrecked Battery at the Dunker Church." The dead are likely members of S.D. Lee's artillery battalion, which served guns on the ground to the east of the church during the battle. SOURCE
The marker reads:
Confederate Col. Stephen D. Lee placed his battalion of nineteen cannons here. Throughout the morning, Union infantry and artillery aimed their attacks towards this high ground and the Dunker Church. Twenty-five percent of his men were killed or wounded and sixty of his horses were killed.
Later, when he remembered that terrible morning Lee wrote, "A converging storm of iron slammed into the batteries from front and flank. Wheels were smashed, men knocked down, horses sent screaming, to stay in the field was to sacrifice units needlessly."