Locational Tablet 595 - Antietam National Battlefield Historic District - Sharpsburg, MD - NRHP Historic Districts - Contributing Buildings on Waymarking.com

This locational tablet is located along the Cornfield Avenue, at the western end of the road, 145 feet from Dunker Church Road and 28 feet From the Cornfield Avenue. The Second Vermont Sharpshooters monument is just in back of it and to the left (west). This identification tablet marks the site where the the First and Twelfth Corps clashed with Lee’s men. The Cornfield changed hands again and again as both sides attacked and counterattacked. The single bloodiest day in American History occurred here on September 17, 1862. More than 25,000 soldiers fought in and around the Cornfield. By 9:30 a.m. thousands of them lay dead and dying. This directional tablet simply reads:

The
Bloody Cornfield.

Between 1896 and 1898 to commemorate the Battle of Antietam, September 16-18, 1862, the War Department erected tablets describing Confederate and Union actions of the battle. These tablets contribute to the National Register under Criterion A and are within the period of significance, 1800-1899. The monument is classified as contributing structure number TAB-595.

From the nomination form:

The War Department tablets were erected between 1896 and 1898 to commemorate both the Battle of Antietam and record battle positions of both the Confederate and Union armies on September 16-18, 1862.

In the 1880s, interest in visiting and memorializing battlefields by aging veterans was on the rise. The first indication of this increase in battlefield visits was in 1888 when a macadam road bed and sidewalk system was constructed by the War Department from the cemetery and battlefield site to the Antietam railroad station in Sharpsburg.

A Congressional Act passed in 1890 authorized dedication of the park. Field surveys of the battlefield by the War Department recorded the progression of the battle of both Union and Confederate armies, through tablets constructed in 1896-1898.

Both the Antietam National Battlefield Site and National Cemetery were transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service in 1933. In 1934, the battlefield was less than 50 acres; it has greatly increased to a present acreage of 3,199 acres. With the authorization of the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the Union and Confederate War Department Tablets were listed on the National Register on October 15, 1966, with a confirmation National Register form updated and approved by the Keeper on February 10, 1982.

During the 1996 LCS survey, Determinations of Eligibility (DOE) were completed on the war tablets. This was unnecessary, as the tablets were listed on the National Register by means of the act.

Short Physical Description

Locational Tablet No. 595 is a 4” high x 15 ½” wide cast-iron tablet on a 3.5" diameter iron pipe that is 9’5" high.

Long Physical Description

Locational Tablet No. 595 is located on the west end and north side of Cornfield Avenue near the 2nd VT Sharpshooters Monument. The text on the tablet reads: “THE/ BLOODY CORNFIELD.”

It was originally located on Old Hagerstown Pike, but it is unknown when it was moved.