Antietam Virtual Gallery

Welcome to 1862!

The Antietam National Battlefield is one of the best preserved Civil War sites. The boundaries of the park encompassncompas the vast majority of the ground where action took place. Furthermore, the park continues to grow: a large portion of the West Woods and a section between Branch Avenue and the Harper's Ferry Road were recently acquired. Properties outside the park (such as the Newcomer farm on the Middle Bridge) have scenic easements attached to them, which limit development on these sites. With the exception of three post-war structures on the northern portion of the battlefield, virtually no modern development has intruded here.

Even the town of Sharpsburg remains relatively untouched. The touristy atmosphere that plagues Gettysburg is virtually absent.

Despite this remarkable state of preservation, many key changes have taken place of the years. The principal changes have to do with the groundcover and vegetation that is no longer present. The West and North Woods have been removed, and the East Woods have been severely cut back. None of the wartime orchards - on the Miller, Piper, Mumma, Roulette, Sherrick, and Otto farms - exist today. Of the great cornfields, only 1 - the Miller Cornfield - is currently planted with corn; the Roulette, Sherrick, and 40 acre cornfields are gone. The site of the Piper cornfield is now asphalted over by a battlefield park tour road and parking lot.

Because of the changes in groundcover, the battlefield looks different than it did in 1862. Many of the landmarks on wartime maps - orchards, cornfields, etc - are not present. While several important restoration projects are in the works (most notably the reforestation of the West and North Woods), the visitor must still rely on the imagination to grasp the landscape as it was.

This gallery is meant to recreate the landscape as it appeared in 1862. Using POV-ray, several key positions on the battlefield have been recreated in their wartime appearance. Furthermore, some of the images have been rendered from locations not ordinarily accessible to the public.

Be sure to stop back occasionally, as new images are added to the gallery. If you have a particular scene you wish to see, email me and I'll see what I can do.

Nicodemus Heights	Little Roundtop	Smoketown Road	The Miller Cornfield
The East Woods	The Miller Farm	Mumma Farm	Sunken Road
Boonsboro Turnpike	The Otto Farm	Otto's Lane	The 40 Acre Cornfield