luminaries placed by Maryland Monument with dramatic orange red clouds
The Memorial Illumination, held in December, features 23,000 candles placed by volunteers, over the north end of the battlefield. Each represents a causality from the battle. NPS Antietam/BBaracz

Antietam National Battlefield

National Historic Site · Maryland · National Park Service

23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of savage combat on September 17, 1862. The Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's first invasion into the North and led Abraham Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Plan your visit

Know before you go

Phone
3014325124
Official site
www.nps.gov
Managed by
National Park Service

Getting there

Directions on Google Maps →

What's here

Highlights: Architecture and Building · African American Heritage · Arts · Photography · Burial, Cemetery and Gravesite · National Cemetery · Enslavement · Medicine · Military · Infantry and Militia · Artillery · US Army · Battlefields · Monuments and Memorials · Presidents · Reconstruction · Schools and Education · Wars and Conflicts · Civil War · Women's History · Trails

Activities & features: Biking · Road Biking · Camping · Group Camping · Guided Tours · Self-Guided Tours - Walking · Self-Guided Tours - Auto · Hiking · Living History · Historic Weapons Demonstration · Junior Ranger Program · Wildlife Watching · Birdwatching · Park Film · Museum Exhibits · Shopping · Bookstore and Park Store

Photos

  • wood fence rails with green corn stalks behind fence
    NPS Antietam/ BBaracz
  • stone building with black fence in foreground
    NPS Antietam/ BBaracz
  • three arch stone bridge over Antietam Creek
    NPS
  • small white building with cannon in the foreground
    NPS Antietam/ BBaracz
  • one room house covered in snow
    NPS Antietam/ BBaracz
  • a monument of a soldier at sunset
    NPS
  • artillery piece sitting on a rock break
    NPS
  • fog filling in the low areas of the field at sunset
    NPS

Nearby parks

Parks of Maryland

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Sources: National Park Service, Google Places · updated 2026-08-12