Antietam National Battlefield Memorial Illumination
Photos and text by Karl Merton Ferron
Marking the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, about 1,500 volunteers spent all day walking around the hills outside downtown Sharpsburg to put a common goal into action. After measuring grids to line each row, over 23,000 luminarias were placed in remembrance of the bloodiest single day in U.S. history. Adults helped children return to each bag and light every Antietam candle. Although some of the luminarias extinguished in the sustained wind, most remained lit, well into the night, commemorating the 28th annual Memorial Illumination at Antietam National Battlefield.
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- Trees are silhouetted against the night sky as vehicles slowly crawl south along historic Hagerstown Pike during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- A cannon is illuminated by a vehicle’s headlights while luminaries glow during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- The Ohio 5th, 7th, and 66th Infantry Monument rests near a crosswalk on historic Hagerstown Pike in front of the illuminated steps leading to the Dunker Church during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- Volunteers move beneath a dark sky on Bloody Lane while lighting candles during the 28th annual memorial lighting of 23,100 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- Cannons pointing toward the Maryland Monument (right) rest among hundreds of luminaries while traffic waits on historic Hagerstown Pike to pass the Dunker Church (left) during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- Vehicles move slowly on the road in front of the Dunker Church, whose doorway frames the 5th, 7th and 66th Ohio Infantry Monument while luminaries glow during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- The sun sets behind the New York Monument while luminaries glow in the surrounding field during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- The New York State Monument rises above the luminaries during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- Tree shadows cast from the West Woods by the lights of slowly-creeping passenger vehicles sweep across the north wall of the Dunker Church during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- Young volunteers with Boy Scout Troop 233 of Bethesda, Md. are silhouetted against a gray sky as they light luminaries on the field near Smoketown Road during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- Luminaries illuminate the Antietam Remembered path, which heads toward the Maryland Monument during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- The observation tower rises above the hillside while a fire consumes some dry cornfield and fence timber along Richardson Avenue which caused some concern among the volunteers at dusk during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- A volunteer lights an Antietam candle which rests in a special paper bag filled with sand on the field on Bloody Lane during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- Reid Lewis, with Boy Scout Troop 233 of Bethesda, Md. is framed beneath a flag as he places luminaries on the field near Mumma Lane during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- J. LaWald and Mike Colie of Herndon, Va. intersect two measuring tapes to begin placement of luminaries during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
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- Erika Hobson, 12 of Herndon, Va. and the rest of her church group place luminaries along historic Hagerstown Pike during the 28th Annual Memorial Illumination of over 23,000 luminaries at Antietam National Battlefield. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)
Each candle represents the bloodshed of one person who participated in the battle Sept. 17, 1862, when Confederate troops invaded the Union for the first time. By the time the final shot had been fired, 23,110 people were killed, wounded, or missing. One body fell every thirty seconds.
Vehicles filled with visitors streamed across the hillside in a five-mile crawl, gazing at the flickering warm glow of each luminaria. “Though it was a tragedy, I came to see Antietam in a different light,” said Eagle Scout Justin Friday. “We have done a phenomenal job year after year, memorializing this battle and honoring those soldiers. I’m sure the soldiers who have fallen, are thankful for what we’ve done today, and would be proud of what we continue to do tomorrow.”
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Paul L. Stone
Jan 30, 2018 @ 16:49:18
I attended the Antietam Memorial Illumination for the first time in 2017. There are no words adequate to describe the event. As I started along the route and saw the seemingly endless fields of luminaries, I thought that is a truly amazing sight. Then when I remembered that each light represented a life lost or forever altered, the sight became sobering and so much more meaningful. Half the soldiers fought here to keep the United in United States and half for principles they believed in. These fields of light, like National Cemeteries and those at Normandy, make one realize the cost and waste of war. Yet today there are still men and women willing to lay down their lives for not only their freedom but for yours and mine.