The Memorial Illumination Photo Credit: NPS/Keith Snyder
This evening, visitors will take the five-mile driving tour through the annual Antietam National Battlefield Memorial Illumination. Volunteers are busy preparing the 23,000 luminaries that honor the soldiers who fell at the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest one-day battle of the Civil War.
Each candle that will light Antietam tonight represents one soldier who was killed, wounded or went missing during the twelve-hour battle on September 17, 1862.
Read about the history of the Battle of Antietam.
Learn about visiting the Battlefield.
Tiffany Arnold has put together a great story "Antietam by the numbers: A look at the Memorial Illumination" for The Herald-Mail.
Other stories from National Parks Travel Examiner:
From Antietam to Saratoga--unknown Civil War soldier returns home
Gettysburg National Military Park loses one of its witness trees
Comments
The luminaries provide such a moving tribute to the fallen. Great pictures.
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