Antietam National Battlefield: Cultural Landscape Report

Quinn Evans

The Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) for Antietam National Battlefield provides a site history, summary of existing conditions documented in October 2020, analysis and evaluation of landscape changes and historical significance, and high-level treatment recommendations for the National Battlefield. Recommendations for the cultural landscape establish a philosophy and framework to enhance natural and cultural resource condition and visitor experience. The CLR provides park professionals with the information necessary to rehabilitate and preserve the cultural landscape, and builds upon previous cultural landscape reports and planning documents. During the American Civil War, the Union and Confederate Armies fought a bloody battle east of the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland and west of Antietam Creek, on September 17, 1862. The Union victory at Antietam provided President Abraham Lincoln the opportunity he had been waiting for to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation five days after the battle on September 22. From that time onward, the American Civil War had a dual purpose — to preserve the Union and abolish slavery. The battle was fought on a rolling agricultural landscape composed of a mosaic of cropland, pastures, and woodlots, dotted with small farmsteads that were connected by narrow lanes. Antietam Creek formed a north-south spine through the battlefield and the topographic rise above the creek and outcroppings of native limestone influenced battlefield tactics and strategies. Today, these features are visible and provide the setting for commemorating and interpreting the battlefield. The CLR is organized in two parts. Part 1 of the CLR includes the site history, summary of existing conditions, and analysis of landscape integrity. This thoughtful analysis and consideration provides a framework for future management and actions. The landscape requires care and management to protect resources and provide interpretive opportunities. Part 2 of the CLR provides a selected treatment approach, review of previous planning documents, a vision for the landscape, and detailed treatment actions for specific areas. The selected treatment approach of “rehabilitation” protects historic elements, while allowing compatible additions and modifications. The vision for the cultural landscape preserves significant landscape features, supports visitor experience and understanding, and provides appropriate rehabilitation to improve access, reestablish significant visual connections, and support healthy ecological functions. Treatment recommendations include changes to land use and vegetation. At a large scale, historic spatial arrangements of open fields and enclosed woods will be preserved. Land use and vegetation composition will be modified in specific areas to improve ecological function. Agricultural land uses will be reduced by converting non-native hayfields to woods and warm season grasslands. In total, the recommendations call for the conversion of approximately 200 acres of nonnative hayfields and cropland to warm season grasslands, and an increase in the amount of forest cover from 350 acres to 420 acres. These actions will increase the amount of wildlife habitat, improve ecological connectivity, protect groundwater and streams, and will reduce the overall amount of maintenance needed. Treatment recommendations preserve historic features and patterns while improving visitor experience. The historic cluster arrangement of farmsteads, memorial sites, and circulation networks will be preserved. Recommendations are included to repair visual connections across the landscape by removing overhead utility lines and overgrown vegetation that negatively impacts views. Interpretation of farmstead life will be improved by rehabilitating some farmsteads to reflect their historic appearance by replanting missing vegetation. Accessible routes are recommended in specific areas and will be compatibly added to the landscape, in conjunction with the 2018 Visitor Access and Circulation Plan, to improve visitor access and understanding.

Antietam National Battlefield: Cultural Landscape Report

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