In addition to our major annual programs – the Fall Conference, the Spring Symposium, and the Summer Lecture Series – the Institute hosts seasonal and local events each year.
2025 Seasonal Events
This year the Antietam Institute is offering a series of monthly members-only battlefield excursions called “Following in the Footsteps.” These two-hour programs on Saturday mornings over the course of six months will be led by Antietam Institute historians and will cover the actions of a specific regiment or battery on the battlefield.
During each month’s excursion, you’ll follow in the footsteps of a specific unit, learning where it was raised, its service before Antietam, and who commanded it. The excursion leader will stop at critical locations around the battlefield to explain what the unit and its soldiers experienced on September 17, 1862.
The hikes are for current members only, and advance registration is required (login before registering), but there is no fee to attend.
Following in the Footsteps schedule
Excursions will run from 9:30 to 11:30 am on the following Saturdays:
April 5 – Sharon Murray: Almost Annihilated: Light Company B, 4th US Artillery at Antietam
This hike will provide a short history of the company prior to the battle of Antietam. Then we will follow the route taken by Light Company B, 4th US Artillery to the places they were engaged on the morning of September 17, 1862, and discuss the fighting at several of those locations including the hill east of the D. R. Miller house and the field due west of the Cornfield.
The hike will begin and end at the Joseph Poffenberger Farm. The length of this hike is approximately a mile, over moderate terrain.
May 3 – Joe Stahl: Introduction to the War: 14th Connecticut Infantry
The 14th Connecticut Infantry mustered into Federal service on August 23, 1862. Less than a month later they were in the thick of the fighting at the Sunken Road. On this hike we will start at the Mumma Farm and follow the route of their march toward the Sunken Road. You will discover how little you can see as you leave the cornfield and start up the slope toward their monument. At the 14th Connecticut monument we hear several quotations, see images of soldiers and discuss their stories. We will then walk to the Roulette Farm Lane to move to the high ground to the East where the 14th along with the 108th New York wert positioned in the early afternoon.
The hike will begin and end at the Samuel Mumma Farm. The length of this hike is approximately a mile, over moderate terrain.
June 7 – Laura Marfut: “Confusion Reigned Supreme:” The Desperate Counter-Attack of the 27th North Carolina and 3rd Arkansas after the Fall of the Sunken Road
According to Antietam veteran and historian Ezra Carman, confusion ‘reigned supreme’ among the Confederates after they were dislodged from the Sunken Road, with several desperate attempts to slow the Union attackers and save Lee’s center. In the midst of the chaos came James Longstreet’s hastily prepared counterattack that hurled the 27th North Carolina and 3rd Arkansas infantry regiments against elements of three Union corps, crossing the ground where the Visitors Center now sits and nearly reaching the Roulette barn. The audacity of the attackers, the maneuvers of the Union regiments that repulsed them, and the human drama in this often-overlooked action are worth a closer look.
The hike will begin and end at the Sunken Road. The length of this hike is approximately a mile, over moderate terrain.
July 12 – Brad Gottfried: Fighting with the “Third Texas:” The 18th Georgia at Antietam
The 3rd Texas never fought with the Army of Northern Virginia, but the Texans of Hood’s/Wofford’s Brigade “adopted” the 18th Georgia because of its prowess on the battlefield, calling it the “Third Texas.” We will follow in the footsteps of the 18th Georgia as it leaves the West Woods, battles a portion of the Iron Brigade and then drives into the Cornfield. James Lemon, a young lieutenant in the regiment will guide us with his graphic description of the action.
The hike will begin and end at the Dunker Church. The length of this hike is approximately a mile, over moderate terrain.
August 2 – Gary Rohrer: “A Senseless Charge into a Cauldron of Fire” The 7th Maine Volunteer Infantry
This hike will focus on the 7th Maine Volunteer Infantry’s role at the Battle of Antietam. As we walk, we will introduce the unit, its role in repulsing a Confederate counterattack, events leading to its attack over the Piper Farm and its subsequent position after returning to the Union line on the right flank of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps.
The hike will begin and end at the Samuel Mumma Farm. The length of this hike is approximately a mile, over moderate terrain.
September 6 – Jim Rosebrock: Hiram Dryer and the 4th U.S. Infantry
Around 2:00 p.m. on September 17, 1862, Colonel Robert Buchanan ordered Capt. Hiram Dryer, the senior captain in the 4th U.S., to cross the Middle Bridge with his regiment and assume command of all regular infantry on the west side of Antietam Creek. Dryer was regarded as one of the “coolest and bravest officers in our service. We will follow in the footsteps of Dryer and his regulars as they make their steady advance up the Boonsboro Pike to Cemetery Ridge only to be called back at perhaps a decisive opportunity to break the Confederate center. The actions of Dryer’s regulars brigade around the Middle Bridge are often overlooked in the overall scheme of the Battle of Antietam. While the number of troops committed and casualties incurred was relatively low, the brigade forged a critical link between the offensive operations of the Second and Ninth Corps on its flanks. The aggressive skirmishing of Dryer’s regulars was a constant threat that Lee could not ignore.
The hike will begin and end at the Joshua Newcomer House. The length of this hike is approximately a mile, over moderately sloping terrain.