Tidball Trail (3)

This photo of the Middle Bridge over Antietam Creek was taken by Alexander Gardner on Sept. 22, 1862, five days after the Battle of Antietam. The view is to the west. The road in the center is the Boonsboro Turnpike (today, SR 34). To the left (south) is the Newcomer Barn. The house on the right-hand side of the road is the Newcomer Farmhouse. Sharpsburg itself is just over the horizon in the center, which was crowned by Confederate batteries along its length. It is remarkable how barren the landscape appears.

Tidball Trail (2)

Above: The Newcomer Farmhouse. The trailhead is to the right of the house in this view. There is parking to the left.

 

Above: The Newcomer Barn, across the Boonsboro Pike (Rte. 34) from the farmhouse. 

 

Above: Photo taken from the bend in the trail at the crest of the steep hill on which Tidball’s Battery, consisting of six 3-in. Ordnance RML, went into battery. The right-most section was probably in battery at this location. Tidball’s field of fire to the west is shown. Confederate guns crowned Cemetery Hill, the location of the National Cemetery and the Town Cemetery, neither of which were in existence on the day of battle. The turnpike bisected the hill. The farmroad running through a deep ravine northward toward Bloody Lane is indicated.  

Tidball Trail

On Sat., May 12, we hiked the new Tidball Trail at Antietam National Battlefield, near Sharpsburg, Md. The handout for the trail (above – front and back) explains the significance of the site. The trailhead is at the beautifully restored Newcomer Farmhouse, which is just west of the modern bridge erected on the site of the Middle Bridge that existed at the time of the battle. This trail is an important resource for anyone seeking to gain an understanding of the fighting in the much-neglected and heretofore somewhat inaccessible Middle Bridge sector of the battlefield. I’ll be posting photos of the vistas available in future.