Cathy at the Dunker Church, Antietam Battlefield
On the morning of September 17, 1862, the 28th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, presumably including Cathy’s 2-greats-uncle Gustavus, crossed the Wheat Field and approached the West Woods next to the Dunker Church. It was one of three main areas of fighting in the Battle of Antietam, along with the Sunken Lane and Burnside’s Bridge. We walked a lot of the battlefield and even without the family connection, it’s a sad place to be. We’re glad for what the Civil War accomplished but saddened by the huge cost. I sometimes wonder how different history would be if Lincoln had let the Confederate states form a separate country. I also wonder how different it would be if the North had been able to defeat the south in the first year of the war and it hadn’t taken those extra years.