On Saturday, 12/06/08, I drove to Sharpsburg to drive through the 20th Annual Antietam National Battlefield Memorial Illumination.  The event is held to honor the 23,000 soldiers who were killed, wounded or missing during the Civil War on the bloodiest single day battle in United States history.  For the memorial event, volunteers light 23,110 candles in paper bags (luminaries) and after dark (6pm to midnight) the public is allowed to drive through the park, and view the luminaries spread out over the five mile route. 

 

I have visited this battlefield several times, learning about the battle and the many events that occurred.  I have even hike ten miles through the battlefield with the Boy Scouts.  I thought I had a pretty good idea of what happened there during the Civil War.  But there was one part of understanding that I was lacking.  How many is 23,000?

 

The memorial event is extremely popular; with cars arriving hours in advance to wait along the shoulder of west bound Rt 34 from Boonsboro.  I arrived at the end of the line of waiting cars at 5:20pm.  That was 1.3 miles from the start of the tour.  At 6:20pm, the vehicle in front of me began to creep forward.  I got to the entry into the park and the beginning of the tour an hour later.  Then I began to understand the number 23,000. 

 

After an hour driving by luminaries, I left the battlefield and got dinner near Hagerstown.  When I drove back past the line of cars waiting to enter the battlefield, it was 9:20pm and the line of cars creeping toward the entrance was 1.7 miles long.  This is not an event for the impatient.  It is an event for the contemplative.  I was alone so there was no talking in my car.  If you bring company with you, don't expect talking while you drive through.  You will all want to be silent.  

 

The National Park Service website for Antietam National Battlefield has a very moving video about the memorial event, told by one of the volunteer candle lighters.  See http://www.nps.gov/anti/planyourvisit/luminary.htm for information about the event with links to photos and the video.

 

P.S.  This year, approximately 1,900 cars and buses drove through the park to view the candles,