the 

The play is set in January 1868 at a Sharpsburg Town meeting, and the characters address the audience as though they are also part of the proceedings.  Known characters from the area of Sharpsburg, Maryland include Henry Kyd Douglas, Teany Watson, Aaron Good, Alexander Root, Hilary Watson, Jacob McGraw, Theresa Kretzer, Moses Poffenberger, and Silversmith and Mayor Pro-Tem of Hagerstown Thomas Boullt. In turn, each character stands to relate their experiences.  Frequently these involve encounters with wounded soldiers, Confederate soldiers trying to hide in homes, looting and destruction of personal property, meetings with burial details or participating in burials of the dead, and the aftermath of silence, hunger, sickness and destruction. 

As the stories of the individuals unfold, the characters express ideas about the Antietam National Cemetery which had been dedicated in September 1867, the culmination of a 5 year long effort to properly bury the Union dead.  However, the Confederate dead are still lying in the fields, farms, orchards, hog pens and pastures of the town and the field graves have become horribly exposed.  The characters debate what to do about the dead Confederate bodies, and arguments for and against doing anything ensue.  Maneuvers intended to bring in the Confederate dead have been stalled for years by local opposition, a reluctant state legislature, and by the failure of the former Confederate states to act.  The mixed dynamics and sentiments of pro-Union and Confederate sympathizers engage and enrage and bring the meeting to a point of interruption before it can reconvene.

Ultimately the play concludes with an epilogue which looks back from 1877, the year that the Confederate dead were finally interred at the Washington Confederate Cemetery at Rose Hill, located on South Potomac Street in Hagerstown, Maryland.  A factual comparison of the care given the Union dead versus the lack of attention to the Confederate dead is presented, and the details are staggering when viewed in the light of contemporary standards of action for the care of the dead.

The stories used in Antietam Anthologies: 1862 are verified factual accounts of persons who were eyewitnesses to the battle in and around the Town of Sharpsburg.  The discussion amongst them concerning the separate cemeteries for the dead of the Antietam Campaign is also based on documented historical facts.

Originally presented September 24 through 26, 2010, by the Potomac Playmakers at the Academy Theatre, 58 E. Washington Street, Hagerstown, Maryland, the show enjoyed tremendous success. 

Upcoming performances of Antietam Anthologies: 1862 will be announced here as soon as they are scheduled.  To receive updates about future performances, please send an email to antietamanthologies@verizon.net