Pry House Field Hospital Museum and Antietam Battlefield!

                Hi everyone! It is my third day here (9/24) at the museum and I’m already getting to leave the museum to explore the area around Frederick by going to Antietam today! I cannot believe my good luck because I will be going with Kyle and Lori the curator to assist them in putting together a new exhibit in the Pry House Field Hospital Museum.  I have never been to Antietam before so I am really excited to see the battlefield.  Movies and books can only get you so far when you read about troop formations or the lay of the land.  This is the real deal!

Pry House Field Hospital Museum

                First though Kyle, Lori and I put two big boxes filled with artifacts in her car and large posters in Kyles

.  Then there is a half hour long car ride to the Pry House Field Hospital Museum but it does not feel long or boring at all.  I am constantly looking at window enjoying the scenery because as we leave town I see rolling hills and pastures with beautiful houses, big and small, all around.  The foliage in trees is starting to change as well so it looks beautiful.  As we go towards Antietam Kyle is telling me the history of the area and how places received their names.  I learn that Braddock Heights is named for British General Edward Braddock and to a lesser degree our own George Washington (then Lieutenant Colonel) who used the mountain pass during the French and Indian War in 1755.  Kyle also tells me that during the Civil War there was a skirmish in this pass in 1862 involving J.E.B. Stuart, a Confederate general.

                I feel like this ride could have been really ordinary and quiet but Kyle is telling me how historical every inch of this road is.  I learn that even the route we have been on was historically an old road that has just been paved over with more modern pavement but that this is the road soldiers or people would use to travel to different towns.  We pass through Boonsboro where the author Nora Roberts lives and places some of her novels.  I find out that the town was named after some of Daniel Boones cousins.  We pass through Keedysville and soon find ourselves at the Pry House Field Hospital Museum. 

                It is an amazing house.  Two stories, a basement, attic and a barn.  All the rooms are large with enormous windows. When we arrive the ground is covered in giant Walnut husks so I dodge those as we make our way to the unassuming door.   Lori and Kyle tell me that much of the house is original still even though the war ended a 150 years ago.  We eat lunch downstairs in the gift shop which used to a dining room originally and then go upstairs to put the exhibits together.  While they prepare the bases for the exhibits in one room I explore the other second floor room.  It is set up to resemble a scene from when Major General Israel Bush Richardson was lying injured there after the Battle of Antietam.  Mannequins and other bedroom items like a crib, nightstand, and a water pitcher are around the room.  I read the information on a sign and find out that President Abraham Lincoln had been in this room to see Major General Richardson! I could not believe it! Lincoln had been in this house! The house that Kyle and Lori said was largely original! That meant the Pine floors (with the exception of a few rooms) were Pine floors Lincoln had been on! That Major General George McClellan had walked on! Sorry to nerd out but it was definitely blowing my mind.  I think it is because I am from California so I read about where these battles were or these people walked but I don’t see it with my own eyes so there is a degree of separation.  Kyle and Lori probably laughed at me a little because I was like a kid in a candy shop with the thought that Lincoln and McClellan had been on these floors and rooms and see the views I had. 

                After I stopped acting like a historic fangirl we got to business.  We were setting up an exhibit about medicine so we VERY carefully unwrapped bottles, needles and other items.  Lori, with her white curator gloves, unwrapped a Quinine canteen and a surgeon’s backpack chest and placed them carefully on the tables.  As I unwrapped the bottles I tried to be as careful as possible.  I placed each one gingerly on tables with the occasional pause to watch what Kyle and Lori were doing as they handled the more rare items.  Once everything was unwrapped they began to discuss what should  go on each respective table so that everything fit and looked aesthetically pleasing.  I stood back behind them and sometimes spoke up if I thought something was a little crooked or hard to view.  After about a half hour both tables were arranged and labeled.  We put the signs up, gave the room a final look and declared it done. 

The Quinine canteen was my favorite artifact.

 One part of the exhibit nearly done,

                What happened next was really neat.  We went up from the second floor the third into the attic.  Pry House had the roof redone recently so there were nails sticking out every few inches so I walked with my head VERY low.  We followed a path to the back because everyone mentioned there was a hatch in the roof that could be used.  We took the hatch off then I climb up a step ladder and stuck my upper body out.  I could see for miles around.  Antietam was all around me.  I was getting a fantastic view with green rolling hills, pastures, trees and animal sounds.  I could not believe it.  A California girl is sticking out of a roof in a farmhouse that was used as a hospital and McClellan’s headquarters during the Battle of Antietam (where Lincoln had also visited)  to get this amazing view.  After I got down both Lori and Kyle climbed up to look around and we took some more pictures. 

View from the roof of Pry House.

                Later on we went downstairs where I learned that the cabinets and fireplace in the kitchen were also original.  That house is in great shape.  We left since our business was done, waved goodbye to National Park Services.  I imagined we would head back to the museum but Kyle offered to give me a quick tour of the battlefield so of course I said yes! We drove a few minutes while he drove around the perimeter explaining the formations of the troops, setting the scene for the battle.  He explained which troops stood on which ridges and who commanded them.  We stopped at the Bloody Cornfield  while he explained more formations and what happened there.  Then we traveled to the Bloody Lane.  I could not believe I was standing there.  Whenever I’ve imagined Antietam this is the place I’ve seen.  It’s always shown in pictures, it’s what people talk about to the point that this has become representational of the entire place.  While I was there Kyle explained the battle some more and the significance of this place.  Then we traveled onto Burnside’s Bridge where he pointed the Confederate sharpshooter spaces and explained that portion of the battle. They used spaces near the bridge where rock had been removed to position themselves.   Antietam Creek is very pretty this time of year though it was large enough I think it could be a river. 

The Bloody Lane.

Burnside's Bridge.

                Then we drove back the museum where I worked with Jenna downstairs in guest services.  She showed me some more of the computer system and we spoke with visitors.  It was a quiet but happy ending to a very exciting day for me.