TWO HISTORIC BATTI/FC-FIELDS
same year the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association con
veyed to the United States all avenues, monument plots and
lands then under their jurisdiction for the purpose of making
further improvements, the result of which change is very appre
ciable, even to the casual observer. The avenues, which were
originally unpaved, are being replaced by the Telford system of
roads, of which many miles have already been constructed, con
necting the town with the points of greatest interest. This work
is being done under the direction of the Gettysburg National
Military Park Commission, consisting of Col. John P. Nicholson,
chairman; Major C. A. Richardson, of the Union army, and
Major W. M. Robins, of the Confederate army. The monuments,
now over four hundred in number, range in value from fifty dol
lars to sixty thousand dollars, and many of them are fine works
of art. The equestrian statue of Gen. Reynolds will be dedi
cated on the first day of July of the present year. It is the third
and last one to be erected by the State of Pennsylvania in honor
of her three illustrious sons —Gen. Reynolds, Commander of the
First Corps; Gen. Hancock, Commander of the Second Corps, and
Gen. Meade, Commander of the Army of the Potomac. A visit
to Culp’s Hill, where natural earthworks and trees destroyed by
shot and shell can be seen, and a drink from the famous Spang
ler’s spring where soldiers of both armies drank, are some of the
features which make one’s visit interesting.
There remains much to be accomplished on the field by the
National Park Commission, and it is to be hoped that they shall
receive hearty cooperation from the people as well as from
Congress.
The Antietam battle-field covers an area of fifteen square miles,
and is situated fourteen miles south of Hagerstown, near the
town of Sharpsburg, Md., at the southern limit of the fertile
Cumberland Valley, and between the beautiful Antietam Creek
on the east and the majestic Potomac on the west. It is not so
widely spoken of nor as frequently visited as the former field, yet
it is none the less interesting, for it was here that America’s noble
sons and even more, brothers, met and fought the bloodiest battle
of the Civil War, killing more men in the one day than at Gettys
burg during the three'days. The field is rather hilly, with many
prominent ledges of rocks protruding sufficiently to be used as
natural earthworks. The hand of destruction has removed