The Marines Land in Sharpsburg – Keith Snyder
2026-06-08 19:00 (America/New_York) | St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 209 W Main Street, Sharpsburg, MD, 21782, United States
The largest event ever to take place in Sharpsburg, after the Battle of Antietam, was in 1924 when the Marine Expeditionary Force marched to Antietam for a twelve-day training encampment. They brought aircraft, tanks, balloons, machine guns, plus their band and baseball team. On June 8, see numerous historic photos of this somewhat unknown event in the history of the park, as retired ranger, Keith Snyder presents: The Marines Land in Sharpsburg.
Keith Snyder had worked for the National Park Service since 1985 at four National Parks. He recently retired as the Chief of Resource Education and Visitor Services at Antietam National Battlefield. He is a graduate of Shepherd University and received his master’s degree from the U. S. Army War College. He retired from the United States Air Force and Air National Guard in 2016 after 40 years of service.
Come join leading historians and scholars as they discuss intriguing topics about their latest works and research on the Maryland Campaign and the Civil War during the Antietam Institute’s Civil War Summer Lecture Series. See the complete 2026 schedule.
These indoor programs are held in McKinley Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m. The church is located at 209W Main Street with a small parking area off the alley. More parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. These lectures are free and open to the public. Each week, the Antietam Institute holds a drawing in which the proceeds support the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Be sure to check their Facebook page for updates and changes to the schedule.

Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage - Frederick County Tour
2026-06-13 10:00 - 17:00 | Throughout Frederick County, Frederick County, Frederick, Maryland, 21701
The Maryland House and Garden Tour of Frederick County showcases the region’s rich layers of history, from its earliest Native inhabitants to its role as a crossroads of trade, culture, and conflict. Formed in 1748, Frederick County flourished along the Old National Road, where stagecoaches and Conestoga wagons once carried settlers and goods westward, fueling the growth of thriving towns like Frederick, Middletown, and New Market. Visitors will explore historic homes and gardens that reflect the area’s agricultural prosperity, industrial innovation, and Civil War legacy. Today, Frederick County remains a vibrant mix of scenic farmland, mountain landscapes, and lively Main Street communities, where the past and present come together in one of Maryland’s most picturesque and historic destinations. Find the full list of tour sites here. Learn more and purchase your tickets here: https://www.mhgp.org/frederickcounty

One Vast Hospital - Downtown Frederick Walking Tour
2026-06-13 10:30 - 11:00, 2026-06-14 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-06-20 10:30 - 11:00, 2026-06-21 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-06-27 10:30 - 11:00, 2026-06-28 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-07-04 10:30 - 11:00, 2026-07-05 12:00 - 13:30 and 4 more dates | National Museum of Civil War Medicine, 48 E. Patrick St., Frederick, 21701, United States
Explore the incredible Civil War history in Downtown Frederick with expert guides from the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.
Every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and Sunday at 12:00 p.m. from April until September, docents from the National Museum of Civil War Medicine will explain how Frederick became “One Vast Hospital.” Arguably the most trying moment in city’s history came after the Battle of Antietam in the fall of 1862. The town’s population doubled when 8,000 wounded soldiers were delivered by ambulance to make-shift hospitals throughout Frederick. Walking tours last for an hour to an hour and a half.
Tickets are $15 and include admission to the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in addition to the walking tour. Tickets are free for Museum members, but you must still reserve your spot. Reservations will be accepted on a first come first served basis.
Contact Chris Reed at chris.reed@civilwarmed.org for more information.

The Confederate Soldier, Food, and the Maryland Campaign – Michael Hardy
2026-06-15 19:00 | St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 209 W Main Street, Sharpsburg, MD, 21782, United States
It is a common cliché – that food makes the army move. That is especially true for the Maryland Campaign. Food was one reason why Lee moved north following his victories at Second Manassas and Chantilly. While some of the soldiers, like those who captured Harpers Ferry, were well fed, others went hungry through much of the campaign. It was the opinion of Assistant Surgeon Spencer Welch of the 13th South Carolina Infantry that during the Maryland Campaign, “we were almost starved.” Historian and author, Michael C. Hardy will discuss this dire condition on June 15 as he presents, “we were almost starved” The Confederate soldier, Food, and the Maryland Campaign.
Michael C. Hardy is an award-winning and widely published author. He has written on a large array of subjects – airplanes, Southern places, and Confederate regiments—in books, articles, and blog posts. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama. In 2010, Hardy was named North Carolina Historian of the Year by the North Carolina Society of Historians. He was also awarded the James I. Robertson Literary Prize by the Robert E. Lee Civil War Library and Research Center in 2018 for his history of the Branch-Lane Brigade, General Lee’s Immortals (Savas Beatie, 2018). Michael has presented at a number conferences, like the Appomattox/Longwood Civil War Seminar, Pamplin Historical Park’s Symposium, and the American Battlefield Trust’s Annual Meeting, as well as being featured on an episode of Blood and Fury on the American Heroes Channel. When not researching, writing, and traveling, he volunteers at historic sites, sharing his love for history.
Come join leading historians and scholars as they discuss intriguing topics about their latest works and research on the Maryland Campaign and the Civil War during the Antietam Institute’s Civil War Summer Lecture Series. See the complete 2026 schedule.
These indoor programs are held in McKinley Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m. The church is located at 209W Main Street with a small parking area off the alley. More parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. These lectures are free and open to the public. Each week, the Antietam Institute holds a drawing in which the proceeds support the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Be sure to check their Facebook page for updates and changes to the schedule.

Juneteenth: From Enslavement to Emancipation
2026-06-19 11:00 | Best Farm (Tour Stop #1), Urbana Pike, Monocacy National Battlefield, Frederick, MD, 21742, United States
Slavery was legal in Maryland until November 1, 1864, when the new State Constitution, voted on by Marylanders, went into effect ending the practice. Join a ranger walk to learn about the enslaved people who lived and worked on the six historic properties that make up Monocacy National Battlefield, as well as the United States Colored Troops who enlisted at Monocacy Junction.
This program meets at the Best Farm, tour stop #1, on Monocacy National Battlefield and includes about a one mile walk out to Monocacy Junction and back again. Appropriate clothes and footwear should be considered. Best Farm is located at 5106 Urbana Pike, Frederick, MD 21704.

Fighting for Freedom: African American Service in the United States Military
2026-06-19 14:00 | Monocacy National Battlefield Visitor Center, 5201 Urbana Pike, Frederick, MD, 21704, United States
African Americans have served in every United States conflict since the country began. This legacy of service however has been fraught with both struggle and triumph. Visit the Monocacy National Battlefield visitor center to learn about the trials of African American military service from the Revolutionary period up through the modern era.

Citizen Meets Soldier
2026-06-20 10:00 | The Union Mills Homestead, 3311 Littlestown Pike, Westminster, MD, 21158, United States
“Citizen Meets Soldier” is a living history of 1863 in Carroll County, Maryland. Join the Union Mills Homestead to commemorate the events of the hot summer of 1863. Walk in the footsteps of the citizens of Carroll County, Maryland, who were divided in their loyalties, and the Union and Confederate soldiers who camped along Big Pipe Creek at Union Mills in the days surrounding the Battle of Gettysburg. Union Mills’ Civil War encampment will celebrate and commemorate the chaos and excitement of the Civil War in Carroll County, Maryland.
In the days surrounding Lee’s Second Invasion of the North, small towns in Carroll County — including Union Mills — saw the movement of both U.S. and Confederate Armies, supply wagons, injured soldiers, and an important skirmish occurred in nearby Westminster. There, U.S. Cavalry charged headfirst into Confederate Cavalry under the command of Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart. But for a few hours, a battle may well have occurred at Union Mills, as it lay dead center in the Union Army’s defensive line along Big Pipe Creek and Union Mills served as the site of overnight encampments by both Stuart’s Confederate Cavalry and Sykes’ Fifth Corps of the U.S. Army. Stuart’s Cavalry pulled out of Union Mills just hours before the Union Army arrived!
Living history portrayals, encampments, and historic displays interpreting this period will take place on the scenic and spacious grounds of the Union Mills Homestead. This event is $10 per car.

Wounded for Life: Union Veterans of the Civil War
2026-06-20 14:00 | National Museum of Civil War Medicine, 48 E. Patrick St., Frederick, 21701, United States
Join the National Museum of Civil War Medicine for their Saturday Speaker Series as Dr. Robert Hicks examines how wounded warriors survived after the war. By exploring how two Union veterans, an African American private who contracted malaria and a white colonel whose arm was amputated, survived to work, marry, and rear children, we see how they constructed new identities to cope with how the war changed their bodies. This talk is based on his book, “Wounded for Life: Seven Union Veterans of the Civil War.”
Robert D. Hicks, PhD is an independent scholar of the history of science and medicine. Formerly, he served as director of the Mütter Museum and Historical Medical Library and William Maul Measey Chair for the History of Medicine at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. He has worked with museum-based education and exhibits for four decades, primarily as a consultant to historic sites and museums. His most recent book “Civil War Medicine: A Surgeon’s Experience,” appeared in 2019 by Indiana University Press.

Classic Car Battlefield Cruise
2026-06-21 10:00 | South Mountain Battlefield State Park at Turner’s Gap, 6132 Old National Pike, Boonsboro, MD, 21713
Join for a unique journey through Civil War history as classic automobiles and historic landscapes come together in the Monocacy National Battlefield Classic Car Cruise. This special event celebrates automotive heritage while honoring one of the most significant Civil War sites in the region.
The cruise begins at South Mountain Battlefield, where participants will gather amid the scenic mountain passes that witnessed pivotal moments of the 1864 Valley Campaign. Following a brief welcome and orientation, drivers will depart on a carefully planned scenic route, offering sweeping views of the countryside and an enjoyable drive well-suited for classic and vintage vehicles.
The caravan will proceed eastward toward Monocacy National Battlefield, tracing roads that echo the movements of armies more than 160 years ago. Upon arrival, participants will enjoy a guided tour of Monocacy Battlefield, known as the “Battle That Saved Washington.” The tour will highlight key locations, interpretive stops, and stories that illuminate the July 1864 battle and its lasting impact on the Civil War.
This event offers a relaxed and memorable way to experience regional history—combining the elegance of classic cars, the beauty of Maryland’s landscape, and the rich stories preserved at our national battlefields. Whether you are an automotive enthusiast, a history buff, or both, the Monocacy Battlefield Classic Car Cruise promises a rewarding and unforgettable experience.
To register please contact Ranger Brian at Brian_J_Robinson@nps.gov with your name and number of participants.

“A Brain the Size of a Hickory Nut”: Joe Hooker’s views about Ambrose Burnside – Darin Wipperman
2026-06-22 19:00 | St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 209 W Main Street, Sharpsburg, MD, 21782, United States
Join the Antietam Institute on June 22 for returning speaker and author, Darin Wipperman. In addition to his Confederate opponents, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s nickname of “Fighting Joe” applied to his relationships with many of his fellow Northern generals. Perhaps no Union officer felt the scorn of Hooker more than Ambrose Burnside. This presentation focuses on their schisms during the Maryland campaign, as illustrated in multiple battle reports. The notes Hooker left on his unfinished Antietam report – in his papers at the Huntington Library in California – offer especially negative thoughts of Burnside, sometimes at the expense of the truth. Fredericksburg and Burnside’s final weeks of army command in early 1863 brought his relationship with Fighting Joe to its lowest ebb. Late in life, Hooker declared Burnside had “a brain the size of the hickory nut.”
Darin Wipperman’s first two books on the Civil War discussed the histories of the First and Ninth Corps. His most recent book, Thunderbolt to the Rebels: The United States Sharpshooters in the Civil War, was released in February 2025. Darin completed nearly 17 years of service in the federal government, then moved to northern New Hampshire, where he was a reporter and editor for weekly newspapers. This 2026 presentation will be Darin’s seventh for the Summer Lecture Series in Sharpsburg. Darin’s biography of Joseph Hooker, the first new book to cover the general’s entire life published in more than eighty years, will be released later in 2026. He lives with his wife on a large forested parcel in northern New Hampshire.
Come join leading historians and scholars as they discuss intriguing topics about their latest works and research on the Maryland Campaign and the Civil War during the Antietam Institute’s Civil War Summer Lecture Series. See the complete 2026 schedule. These indoor programs are held in McKinley Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m. The church is located at 209W Main Street with a small parking area off the alley.

Grant and Meade: An Uneasy Alliance – Dr. Brad Gottfried
2026-06-29 19:00 | St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 209 W Main Street, Sharpsburg, MD, 21782, United States
On June 29, Dr. Brad Gottfried will discuss his latest book, “Grant and Meade: An Uneasy Alliance.” The Meade-Grant relationship was a complex one. In this presentation, you will be asked to step into General Meade’s boots as he attempts to navigate the minefield of Washington’s politics, the sometimes vicious press, and forge a working relationship with a new General-in-Chief, who sometimes seems like he wishes to command Meade’s Army of the Potomac.
Dr. Brad Gottfried received his Ph.D. in Zoology and worked at seven colleges over a span of 40 years. He retired in 2017 as the President of the College of Southern Maryland. Brad became an Antietam Certified Battlefield Guide in 2019. He is the author of over 20 books, including The Maps of Antietam.
Come join leading historians and scholars as they discuss intriguing topics about their latest works and research on the Maryland Campaign and the Civil War during the Antietam Institute’s Civil War Summer Lecture Series. See the complete 2026 schedule.
These indoor programs are held in McKinley Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m. The church is located at 209W Main Street with a small parking area off the alley. More parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. These lectures are free and open to the public. Each week, the Antietam Institute holds a drawing in which the proceeds support the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Be sure to check their Facebook page for updates and changes to the schedule.

"Ancestors at Antietam" - Henry Vincent and the 132nd PA Vol Inf
2026-07-04 14:00 | Antietam Institute Education Center, 101 W Main Street, Sharpsburg, MD, 21782
My interest in the American Civil War and the Battle of Antietam in particular occurred many years ago when I was told the story of a young man named Henry. In August of 1862, Henry, who was from Montour County, Pennsylvania answered President Abraham Lincoln’s call for 300,000 nine-month militia. Henry enlisted in the ‘Danville Fencibles’ which was comprised of men mostly from the Danville Iron Works. Before the end of the month they were mustered into service as Company A, 132nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment and in defensive works outside Washington.
With General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate invasion into Maryland, they were quickly assigned to Brigadier General Nathan Kimball’s First Brigade, 3rd Division, Second Army Corps, alongside three veteran regiments. In just over a week’s time Henry and the 132nd Pennsylvania would receive their ‘baptism of fire’ fighting for a Sunken Road among the fields and farmsteads that reminded them so much of home.
Henry survived the battle at Antietam as well as the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville unscathed. After being mustered out, he returned home to Danville to become a successful businessman, farmer, and family man. This story was passed down to me through the generations, as Henry Vincent was my great-great-grandfather.
Join the Antietam Institute on July 4, as Antietam Institute founder and battlefield guide, Chris Vincent, shares the story of his “Ancestor at Antietam” in his presentation – Henry Vincent and the Danville Fencibles: the 132nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry at Antietam.
Christopher Vincent retired after a 24-year career in the U.S. Army as a senior non-commissioned officer with light infantry units, including combat tours during Operation Desert Storm and Kosovo with the 10th Mountain Division. He earned a master’s degree in military history from the American Military University. Chris was drawn to Sharpsburg because his great-great-grandfather served during the Maryland Campaign with the 132nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He and his wife, Amy, also own two businesses in Sharpsburg, the Jacob Rohrbach Inn and the Antietam Mercantile Company. Chris serves as the chair of the Washington County Antietam Battlefield Advisory Board. His research is primarily focused on the farmsteads of Antietam and the impact the campaign had on the civilians of Sharpsburg. Chris was certified as an Antietam National Battlefield Guide in 2015 and has served as the Chief Guide since 2019. He was recognized as the Guide of the Year, receiving the 2017 O.T. Reilly Award, and is the recipient of the National Park Service’s 2022 Hartzog Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. Chris was the founder of the Antietam Institute and president from 2021-2025 and is currently the Executive Director of the Institute.
These monthly “Ancestors at Antietam” talks are free and open to the public – anyone may attend – and you do not need to register. The talks will be held at the Institute’s Education Center at 101W Main Street, Sharpsburg, beginning at 2 pm.

Full View of the Enemy’s Lines: Reassessing Intelligence, Command, and the Federal Signal Service at Antietam – Cory M. Pfarr
2026-07-06 19:00 | St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 209 W Main Street, Sharpsburg, MD, 21782, United States
Historian, Cory Pfarr will start off our July lectures with a look at the Federal Signal Service and his forthcoming book during his talk, “Full View of the Enemy’s Lines: Reassessing Intelligence, Command, and the Federal Signal Service at Antietam.”
Civil War scholarship has long framed Antietam through a contrast: Robert E. Lee as the dynamic battlefield commander and George B. McClellan as the detached spectator at the Pry House. Primary source evidence from the Maryland Campaign presents a different picture. Under Major Albert J. Myer and operationally directed by Captain Benjamin F. Fisher, the Federal Signal Service established a network of forward, headquarters, and backbone stations that gathered and relayed intelligence throughout September 17, 1862. One forward post—the Hooker–Meade–Sumner station manned by James Byron Brooks and William H. Hill—functioned as a mobile station that moved with the I and II Corps. Others, including the fixed Michael Miller Farm Station and the backbone post on Red Hill, transmitted battlefield reports in near-real time. These operations reveal a commander acting through an organized intelligence system, not passive observation.
Cory M. Pfarr works for the Department of War (formerly Defense). He is the award-winning author of Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment (2019); Righting the Longstreet Record at Gettysburg: Six Matters of Controversy and Confusion (2023); and the forthcoming The Federal Signal Service at Antietam: Stations, Officers and Battlefield Intelligence on America’s Bloodiest Day (2026), all published by McFarland Books. His essays and scholarship have appeared in Gettysburg Magazine, North & South Magazine, and The Massachusetts Historical Review, and his work has been featured on the Pennsylvania Cable Network and C-SPAN American History TV, as well as presented to audiences at the U.S. Army War College. He lives in Fallston, Maryland, with his wife and three children.
Come join leading historians and scholars as they discuss intriguing topics about their latest works and research on the Maryland Campaign and the Civil War during the Antietam Institute’s Civil War Summer Lecture Series. See the complete 2026 schedule.
These indoor programs are held in McKinley Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m. The church is located at 209W Main Street with a small parking area off the alley. More parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. These lectures are free and open to the public. Each week, the Antietam Institute holds a drawing in which the proceeds support the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Be sure to check their Facebook page for updates and changes to the schedule.

162nd Anniversary of the Battle of Monocacy Tour (Caravan Style)
2026-07-09 10:00 | Monocacy National Battlefield Visitor Center, 5201 Urbana Pike, Frederick, MD, 21704, United States
Transport yourself back in time to the day of the Battle of Monocacy as a ranger provides an in-depth tour of the battlefield. This driving tour will begin at the visitor center and cover the battle chronologically. Walk in the footsteps of the men who fought valiantly to safeguard their homes and country.

162nd Anniversary of the Battle of Monocacy Tour (Caravan Style)
2026-07-10 10:00 | Monocacy National Battlefield Visitor Center, 5201 Urbana Pike, Frederick, MD, 21704, United States
Transport yourself back in time to the day of the Battle of Monocacy as a ranger provides an in-depth tour of the battlefield. This driving tour will begin at the visitor center and cover the battle chronologically. Walk in the footsteps of the men who fought valiantly to safeguard their homes and country. Guests should meet at the Monocacy National Battlefield Visitor Center prior to 10am for a brief orientation to the campaign and then the ranger led tour of the battlefield.

162nd Commemoration of the Battle of Monocacy
2026-07-11 09:00 | Monocacy National Battlefield Visitor Center, 5201 Urbana Pike, Frederick, MD, 21704, United States
Join rangers and volunteers as they commemorate the 162nd anniversary of the Battle of Monocacy with real time hikes, along with military living history demonstrations. Rangers and living historians will work in tandem this year on different parts of the battlefield to provide a unique twist on traditional battlefield programming. Stay tuned for program/demonstration times.

Living History at the Museum
2026-07-11 11:00 | National Museum of Civil War Medicine, 48 E. Patrick St., Frederick, 21701, United States
Join the National Museum of Civil War Medicine for living history! Members of the Blue and Gray Hospital Association will be in the Delaplaine Randall Conference Room describing the medical history of America’s bloodiest conflict. Dressed as members of the Union Medical Department and armed with period medical equipment, the unit brings a unique perspective to understanding the conflict.
The presentation is included with admission to the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and FREE for NMCWM members.

“‘Your Golden Opportunity Is Gone?: General Meade & The Pursuit From Gettysburg” – Jen Murray
2026-07-13 19:00 | St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 209 W Main Street, Sharpsburg, MD, 21782, United States
Between July 1-3, 1863, Major General George G. Meade led the Army of the Potomac in a victory at the Battle of Gettysburg, marking the army’s first significant battlefield victory to date. Upon hearing of the repulse of the Confederate forces at Gettysburg, northern civilians and newspapers rejoiced in Meade’s great victory. But such euphoria proved short-lived, and Meade’s decline in prominence came as rapidly as his ascent to command. By July 14, a mere eleven days following the battle’s climactic assault of Pickett’s Charge, General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia rested on the south side of the Potomac River. Disappointment in Meade’s inability to destroy, not merely defeat, the southern forces spread throughout the North and defined the atmosphere in Washington, D.C. During the program, we will explore Meade’s leadership during the pursuit and consider the Army of the Potomac in these pivotal days following the Battle of Gettysburg. Join us on July 13 as Dr. Jennifer Murray presents, “‘Your Golden Opportunity Is Gone?: General Meade & The Pursuit From Gettysburg.”
Dr. Jennifer M. Murray is an Assistant Professor of History at Shepherd University and the Director of the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War. Her most recent publication is On A Great Battlefield: The Making, Management, and Memory of Gettysburg National Military Park, 1933-2023, published by the University of Tennessee Press in 2014 and printed as a second edition in 2023. Murray is currently working on a full-length biography of General George Meade, tentatively titled Meade at War. She is the co-editor of the forthcoming, “They Are Dead, And Yet They Live”: Civil War Memories in a Polarized America to be published by the University of Nebraska Press in February 2026. Prior to joining the faculty at Shepherd, Murray taught at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. A native of Maryland, Murray worked as a seasonal interpretive park ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park for nine summers.
Come join leading historians and scholars as they discuss intriguing topics about their latest works and research on the Maryland Campaign and the Civil War during the Antietam Institute’s Civil War Summer Lecture Series. See the complete 2026 schedule.
These indoor programs are held in McKinley Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m. The church is located at 209W Main Street with a small parking area off the alley. More parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. These lectures are free and open to the public. Each week, the Antietam Institute holds a drawing in which the proceeds support the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Be sure to check their Facebook page for updates and changes to the schedule.

Dan Sickles at Gettysburg: The Story of the Civil War’s Most Notorious Amputated Leg
2026-07-18 14:00 | National Museum of Civil War Medicine, 48 E. Patrick St., Frederick, 21701, United States
Join the National Museum of Civil War Medicine for their Saturday Speaker Series with Historian James Hessler and take a fascinating look at myth, lore, and facts surrounding Maj. Gen. Dan Sickles’ Gettysburg wounding and leg amputation. A Confederate solid shot at the Battle of Gettysburg shattered controversial Union General Dan Sickles’ right leg, and surgeons subsequently amputated the limb. Sickles’ leg bone was then donated to the fledgling Army Medical Museum, and he often visited his severed limb there. Sickles’ leg bone remains a popular museum relic more than 160 years later, and a replica is now on display at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Hessler will discuss the odyssey of Sickles’ amputated leg and how he used it to declare himself “the hero of Gettysburg.”
James Hessler is a historian, author, and Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park. He is the author or co-author of four books on the Gettysburg Campaign: “Sickles at Gettysburg” (2009), “Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg” (2015), “Gettysburg’s Peach Orchard” (2019), and his most recent release, “The First Day at Gettysburg” (2025). Beyond his publications, Hessler co-created and hosts the popular Battle of Gettysburg Podcast, reaching a global audience of history enthusiasts.
