The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. On September 17, 1862, over 23,000 Americans fell killed or wounded in the battle fought outside of Sharpsburg, Maryland, during Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North. 

See our list of speakers and topics below or view the entire conference schedule and brochure here. You can also register below or by calling (540) 687-5578. Tickets are $450 for full registration, which includes the talks Friday night and all day Saturday, a Saturday dinner, and a tour of the Antietam battlefield on Sunday. Partial registration costs $225 and includes the Friday and Saturday lectures. Saturday night dinner with the historians can be purchased for an additional $40. Bus tour seating is limited to the first 50 people to register.

Speakers and topics this year include:

• Keith Snyder, "Voices of Antietam: A Soldier's View of America's Bloodiest Day"

• Dennis Frye, "Antietam Shadows: Mystery, Myth, and Machination"

• Daniel Vermilya, "On the McClellan Go-Round: George McClellan and the Antietam Campaign"

• Thomas Clemens, "'Too Bad, Poor Fellows': Joseph K. F. Mansfield and the 12th Corps at Antietam"

• Marion V. Armstrong, "Command Decisions: Edwin Sumner and the Second Army Corps at Antietam"

• Kevin Pawlak, "'Today You Must Fight Harder': The Confederate Defense of the Sunken Road"

This year's Conference on the Art of Command in the Civil War is sponsored by Civil War Trails and the Town of Middleburg.

To learn more about our annual Civil War Conference and see photos and topics from previous conferences, visit the Civil War Conference page on our website.