Greetings!

It would be my pleasure to take you and your family around Antietam National Battlefield. It’s hard to believe that this peaceful landscape was the setting for the single bloodiest day in American History. It is my hope that I will be able to help you not only understand the military movements of this great and terrible battle but also place Antietam into the proper historical context of the American Civil War, United States history and indeed world history.

I’ve been a passionate student of the Civil War since I was nine years old, when my parents first took my brothers and I to our first battlefield. It was my confusion as to how the war could have happened that spurred me to read everything I could about the conflict. Since that point I have earned a BA in US History from Michigan State University and an MS in Historic Preservation focused in battlefield interpretation from Eastern Michigan University. While in college I also worked as an intern and then Seasonal Ranger for the National Park Service. This was my first introduction to Antietam National Battlefield, a relationship I continue today as a battlefield volunteer, a living history demonstrator and now a Battlefield Guide.

I look forward to hearing from you and guiding you through this turbulent period of our nations past. I can be reached by either e-mail at mborders@comcast.net.

I look forward to seeing you on the field!

Sincerely,

Matt Borders