Finding Antietam: A Guide’s Story, Kevin Pawlak
This is the fourteenth essay in our monthly series “Finding Antietam – A Guide’s Story.” Each month, we’ll feature the story of one of our guides and what sparked their interest in Antietam and the Civil War and why they became an Antietam Battlefield Guide. Antietam Battlefield Guide Kevin Pawlak shares his story this month.
Kevin Pawlak in front of Burnside Bridge
Antietam was not the first Civil War battlefield I visited. Nor was it my second. It wasn’t the third, either. In fact, it poured during my first two trips to Antietam. Due to the weather, they weren’t my most cherished visits to Civil War sites.
Since my trip as a nine-year-old to Gettysburg, where my family toured the battlefield led by a battlefield guide, I wanted to lead tours of Civil War sites. That goal ebbed and waned during my middle and early high school years. But by my junior year of high school, I knew that history, specifically Civil War history, was calling me.
Being born and raised in western New York, I had to look south to find a university in the heart of the Civil War. Naturally, Gettysburg College became a school to consider. I had been to Gettysburg countless times and remember touring the campus, looking up onto Oak Ridge, and thinking how neat it would be to live within walking distance of a battlefield. But my parents encouraged me to consider other schools to have options.
Truly by accident, I stumbled on Shepherd University, a school ten minutes from the Antietam battlefield. I enjoyed the school on my first visit, which brought me back for a second. On that return trip, my family and I drove a different route to Shepherd and we passed right through the Antietam battlefield. Antietam was not the purpose of our visit so we sped by. All I remember of the battlefield then is zooming by the 15th Massachusetts Infantry monument in the West Woods.
Though it was not within walking distance of Shepherd like the Gettysburg battlefield was in comparison to Gettysburg College, Shepherdstown, Sharpsburg, and the Antietam battlefield hooked me. When it came time to pick my school, I chose Shepherd.
Beginning my sophomore year, I explored the sites of the Maryland Campaign and visited the South Mountain and Antietam battlefields during the September anniversaries. During one of the Antietam tours, I met recently appointed Chief Guide Jim Rosebrock. He told me of the Guide program and of the opportunity to volunteer for the National Park Service at the battlefield. Naturally, I leaped at both chances and was fortunate enough to pass the Guide exam. Continue reading →
Finding Antietam: A Guide’s Story, Jim Buchanan
This is the thirteenth essay in our monthly series “Finding Antietam – A Guide’s Story.” Each month, we’ll feature the story of one of our guides and what sparked their interest in Antietam and the Civil War and why they became an Antietam Battlefield Guide. Antietam Battlefield Guide Jim Buchanan shares his story this month.
A unique visitor keeps Jim Buchanan company in the West Woods
I first became involved as a Guide at Antietam National Battlefield through volunteering. After some rounds helping out at the Visitors’ Center desk, I started walking the fields more and more. A couple other volunteers started doing the same and after awhile three or four of us explored the fields together, comparing notes, asking questions, and enjoying the beauty that the field has to offer. These informal excursions usually involved food, and eventually breakfast or lunch at the local eatery called the Red Byrd was added to the itinerary. As volunteers, we also started posting ourselves at particular stops on the tour route. I chose to set up shop at Stop 5, the Philadelphia Brigade Park.
I did so for two reasons. First, the shade offered by the abundant trees at that part of the field kept me comfortable as I set out my camp chair, foldable table, and waited for visitors to amble by. In those days (about 15 years ago), posting at Stop 5 meant that maybe 15 visitors would come by in a six-hour period. Sitting there, I would see folks coming down from the Cornfield heading south along the Hagerstown Pike. They would slow down at the turn off to the Philadelphia Brigade, idle for a few seconds, and then continue on to the Sunken Road. Bus caravans wouldn’t even bother to slow down. It was a lonely volunteer post. But it gave me time to read and that was the second reason. Time spent reading under a maple tree pulls you chapter by chapter, article by article, into the Antietam narrative. At first occasionally and then regularly other volunteers would join me in the shade as the afternoon grew late. They would join the camp with their own foldable chairs and we would go into the early evening puzzling the mysteries of the field. Continue reading →
Finding Antietam: A Guide’s Story, Matt Borders
This is the twelfth essay in our monthly series “Finding Antietam – A Guide’s Story.” Each month, we’ll feature the story of one of our guides and what sparked their interest in Antietam and the Civil War and why they became an Antietam Battlefield Guide. Antietam Battlefield Guide Matt Borders shares his story this month.
Matt atop Kill Deer Mountain
When it comes to my involvement with Antietam National Battlefield I can honestly say it grew out my love of Civil War history as a whole. I got hooked on this history when I was nine years old, after a family vacation that had included a stop at Gettysburg National Military Park. I was fascinated by the idea that the country had torn itself apart and had managed to, albeit imperfectly, stitch itself back together. This was the point I began to understand the power of these historic landscapes to relate to visitors and to tell their stories.
I devoured pretty much anything Civil War-related through high school, aided by a best friend who was easily as big a nut as I was. It was during this period I got involved with reenacting and living history, portraying Union artillery up in Michigan. It was a good hobby and gave me the briefest glimpse into what the Civil War might have been like for the men in the ranks. It was also at this time that I began to consider a career in history.
After a brief stint in pre-Vet, I registered as a history major at Michigan State University. I was fortunate to have a variety of supportive professors that not only encouraged my passion for history but challenged me to look at the larger context of history, how the American Civil War plays into American and indeed world history as a whole. Those lessons stuck with me and along with my interest in the historic landscapes themselves, I cast about looking for a summer internship or job that could aid in this. Thus in the summer of 2002, I got picked up as an intern at Antietam National Battlefield.
I thought I prepared myself pretty well. I read the classic works on Antietam and had a good idea of the flow of the battle. It was only after getting here and working with the rangers and volunteers that I realized just how little I actually knew about the campaign and how the battlefield terrain dictated the movements and positions of the armies. I had a lot to learn! Continue reading →
Welcome to the official site for the Antietam Battlefield Guide Association. The Antietam Guides are a group of historians dedicated to providing outstanding interpretive tours of the Antietam Battlefield, as well as other sites related to the Maryland Campaign of 1862. The Antietam Guides are booked through the Antietam National Battlefield Museum Store. This site offers a listing of our battlefield guides, as well as updates about our programs, what our guides are up to, and information about Antietam National Battlefield. We hope to see you at the park soon!
Antietam Battlefield Guides 