23,110 candles honoring casualties at Antietam
Volunteers place luminarias around Civil War battlefield as tribute to Blue and Gray
ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD — They came, some 1,500 volunteers, young and old, braving steady, blustery northwest winds and temperatures in the low 40s Saturday to honor and remember with luminarias — candles in paper bags — the soldiers of the Blue and the Gray who were killed, wounded or reported missing at Antietam in the bloodiest one-day battle of the Civil War.
“This is an opportunity to memorialize and connect with the soldiers who fought here,” said Susan W. Trail, superintendent of the National Park Service site in Sharpsburg. “When our visitors come, they see 23,110 candlelit bags, and each one represents a casualty.”
The volunteers helped prepare the site for the 28th annual Antietam National Battlefield Memorial Illumination, which began after dusk Saturday.
The event is held in December, and not the anniversary of the battle, which took place Sept. 17, 1862.
Georgene M. Charles, a Washington County woman, started the event in 1988, and continues to lead it.
“We have Scouts, church groups and high school groups, and one high school group of volunteers that comes all the way from Beaver, Pa., which is nearly four hours from here, to help honor and remember the sacrifice that these soldiers made,” she said.
Charles said only brown bags are used, because they give off a different color than white bags would. The Root Candle Co. of Medina, Ohio, has supplied the candles since 1988.
“Volunteers checked in at 8:30 a.m. and then go to their assigned fields to put the luminaria in place,” she said. “The mood is always somber as they reflect on the solemnity of the occasion.”
Charles got the idea for the observance after seeing a small Civil War cemetery decorated with luminarias. The event also features Civil War re-enactors dressed in period uniforms and clothing who establish camps and campfires.
Volunteers fan out over the battlefield’s 3,000 acres to place the bags with candles in place, a task that is finished by mid-morning. After taking a brief break from the cold, they commenced the chore of lighting them in the early afternoon.
“The volunteers set the candles very precisely and even use tape measures. They’re not just placed anywhere,” Trail said. “And what you see are fields and fields of candles, and as you go over the rolling hills, it is just overwhelming in scope at what it represents and the tremendous sacrifice of the people who were taken away.”
Chief Ranger Tom Jones has been at the battlefield since 1996. “It’s an honor to work here,” he said. “It’s such a special place. Seeing those candles brings it all home.”
Katina Kaffene, a high school senior, came to the battlefield from Beaver. She was taking a quick break with classmates before returning to Bloody Lane armed with Bic lighters, the type used to light grills or fireplaces, to light the luminarias.
She credits her high school history teacher, Gregory Inge, who has led other student groups to Antietam, for getting her involved for a second year.
“He’s hooked on the history of the battle,” she said. “This is all very special and our teacher wanted us to know what the soldiers went through here.”
Trail points out that Antietam is one of the most perfectly preserved Civil War battlefields.
“Because it is so well preserved with no commercial development nearby, people get a solemn sense of what happened here,” she said. “It is very strong and very powerful.”
Visitors to the event were allowed only to drive through the battlefield along a designated route. Walking was not allowed.
“We don’t count people, but we do count cars, and we normally get 2,000 to 3,000,” Trail said.