Divided by Conflict. 
Three sites, thousands of stories. National Museum of Civil War Medicine
Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum
Pry House Field Hospital Museum
Upcoming Programs
Special Exhibition at the Pry House- “War on Our Doorsteps”
When Alexander Gardner’s stunning photographs of the Antietam battlefield were publicly displayed in 1862, they changed how Americans saw war forever. For a limited time, you can relive that sobering exhibition at the Pry House.
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“Commanders of Antietam” Speaker Series: Col. Albert L. Magilton
Historian Harry Smeltzer will discuss Colonel Albert L. Magilton during our “Commanders of Antietam” speaker series sponsored by the Antietam Institute.
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Living History Event at the Pry House with the 87th PA
Experience history come to life at the Pry House during a special living history event with the 87th Pennsylvania Infantry
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In the Can: Civil War Food Preservation
The Civil War was responsible for popularizing canned goods.
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Vaccination and African Americans During the Civil War
African Americans were used to further the practice of vaccination during the Civil War
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Surgeon Rat and Other Strange Tales from Civil War Medicine
Strange and unusual Civil War medical stories
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10 Landmarks to Experience in Frederick, Maryland
It was the author John Steinbeck who said, “People don’t take trips. Trips take people.” Nestled between Washington D.C. to the South, Gettysburg to the North, and the Appalachian Mountains to the West, Frederick, Maryland is a place…
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![#OnThisDay September 14, 1862, the Battle of South Mountain raged in Maryland as Robert E. Lee's rear guard fended off the pursuing troops of the Army of the Potomac at Turner's, Fox's, and Crampton's Gaps. The battle was a Union victory, but the Confederates held off the Federals long enough for Lee to re-concentrate his scattered Army of Northern Virginia above Antietam Creek, setting up the Battle of Antietam, still the deadliest one-day battle in all of American military history.
Frederick, Md., was thrust into the international spotlight when Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac both used the city during their operations in Maryland. As these battles raged just west of Frederick, medical personnel turned the town into "one vast hospital." More than 8,000 patients were treated in 27 makeshift hospitals throughout the city in the aftermath of both battles.
"The city of Frederick...admirably adapted for the sudden emergency it was called upon to fulfill in affording accommodation for the hospitals improvised after the great battles of the 14th and 17th of September [South Mountain and Antietam]," said US Army surgeon Henry Stewart Hewit. "The completeness and efficiency with which the emergency was met, will live in all future history, and will reflect honor upon the inhabitants who ministered with boundless charity to the wants of the wounded, and the Medical officers who knew how to avail themselves of the local advantages.”
The National Museum of Civil War Medicine is located in the historic Carty Building in downtown Frederick. The building stood during the Civil War and witnessed these events.
Image Credit: Frederick, Md., "Harper's Weekly"](data:image/svg+xml;nitro-empty-id=NjI3OjY0-1;base64,PHN2ZyB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgMTAwMCA1NjAiIHdpZHRoPSIxMDAwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjU2MCIgeG1sbnM9Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cudzMub3JnLzIwMDAvc3ZnIj48L3N2Zz4=)
