Conference Schedule
Friday 9/30/2022
6:00 – 8:30 PM – National Museum of Civil War Medicine Open House at 48 E Patrick Street, Frederick, MD 21701
The Conference will begin on Friday September 30 at 6:00 PM with a reception at the Museum featuring light refreshments. At the reception, attendees will have the chance to see newly restored artifacts not on display and meet Conservator Sharon Norquest, who performed the restorations, see newly acquired letters written by Clara Barton, do a tasting of Civil War inspired spirits, talk with the staff, explore the galleries, and hear exciting new updates on what’s next for the Museum.
Saturday, 10/1/2022
9:30 – 11:30 AM – Meet at Seton Shrine for tour at 339 South Seton Ave, Emmitsburg, MD 21727
Saturday October 1 begins with a tour to Seton Shrine in Emmitsburg, Maryland. As the bloodiest battle of the Civil War raged just miles from the peaceful home of the Sisters, they could not ignore the call for help. After the Battle of Gettysburg was over, the Sisters traveled 12 miles north to the heart of the battlegrounds to care for the wounded from both sides. Their charitable efforts brought healing and solace to the wounded on both the battlefields and in hospitals.
11:45 AM – Lunch at the Carriage House at 200 South Seton Ave, Emmitsburg, MD 21727
1:30 PM – Tour of Spangler Farm at 488 Blacksmith Shop Road, Gettysburg, PA 17325
In July 1863, a thriving family farm was suddenly transformed as the Union 11th Corps converted the property to a field hospital for more than 1,900 wounded soldiers. Today, the George Spangler Farm & Field Hospital stands as the best surviving example of a corps-level field hospital used during the Battle of Gettysburg. Meticulously renovated, the site features restored, original buildings from the 1863 battle to inspire and explore. The stone farmhouse where George Spangler, his wife Elizabeth and four children lived. The family chose to remain during the battle and ongoing field hospital activities, with all six family members moved to just one room of their house. The Pennsylvania bank barn served as the hospital where both Union and Confederate soldiers received care. The summer kitchen used by the family during the warm Pennsylvania summers. Records indicate this is the place where Confederate General Lewis A. Armistead died from wounds he received during Pickett’s Charge.
2:30 PM – “Too Much for Human Endurance” Presentation by Ron Kirkwood
On the afternoon of July 1, 1863, on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, medical officers of the XI Corps of the Army of the Potomac rode up George and Elizabeth Spangler’s lane and announced they were taking possession of the Spanglers’ farm for use as a hospital. So for the next five weeks and two days, the Spanglers and their four children lived amid a nightmare of cries, smells, blood, agony and death. In the barn where patients were treated, author Ron Kirkwood will discuss the suffering and heroism of the doctors, nurses, wounded and dying at this hospital and reveal new information about a second hospital on the Spanglers’ farm that has long been ignored by history that hosted the wounded men of the famous Wheatfield fight.
4:00 PM – End of formal program for the day
Sunday, 10/2/2022
9:00 AM – Meet at Monocacy National Battlefield Visitor Center at 5201 Urbana Pike, Frederick, MD 21704
Sunday October 2 concludes the Conference with an exclusive guided tour of Monocacy National Battlefield by Author Ryan Quint and Historian and Former Director of Interpretation Jake Wynn. Together they will examine the campaign in July 1864 when General Jubal Early and a Confederate Army entered Frederick. In a series of rapidly unfolding events leading up to July 9, 1864, Confederate troops inundated Frederick, ransomed the city for $200,000, and began a fight with Union troops stationed three miles south of town. They will reveal how the fight unfolded and what became of the casualties.
11:30 AM – Thank yous and good-byes