I envy you the Sunday tour. Your first views will be instructive, I’m certain. No amount of reading will prepare you for the soldier’s view from the ground. Or, more truly, what the soldiers couldn’t see…

My favorite single volume narrative for the battle is Sears’ Landscape Turned Red. It suffers from some factual defects, and Sears positively foams at the mouth for McClellan, but nobody has written a better overview.

The best tour book is Luvaas and Nelson’s Guide. They use OR excerpts to do the talking, and provide excellent driving directions and detail map segments. South Mountain, Harpers Ferry, and Shepherdstown actions included.

For your first time at the field, and with only one day, I’d recommend you use the Park’s tour route. Taped tours (and the books above) are available in the Visitor’s Center bookstore. That’ll hit all the highlights including famous cornfield, sunken lane, and stone bridge. Try to catch at least one of the Ranger talks/hikes, too. See if you can find Mannie, if he’s guiding on Sunday.

Get out of your car at the Middle (modern) Bridge over the Antietam and look for the historical tablets for the Federal Cavalry units, if that would be interesting. Most are along Rte 34 — Boonsboro Pike — at the east edge of the park. [more about Tablets]

I’ve scanned and posted the current Park brochure, if you want to get a jump on it.

The Park also hosts professional tour guides, and these are really the best way to go, but there’s not much time to arrange, and there is a fee. Check with Stephen Recker if interested.

I’ll be making my first trip to Antietam on Sunday. Any tips on preparations for the trip (other than reading extensively from aotw, of course) and mandatory stops? What is the best single-volume history of the campaign, in your opinion?

I’m doing some work on the cavalry breakout from Harper’s Ferry, but am trying to make that stop on Friday so I can focus on the battlefield proper on Sunday.