Antietam Up Close: David R. Miller farmhouse

Alexander Gardner probably shot this image of David R. Miller farmhouse on 
Sept. 19, 1862,  two days after the Battle of Antietam. (Library of Congress collection)
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

An enlargement of Gardner's image reveals five people, probably members of 
Miller's family,  on the porch. The Millers sought refuge nearer
 to Sharpsburg during the battle.

In this enlargement of Gardner's 1862 image, possible evidence of  battle damage  may be seen
 on the side of the David R. Miller's house. Or does the arrow point to a water spout?

Appearing ghostlike, a man can be seen sitting on what appears to be a box  or a stump
 in this enlargement of Gardner's image. Because of the limitations of 1860s technology, 
photographers  could not easily capture motion in images.  (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.)

Although some of the most intense fighting of the Civil War swirled around the property of farmer David R. Miller, his house and barn suffered surprisingly little damage during the Battle of Antietam. Only one outbuilding, a blacksmith shop, was destroyed, according to Antietam Farmsteads: A Guide to the Battlefield Landscape. His neighbors, Samuel Mumma and William Roulette, weren't so lucky. Mumma's house was burned to the ground by Rebels who feared it would be used by Union sharpshooters, and Roulette's house and barn were turned into a bloody mess for days when they were used as field hospitals.

Wounded were also treated at Miller's house, but those soldiers soon were moved to a larger hospital established nearby. Of course, the crops of all three farmers were ruined during the fighting or used to fuel both armies. Miller's cornfield, infamously known as The Bloody Cornfield (see my interactive panorama), is where the Yankees and Rebs slugged it out for hours starting about dawn on Sept. 17, 1862.

Draped with scaffolding in 2013, the Miller farmhouse is slowly being renovated by the National Park Service. 
It is the only remaining structure on the  old Miller property that dates to the Civil War. 
The original log portion of the  home dates to about 1800.
(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.)

A tiny piece of history: A bullet from
 the Battle of Antietam.

Days after the battle, renowned Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner shot two images of Union burial details on Miller's property as well as an image of the farmer's house. A close-up of that image reveals remarkable detail, including what probably are five members of Miller's family on the small front porch, and perhaps battle damage on the side of the house. Just imagine what it was like for this family, especially the children, in the days after the battle. Freshly dug graves pockmarked the Miller property and the stench of decomposing human and horse flesh undoubtedly still filled the air.

I get a little nostalgic when I visit the old Miller farmhouse, currently under renovation by the National Park Service, which acquired the property in 1990. Way back when I was a cub reporter at the Martinsburg (W.Va.) Evening Journal in the early 1980s, I visited the Culler family, who had farmed the Miller property for 40 years or so, for a story on war relics they had found while farming the land. On a large table in the driveway leading to the house -- the same driveway that's there today -- the Cullers had laid out on a small table a collection of artillery shells, bullets and other detritus the armies left behind. A month or two later, while relic hunting with the Culler's permission in their freshly plowed field astride the Hagerstown Pike, I found the fired bullet at right. (Remember, it was private property then, and relic hunting was allowed with the owner's permission.) It may be insignificant to others, but that bullet remains my greatest Civil War find.