According to the National Park Service, which owns and oversees the battlefield, "Fought on September 17, 1862, the Battle of Antietam, or Sharpsburg as it was known in the South, climaxed the first of Robert E. Lee's two attempts to carry the war into the North. About 40,000 Confederates were pitted against the over 80,000 Union soldiers led by General George B. McClellan. When the fighting ended on that terrible day, the course of the Civil War would be greatly altered. More men were killed or wounded at Antietam than any other single-day battle of the Civil War. Combined casualties of killed, wounded and missing soldiers were over 23,000. Although neither side gained a decisive victory, Lee's failure to carry the war effort effectively into the North caused Great Britain to postpone recognition of the Confederate government. With Lee's army back in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania were safe.
"President Abraham Lincoln took this opportunity to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation, which would be effective on January 1st, 1863, declared free all slaves in States still in rebellion against the United States. Now the war had a dual purpose: to preserve the Union and end slavery."
Antietam is the name of a creek that runs through what is now the National Park Service battlefield. The park is just outside Sharpsburg, Maryland, a small town northwest of Baltimore.
I started cooking for the documentary participants in June 1998, when the chef hired by HFG cancelled at the last minute and Marcia asked me if I'd take over. Since I'm passionate about cooking and I've prepared meals for church groups of 80 or so, cooking for 100 to 120 people every day for 3 days didn't seem too challenging. What I didn't realize was that I would also plan menus, adapt recipes for large-quantity cooking, do all the shopping, haul the food to each day's location, clean up and then prepare for the next day's meals. I also quickly learned how to maintain the strict sanitation requirements that all restaurants and professional catering companies must adhere to (I didn't want to lay low my army with food poisoning). Days often began at 5:30 am and ended at 11:00 pm. Luckily, a small group of dedicated volunteers and student interns worked with me.
