Burkittsville in Frederick County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Burkittsville
Houses of Worship Become Houses of Misery
| — | Antietam Campaign 1862 | — |
Photographed by Craig Swain, July 21, 2007
1. Burkittsville Marker
Union surgeons turned Burkittsville, a quiet rural village of some 200 people, into a hospital complex after the September 14, 1862, Battle of Crampton’s Gap. The building in front of you, the German Reformed Church, was Hospital D.
Twenty-year-old Henrietta Biser gasped when she saw the church pews strewn in the front yard and “a pile of amputated limbs lying just inside the door of the church. Blood was running...over the floor...and things were torn to pieces.” Henry M. Wiener remembered amputations being conducted in the church and “seeing blood on...the walls of the church.” Wounded Union and Confederate soldiers lay on the floor, their seeping blood ruining the carpet, until straw was brought in. When it became soaked, it was pitched outside and replaced with cots.
The red brick St. Paul’s Lutheran Church also served as a hospital, and the Reformed Church parsonage, which stood between the churches, may also have served a medical function. The Henry McDuell farm north of town was Hospital A.
The hospitals operated until January 1863, when the remaining patients were transferred to Frederick. The soldiers who died in Burkittsville were temporarily interred in the town cemetery. The Federals were removed to the Antietam National Cemetery in 1867 and the Confederates to Hagerstown’s Washington
this page online
Hospital D stands as a reminder of the misery and destruction the Antietam Campaign brought into the heart of this quiet town.
(captions)
The Henry McDull farm, north of Burkittsville, served as Hospital "A". Union wounded filled the main house and several out buildings, and Confederate injured were kept on the large porch of the main house. Courtesy Melvin J. Berman via Timothy J. Reese.
VI Corps Surgeon James D. Robinson ran Hospital “A”. - National Archives via Timothy J. Reese
Erected by Maryland Civil War Trails.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Religion & Religious Structures • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Maryland Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical date for this entry is September 14, 1862.
Location. This marker has been replaced by another marker nearby. It was located near 39° 23.621′ N, 77° 37.753′ W. Marker was in Burkittsville, Maryland, in Frederick County. It was at the intersection of East Main Street and Burkittsville Road (Maryland Route 17), on the left when traveling south on East Main Street. On the grounds of the Resurrection Reform Church. Touch for map
Photographed by Craig Swain, July 21, 2007
2. Close up of the Letter
Mournful Tidings from Hospital D
Burkittsville, Md. Oct. 22d 1862
Mr. B Exner
Dear Sir
I take pen in hand to inform you of the Death of your dear son. It is sad for you to hear this news. He was wounded in the left thigh and had it taken off. He lived longer than I expected he would altho he was very strong. He was well taken care of. I stood by his death bed and he wanted me to write to his Father & Mother....I have here in my care a picture of his Dear...Miss Catherine Snyter, Trenton, N.J. and if she wishes for it I will send it to her.... Your son died Oct. 18th 1862 and died very easy just as if he was going to sleep.... I feel sorry to have you and the young lady hear of his death. He had me promise him to write you and I told him I would.
Yours Truly from
W.H. Aubery
Hospital Steward
Burkittsville Md.
Frederick Co.
Hospital D.
Source: U.S. National Archives
Pension File of Pvt. Charles Exner, Co. C., 1st N.J. Infantry.
Burkittsville, Md. Oct. 22d 1862
Mr. B Exner
Dear Sir
I take pen in hand to inform you of the Death of your dear son. It is sad for you to hear this news. He was wounded in the left thigh and had it taken off. He lived longer than I expected he would altho he was very strong. He was well taken care of. I stood by his death bed and he wanted me to write to his Father & Mother....I have here in my care a picture of his Dear...Miss Catherine Snyter, Trenton, N.J. and if she wishes for it I will send it to her.... Your son died Oct. 18th 1862 and died very easy just as if he was going to sleep.... I feel sorry to have you and the young lady hear of his death. He had me promise him to write you and I told him I would.
Yours Truly from
W.H. Aubery
Hospital Steward
Burkittsville Md.
Frederick Co.
Hospital D.
Source: U.S. National Archives
Pension File of Pvt. Charles Exner, Co. C., 1st N.J. Infantry.
Regionally, this marker was in the Washington Metropolitan Area and in Central Maryland. It was also in the American Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it was in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it found itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies and also the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location: A different marker also named Burkittsville (a few steps from this marker); Cobbled Stagecoach Stop (within shouting distance of this marker); The Arnold Farm (approx. 0.2 miles away); Confederate Forces (approx. 0.4 miles away); “Sealed With Their Lives” (approx. 0.7 miles away); Chew’s Ashby Artillery (approx. 0.7 miles away); Burkittsville: Henry Burkitt’s Town (approx. 0.7 miles away); The Confusion of Battle (approx. 0.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Burkittsville.
Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. New CWT Marker At This Location also titled "Burkittsville"
Also see . . .
1. Burkittsville Historic District. Wikipedia entry:
Links to National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (Submitted on October 14, 2025, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)
2. Everyday Life in a Civil War Hospital. American Battlefield Trust website entry (Submitted on July 25, 2007.)
3. Burkittsville Preservation Association. Association website homepage (Submitted on January 15, 2022.)
Additional commentary.
Photographed by Craig Swain, July 21, 2007
3. Location of Marker near the Intersection of Main and Potomac Streets
Burkittsville features many older structures in addition to the churches mentioned on the marker.
