Collateral Damage

Collateral Damage. War Destroys Beloved Church. Before you once stood the Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, which served as a spiritual anchor for the community of Sharpsburg before it was damaged beyond repair during the September 17, 1862, Battle of Antietam. Built in 1768, just five years after Sharpsburg was founded, it was the town's oldest church and just one example of the devastation inflicted on the small town., During the fight, Confederate troops used the church's cupola as an observation post. Southern artillery positioned across this high ground drew Union shellfire, and the shell fragments struck the building., The Army of Potomac's Fifth Corps used the church as a hospital until February 1863. Pews were torn out and turned into crude coffins for soldiers temporarily buried in the surrounding graveyard before they were later moved to the National Cemetery., The battered church was torn down in 1863 and replaced by a series of newer churches just downhill, the last of which was built in the 1940s. Today, the iron fence outlines the location of the 1768 church., "We were all up at the Lutheran Church at Sunday-school on the Sunday before the battle [September 14] when the Rebel cavalry came dashing through the town.... The children ran home from the church in terror. There was no dinner eaten that day. The people were too frightened." , 13-year-old Teresa Kretzer, (captions) , The Lutheran Church was a log structure covered with stucco, and the damage it suffered is apparent in this image taken just days after the Battle of Antietam. , Courtesy Library of Congress, Many buildings were severely damaged in Sharpsburg. This view shows Teresa Kretzer's cellar full of town residents seeking shelter during the battle. She recalled "shells and solid shot … whizzing into town." Her father, John, estimated 75 people were in the basement of the house, about a block to your right. Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, October 25, 1862.