06/24/2026
Here are some farms that we will be briefly passing by and only able to be seen from the window of the bus:
1. Otto Farm –
This farm will be on the right side of the bus as we pass by it, and we will not be able to stop and see it. It rests on a steep hill, and has the most numerous significant architectural features on the battlefield. The Otto family ran a tailor business in Sharpsburg and bought the 90 acre property. The Otto family began ownership around the later 1820s, where the family had 6 children and 2 slaves at the time. One of the slaves, Hillary, survived and was able to give accounts of US troops walking through the farm as they pushed confederates back during the battle, then watched as a counterattack drove the US troops back down to the creek. Like the Sherrick farm it became a field hospital after the battle. The slaves were freed after the battle, but agreed to stay on and work for a wage.
2. Sherrick Farm-
This is a farm we will briefly pass by and only be able to see from the window of the bus. It is between Bloody Lane and Burnsides Bridge in the middle of the battlefield and rest on a slope. The land was purchased by the Sherrick family in 1796 when they moved from Lancaster, PA to settle here on an almost 200 acre plot of ground that abuts the Antietam Creek. The house and surrounding outbuildings were occupied by Confederate forces during the battle but did noy suffer significant damage. After the battle, the buildings and grounds became a Union field hospital.
3. Roulette Farm-
This farmhouse and its building are only visible if taking a long walking tour. A such, we only see the roofs of some of the buildings, yet its story and impact on the battle and aftermath are amazing. Hopefully this short blurb helps grasp what we will be right next to but not able to fully see. A family before the Roulette’s bagna farming here as early as 1739. Earliest parts of the house date back to circa 1760 and past through several different purchases until the Roulette family bought the property before the Civil War. By the time of the battle the Roulette family included husband and wife along with six children, and two free African-Americans working as hired labor, one of which was a former slave. Most of the family retreated to a church 6 miles north of Sharpsburg, but Mr. Roulette stayed with the farm and hid in the cellar. I tis said he remained quiet when the Confederate troops were nearby, but when the US troops appeared to attack Bloody Lane he came out and cheered them on. The Roulette farm saw a great deal of action during the battle as thousands of troops passed by and assaulted the Bloody Lane. Mr. Roulette claimed over 600 soldiers were buried on his property which also became a huge field hospital after the battle. Unsanitary conditions after the battle plagued the whole town and surrounding community from the amount of dead, wounded and the thousands of troops compacted in the area. A typhoid Fever outbreak, attributed this killed many in the region, including one of the Roulette children.
For more information about the Roulette Farm, click the link! ⬇️
https://www.nps.gov/anti/learn/historyculture/the-roulette-farm.htm
