Day 9: Bianca & Erin
Today we had to be on the bus by 8:00. We ate breakfast in the lobby of the Comfort Inn hotel in Washington D.C. We headed to Harpers Ferry, about half an hour drive from the hotel. We saw where the infamous John Brown had tried to take over the arsenal to give weapons to the slaves and free blacks of Virginia. We saw the firehouse where he locked himself and 21 of his men when they were barricading themselves from the authorities. A train had pulled into the station at Harpers Ferry, and then went to the next town to warn them what was going on. They telegraphed Washington D.C and Robert E. Lee, then a Colonel, came to the town. The barricade lasted two days, and then John Brown was forced to surrender and was hung for treason. After we looked around Harpers Ferry we boarded the bus and went to see the place where the bloodiest day in American history took place, Antietam.
We saw where the second phase took place at the Bloody Lane. The fight there was so horrible that after the battle bystanders said the blood ran down the lane like a stream. It was very humbling to stand on the very same ground where men gave their lives. There where brother fought against brother, some courageously and some not so. There was something there that made you think what had happened in the spot where you were standing. When we had finished touring the battlefield, we drove about an hour to Gettysburg and saw the Lee monument commending his accomplishments during the war. We went our hotel and were amazed at the size of the rooms. There is a small pool which many students enjoyed, and a large breakfast room just for us!