Beyond the Antietam Battlefield: Hospital Centers Beyond the
Antietam Battlefield As war raged during the four-year conflict,
local residents witnessed the human cost of the fighting.
Thousands of soldiers were wounded in battles and skirmishes,
and much of the area resembled one big hospital ward for much of
the war. Large government tent hospitals were erected in fields,
and many churches, homes, barns, schools, and other public
buildings were also used to care for the sick and wounded. In
the fall of 1862, just days after playing host to both armies
during the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, Frederick was
inundated with more than 9,000 wounded and sick soldiers.
Westminster and Hagerstown played similar roles in hospital
care, as did smaller towns such as Boonsboro and Burkittsville.
Future US President Rutherford B. Hayes recovered in a
Middletown dwelling from wounds suffered at nearby South
Mountain; future Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
convalesced in Hagerstown at the Howard Kenne