I did not know this until today, but the Pry House -- which I visited last Friday at the Antietam National Battlefield -- is one of three sites of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. I had known it only as McClellan's Headquarters. After the battle it became the HQ of John Letterman, head of the Union Army Medical Service. It's easy to drive right past the long driveway leading up to the house on the Shepherdstown Pike.
The house provided a panoramic view of the entire Antietam Valley. Today its exhibits include a recreation of an operating theater, interpretative panels, and objects related to the care of the wounded such as surgeons' tools. President Abraham Lincoln visited the house two weeks after the Sept. 17, 1862, battle in order to visit the mortally wounded Union General Israel Richardson, who died in the house on Nov. 3, 1862.
His First Division played a key role during the battle, attacking Confederate troops in the center of the Sunken Road. By 1:00 pm his troops had gained control of the high ground in front of the apex of the defensive line. Richardson was organizing another attack when he was struck by a shell fragment. He was among 6 general officers to be killed or mortally wounded at Antietam. Eventually his body was escorted to Pontiac, Michigan, where he was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.
A historic home in a great setting. Don't miss it!