Dunker Church

This small church was the central point of a number of Union attacks on the Confederate left flank during the Battle of Antietam.

The Dunker church was originally built in 1852, on land donated by local farmer Samuel Mumma. It was the site of General Stonewall Jackson’s stand against the Union I and XII Corps, and the focal point of several Union attacks against the Confederate left flank. Though it was nearly destroyed during the intense fighting that surrounded it on the morning of September 17th, it was used as a temporary medical aid station after the battle, and was the site of a truce called on September 18th in order to exchange wounded soldiers and bury the dead. It may have been used as an embalming station by the Union Army. Tradition also holds that it was visited by President Lincoln on his tour of the battlefield in October 1862. It was rebuilt after the devastation of the war only to be destroyed by a windstorm in 1921; many of the pews and bricks were saved, and it was reconstructed in 1961 according to the original plans and using some original materials. One of its attractions is its Mumma Bible, the pulpit bible that was carried off during the war by a member of the 107th New York Regiment and returned years later.