Otto Farm

During the Battle of Antietam, the Otto farm was occupied by both armies at different times, and after the battle it was used as a Union hospital.

On September 16, 1862 Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert Toombs’ division, which consisted of less than 500 Georgian riflemen, camped on the Otto property near the Lower or Rohrbach Bridge. The next day at the Battle of Antietam, after a three hour assault, Union Maj. Gen Ambrose Burnside succeeded in carrying the bridge that now bears his name. When Burnside advanced against the Confederate right flank, he was met by Confederate Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill’s Light Division, which had just arrived from Harpers Ferry. Hill checked Burnside’s advance. Union Brig Gen. Isaac Rodman’s division retreated to the Otto property after the repulse. Following the battle, the house and barn were used as Union hospitals.

The Otto Farm is also significant because of Hilleary Watson, a slave on the farm until 1864.  Many years after the Battle of Antietam, Watson recounted to a writer the events leading up to the battle, including his encounter with a Confederate soldier trying to loot the house.  Later, Watson was drafted to serve in the Union Army, but his owner, John Otto, paid a fee to keep Watson out of the service.  Watson also became one of the trustees of the local African American church built after the war, Tolson’s Chapel.

The Otto farm remained in the family until the twentieth century. It was eventually acquired by the National Park Service and is now a part of Antietam National Battlefield.