AotW in Tenth Year Online

Continuing Growth in Scope and Depth Expected

[12/04/2005]

The webmaster of Antietam on the Web (http://aotw.org) is proud to announce that the Civil War history site is now in its tenth year online, and going strong.

First published in November 1996, AotW, as it is known to its readers, has grown tremendously from the earliest prototype of about 20 static web pages to the current edition delivering more than 2,700 pages of dynamic content dedicated to the people and events of the Maryland Campaign of 1862.

Antietam on the Web 1998

AotW has also evolved in that time from a one-man project to a community of researchers and enthusiasts, with more than 50 active members and hundreds of contributors from around the world. Antietam on the Web is now the largest and deepest information repository on the Battle anywhere online. Although focused on a very specific subject, certainly not a mass market, AotW served 13,548 pages to just over 3,000 visitors last week.

Antietam on the Web 2005

Highlights from the contents include:

Complete texts for each of the 315 post-battle Official Reports written by commanding officers on both sides;
A set of 13 highly detailed battle maps covering the action at Sharpsburg with links to units described;
Profiles of about 1060 individuals present, including all of the known officers in command positions, many having in-depth biographical information, and with photographs of more than 400 of them;
Pages for all of the 435 Regiments, 132 Batteries, and 42 other units on the Campaign, as well as the Brigade, Division, and Army Corps organizations containing them;
A collection of two dozen special articles, exhibits, and eyewitness accounts illuminating the events of September 1862; and
The newest addition: a Gallery of photographs and other images both contemporary to the Battle and those offering modern views of the battlefield and some of the objects of War.

Looking forward to the next ten years, Antietam on the Web continues to add new material from ongoing research and from discovery of new sources, as well as the insight brought by AotW Members and the wider community of contributors. While pleased with our progress, we are mindful that there is a vast landscape of information yet to be explored and "miles to go before we sleep".

We thank our many readers and correspondents for their support, and hope to be serving and working with you all for many years to come.

Contact: webmaster Brian Downey by email at or through the online form at http://aotw.org/email_webmaster.php.

For more about Antietam on the Web, please see the About page. Better yet, see it for yourself!