Antietam Pry

On September 15, 1862, the Union Army set up their headquarters in the Pry House near the Antietam Creek. General McClellan and his staff observed the battle from the house and yard. The Pry House was later used as a hospital for Union soldiers. The Pry family suffered significant losses and eventually moved away. The Pry House Field Hospital Museum is now open to visitors on Saturdays. On September 15, 1862, following the Battle of South Mountain, Federal troops marched down the mountain slope to Boonesboro, Maryland and toward Sharpsburg. The Army of the Potomac began to deploy on the high ground of the east bank of Antietam Creek that afternoon. Although it already presented an impressive sight to the Confederates, much of the Union Army was still arriving from South Mountain and Keatiesville when darkness fell. By 5 p.m., George B. McClellan, the commanding general, had established his headquarters in the two-story brick home of Philip and Elizabeth Pry. Located on a hill about 300 yards up a lane from the Boonesboro Pike, the position offered a commanding view of the Antietam Valley. From there, Major General McClellan and Major General Fitzjohn Porter studied the Confederate lines. McClellan spent the night before the Battle of Antietam in the Pry House. Philip Pry also stayed at the house, but Mrs. Pry and her children escaped to a safer location at the Keatiesville farm of Jacob Keaty. McClellan remained at the Pry House on the 17th, and except for when he advanced across Antietam Creek, McClellan and his staff would watch the battle through field glasses from the family home and yard. A reporter with the Boston Journal wrote, Turning from the conflict on the right, I rode down the line toward the center, forwarded the Antietam and ascended the hill east of it to the large square mansion of Mr. Pry, where General McClellan had established his headquarters. The general was sitting in an armchair in front of the house. His staff were about him. Their horses, saddled and bridled, were hitched to the trees and fences. Stakes had been driven in the earth in front of the house, to which were strapped the headquarters telescopes, through which a view of the operations and movements of the two armies could be obtained. By September 20th, General McClellan had moved his headquarters south to Sharpsburg. Although McClellan and his staff only occupied the Pry House for a few days, the army's presence continued as the Pry Barn was used as a field hospital for Union soldiers until they could be moved to Frederick, Maryland. The house was used as a hospital for officers for about two months. The Pry Farm was ruined. The Union army burned their fences for firewood, fed their hay and grain to the army's horses and mules, trampled their fields, and took their food, horses, and livestock. Mr. Pry filed a claim for his losses, and eventually he was paid $4,243, but the government waited as late as 1872 to pay some of it. To add insult to injury, the government claimed there was an overpayment error, and Mr. Pry had to return $1,209. The Prys never recovered financially from their losses. In 1873, the Prys moved to Tennessee, but they surely missed their Antietam Valley home. When Elizabeth Pry died in 1886, one of her last wishes was to be buried with her family in the Fairview Cemetery in Keedysville, Maryland. When Mr. Pry passed away in 1900, he too was buried there next to his wife. The Pry House Field Hospital Museum is open to visitors on Saturdays from June through September. Contact the Antietam National Battlefield or the National Museum of Civil War Medicine for complete details. For more information, visit antietam.gov.