John Schildt hardly needs an introduction. He is well known for his many books relating the various aspects of the Maryland Campaign of 1862 and local history. Reverend Schildt graduated from Shepherd College, Wesley Theological Seminary and has studied at Western Maryland College, Gettysburg Seminary and West Virginia University.

Rev. Schildt was introduced to Civil War history by his great-grandmother who fed Union troops on the way to Gettysburg when she was a little girl. John has been a lecturer and guide for the Gettysburg College Civil War Institute, Bud Robertson’s “Campaigning with Lee”, the Chicago Civil War Round Table, and many other groups. He was the main speaker at the 125th anniversary of Antietam. Outside of Civil War history, John has led three educational excursions to Normandy and took part in the American and French commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the D-day landing in 1994. While leading explorations, he likes to make history come alive by sharing human interest stories about people and places. Having been a lifelong student of Antietam, John has written many books on the subject, including “September Echoes,” “Drums along the Antietam,” “Roads to Antietam,” and several others.

The Winchester physician was Jackson’s doctor and Chief Medical Officer of the Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.  He supervised the transportation of the wounded from Sharpsburg to Shepherdstown.  After the war he was Richmond’s foremost doctor, he established medical record keeping and St. Luke’s Hospital in Richmond.  Held in esteem by his peers, he was elected President of the AMA.  Ahead of his time. McGuire advocated a national Department of Health and Welfare in the 1890’s. McGuire wrote extensively on medicine, the South and Jackson. His statue on the capital grounds was dedicated in 1904.  John has written a book with the same title as the lecture. Join us on Wednesday, Sept. 7 for our last lecture of the season and our final drawing of our SHAF raffle.

Many of John’s books are available at the Antietam Mercantile Company. 

Come join leading historians and Antietam Battlefield Guides as they discuss intriguing topics of the Maryland Campaign of 1862 and the Civil War during our Civil War Summer Lecture Series.

These outdoors programs will be held at the Jacob Rohrbach Inn on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m.  These outdoor programs are free and open to the public. To ensure adequate seating, please bring a chair.  In case of inclement weather, lectures will be held at the Sharpsburg Christ Reformed UCC Church at 117 Main Street.  For updates and changes to the schedule check our Facebook page.