The Story of Antietam’s Dunker Church - Part One

The Battle of Antietam or the Battle of Sharpsburg as the South called it, was fought on September 17, 1862. This one-day battle left a terrible carnage on the beautiful and pastoral countryside of Sharpsburg, Maryland. Antietam is the battle in United States history where the most casualties occurred in one day. At Antietam, there were more American dead than at Pearl Harbor, D-Day, or at 911. Over 3,600 were killed and over 19,000 were wounded, missing, or captured.

In the middle of the Antietam battlefield stood the whitewashed Dunker Church. The Dunker Church was meant to be a place for the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was where the good news message of love, forgiveness, peace, and salvation was faithfully believed and taught. The congregation of the Dunker Church were members of the German Baptist Brethren which began in Germany in 1708. In Germany, they baptized adults in a local river, which was uncommon for the time.

During their river baptism, a person would be completely submerged or dunked, into the river. Babies were usually baptized by sprinkling water on them. In Germany, The German Baptist Brethren had the nickname of “Tunkers,” but when they began arriving in Maryland during the middle 1700s, the nickname “Tunkers” became “Dunkers.” By 1853, the number of Dunkers in the Sharpsburg, Maryland area grew large enough so they could have their own church building.

The Dunkers believed in a literal interpretation of the New Testament. They were similar to the Quakers, the Amish, and the Mennonites in their beliefs. The Dunkers often associated with these other Protestants. The Dunkers did not like any type of indulgence. They were against drinking alcohol, violence, slavery, and gambling.

At the end of the Battle of Antietam, the Dunker Church would be riddled by cannon and small arms fire, the now bloody landscape around it torn and littered with the remains of the great battle. The Samuel Mumma farm was in ashes. The Dunker Church would forever be a part of the Antietam battlefield and United States Civil War history.

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