Park service touts summertime Civil War events

SHARPSBURG, Md. - The National Park Service says a remembrance of the Battle of Antietam will top a series of summertime events in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
 
Officials from four national parks and Maryland's South Mountain Battlefield scheduled a news conference Tuesday at the Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg to discuss their plans.

They say the events also will recognize the 50th anniversary of America's Civil Rights movement.

The Confederate offensive known as the Maryland Campaign began in the summer of 1862. It included battles at Manassas, Va.; Harpers Ferry, W.Va.; and South Mountain before culminating along Antietam Creek on Sept. 17, 1862.

More than 23,000 soldiers were reported killed, wounded or missing there on the bloodiest day of the war.
 

AP-WF-06-19-12 0632GMT