Restoration efforts let visitors see hallowed ground as it was in 1862. For many years Antietam National Battlefield owned outright only a small portion of the 3,200 acres within its boundaries. In many places, narrow rights-of-way allowed visitors to see, but not walk, terrain that had been soaked by Union and Confederate blood on September 17, 1862. Fortunately, that has finally begun to change with the recent purchase of several tracts of land vital to interpreting the battle.