"After it was announced that President Trump would donate his first quarter salary to the National Park Service, an anonymous donor pledged $22,000 to bring the President's $78,333 donation to an even $100,000," the statement explained. "The Civil War Trust and the National Park Foundation, and Save Historic Antietam Foundation have also pledged funds bringing the total gift to $263,545."
In April, the White House originally announced Trump’s intention to donate his first quarter salary to the National Park Service but Wednesday’s announcement is the first time it has been revealed that the funds will specifically go to restoring the battlefield.
On Sept. 17, 1862 Union and Confederate forces clashed near Sharpsburg in the US state of Maryland. During a 12-hour period, 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing making the Battle of Antietam the bloodiest single day for military casualties in American history.
The battle halted the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's first invasion into the North. It also led to President Abraham Lincoln's decision to release the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862.
