The battle at Antietam Creek, the bloodiest day of the American Civil War, left more than 23,000 men dead, wounded, or missing. Facing the aftermath were the men, women, and children living in the village of Sharpsburg and on surrounding farms. In Too Afraid to Cry , Kathleen Ernst recounts the dramatic experiences of these Maryland citizens - stories that have never been told - and also examines the complex political web holding together Unionists and Secessionists, many of whom lived under the same roofs in this divided countryside.