The Battle of Antietam during the Civil War was the single bloodiest day in U.S. military history. It was not "fabled."/Alexander Gardner
The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single battle involving United States forces not just during the Civil War but in all American history. It was a day when 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or went missing. There was nothing "fabled" about it, as an Interior Department release described the battlefield.
As dictionaries tell us, "fables" revolve around fictitious narratives, legendary stories, and usually involve animals that take on human qualities.
Whether the Interior release announcing millions of dollars of grants to preserve and protect Civil War battlefields was written in haste, considered to be creative, or not given a good proof reading, is open to question. But it shouldn't have happened.
While visiting Antietam National Battlefield in Western Maryland, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke today announced that President Donald J. Trump's first quarter salary donation would be donated toward the restoration of two projects at the fabled Antietam National Battlefield.
Comments
Fabled has other meanings besides relating to fables;
well known for being of great quality or rarity; famous.
"a fabled art collection"
synonyms:
celebrated, renowned, famed, famous, well known, legendary, storied, prized, noted, notable, acclaimed, esteemed, prestigious, of repute, of high standing
"the fabled quality of French wine"
mythical; imaginary.
"the fabled kingdom"
synonyms:
legendary, mythical, mythic, mythological, fabulous, folkloric, fairy-tale;
The choice of the word could have been much better, I agree. The infamous, deadliest, bloodiest, worst, etc.
Regardless of whether or not the word has a meaning beyond fairytales, it generally has a positive connotation that I wouldn't attribute to a bloody battlefield. Fabled just sounds like an awkward way to decribe Antietam.
A more apt word would be "infamous". I just don't use an adjective that may leave people to assume that there's some sort of approval of what happened there.
Perhaps Robert E. Lee's statue should be relocated to Antietam, where it would better commemorate his role in history? The Ku Klux Klan is protesting the removal his statue from Charlottesville as "rewriting history". The erection of Lee's statue in Charlottesville in the 1920s actually commemorates not the man but usurpation of his visage as symbolic of the rise of the KKK, devoted to reversing history and glorifying defeat. At Antietam, it would commemorate the actual consequences, to which Lee was himself was prescient and acutely senstive. I think Lee would approve of this move, although the KKK may not.