Best of 2012

Today, December 31, 2012 is a very historically important date.

First, 40 years ago today, on December 31, 1972, the great Roberto Clemente was killed in a plane crash, taking supplies to earthquake survivors in Nicaragua.


Second, and more relevant to the Civil War, 150 years ago today, the sanguinary struggle at Stones River began. Early in the morning, 150 years ago today, Confederate forces led by Braxton Bragg launched a strong and surprising assault against William Rosecrans Army of the Cumberland just north of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. By the time the fight had ended on January 2nd (after a lull on the 1st), over 20,000 men would be killed, wounded, or missing in one of the bloodiest, and most forgotten, battles of the war.

On a side note, on January 10th, I have been invited by the Bull Run Civil War Roundtable to lead a program on Stones River in Manassas, Virginia. Very much looking forward to the opportunity.


But, as this is the final day of 2012, I wanted to look back at a few of my most fond memories from the past year.



I must begin with the Dr. Joseph L. Harsh Memorial Scholar Award, which I was gratiously awarded by the folks at Save Historic Antietam Foundation. I presented my research at a seminar at Antietam back in September, and am currently attempting to publish the findings. I hope to have good news on that front soon, waiting to hear back from a few editors for now. Anyways, here are a few pics from the seminar. It was a great thrill.


It was also a great year of exciting opportunities at Antietam. I was fortunate enough to have a few stories written about me by reporters who went along on my programs. You can find those here (an article focusing on my ancestor who died at Antietam) and here (an article written by a reporter from the Pittsburg Post-Gazette about Antietam. The reporter tagged along on one of my tours).


I was also fortunate enough to be a part of this video about Antietam, along with my colleague Mannie Gentile.

Back in March, I was able to make a trip to Tennessee with my Dad to go to Stones River, Fort Donelson, and Shiloh. Visiting Shiloh was a lifelong dream come true, and I can't wait to go back. I did a series of posts about the trip, which you can find here: Stones River Post, Fort Donelson Post, and the series of posts I wrote about Shiloh.

I was also able to head down to Georgia for a few days in October to do some research, battlefield hiking, and spend some time with my amazing Uncle Jeff and Aunt Paula (Jeff loves it when I mention him on here, so its the least I can do!) I look forward to seeing them again in the New Year.



The best part of 2012 had to be participating in the 150th anniversary of Antietam. It was an amazing weekend that I will never forget. We had, likely, well over 50,000 people at the park, and my colleagues and I were doing non-stop interpretation from September 14th through the 17th. Here are a few posts about the event:

http://www.fieryordeal.blogspot.com/2012/09/antietam-150th-rangers-in-action.html

http://www.fieryordeal.blogspot.com/2012/09/antietam-150th-time-like-no-other.html

http://www.fieryordeal.blogspot.com/2012/09/september-17-2012-very-special-day.html

And, a wrap up post about the 150th event,

http://www.fieryordeal.blogspot.com/2012/10/antietam-150th-looking-back-on-my-top-5.html


I am thankful that this year I was able to work with the finest interpretive group in the NPS. I have learned so much from my colleagues, and look forward to the exciting new opportunities that 2013 will bring. God has been very good to me in 2012, and whatever successes or opportunities I have had, I owe it all to Him. While I am back home in Ohio for now, and I don't know when I might return to Antietam, I know that God has more in store for me, and I look forward to following His path in the upcoming year.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Antietam's Memorial Illumination: The Cost of Freedom

This past weekend, I was back in Maryland for the 24th Annual Antietam National Battlefield Memorial Illumination. Every year, on the first Saturday in December, 23,110 candles are set out on the battlefield to represent each casualty who fell at Antietam on September 17, 1862. This event has grown over the years, and the turnout this year was among the highest ever by some counts. The Illumination gives us an opportunity to remind ourselves that 23,110 is not simply a number in a history book, but the number of men who experienced the pain, suffering, and misery of Antietam in a way that we will never understand. While we can never understand what they went through, perhaps by remembering them as real individuals we can at the very least appreciate what they did for this nation 150 years ago.


Whether Union or Confederate, whether defending the nation or seeking to split it, each man who fought at Antietam had a life, a family, passions, hopes, and dreams. That is what we seek to remember every year on the first Saturday in December.


We must also remember that this is not a "Civil War" event. This is an American event. On Saturday, the day of the Illumination, I was working the front desk at the Visitor Center, speaking with a gentleman and his wife. The gentleman had an ancestor who died at South Mountain, fighting in the 45th Pennsylvania. Thankfully, we were able to locate his ancestor's grave in the Antietam National Cemetery. We then started to discuss the Illumination, how best to see it, and what it meant. When I began describing the casualties for the gentleman, he began to tear up. He told me that he was a veteran of Vietnam, and seeing the candles reminded him of his friends who were lost in that conflict several decades ago. He then thanked me, shook my hand, and left. For this brave American Veteran, the Illumination was as much about those lost in combat in the 20th century as it was for those lost 150 years ago. This incident brought the candles to life for me in a new way this year, and reminded me once again that, no matter what year it is, American soldiers will always be willing to lay down their lives so that this nation might live.

In Memoriam

Pvt. Ellwood Rodebaugh, Company D, 106th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry

Killed in Action, September 17, 1862

Antietam 150th: Looking Back On My Top 5 Moments

Now that we have had some time to catch our collective breath, I wanted to post a few more thoughts and photos from the Antietam 150th. Here are my top moments from the 150th commemoration activities on the 14th through the 17th...

5. Getting to work with some of the best park rangers and battlefield guides around was a great part of the 150th weekend. For several days, it was non stop interp alongside some great historians. I got to work with folks such as Tom Clemens, Frank O'Reilly, Chris Bryce, Bill Sagle, and Jim Rosebrock, along with many others, all top notch Civil War historians and interpreters. This is not to mention my colleagues on staff at Antietam, who I will get to a little later on in the list.

A few shots of me doing talks at the Cornfield on Sunday, September 16th 



Jim Rosebrock, myself, and Bill Sagle

4. On the morning of the 15th and 16th, I was tasked with leading the Cornfield overview hikes. On Saturday, I had at least 150 people, and on Sunday, I had at least 200. Thankfully, on Sunday a few boy scouts came along to carry a speaker so I did not have to lose my voice halfway through the 150th events. We covered the Cornfield and West Woods action in about 90 minutes each day, providing an overview of the first few hours of Antietam. The people who came along on the hikes were wonderful. They asked great questions, were very interested in the topic, and they couldn't have been friendlier. They were also very much surprised when I told them that I had never led hikes like those before this weekend. Leading those hikes was a real highlight and thrill for me.

A quick cell phone picture that I snapped while heading out on my Saturday morning hike. As you can see, the group was quite big, and it grew even larger when we reached the Cornfield.

3. At 10 am on September 17th, I began a Cornfield program for over 100 people. When I wrapped up at 10:45 am, it was roughly the time 150 years to the moment from when my ancestor was killed in the West Woods (remember, no daylight savings time in 1862). I was able to stand on Antietam National Battlefield and tell Ellwood Rodebaugh's story to what was by then a group of over 150 people. At the end I began to tear up, so I thanked everyone for being there and explained my personal story and the significance of the moment. Many of the visitors had some tears as well. Following the program, I went to stand along the fence line, currenly Starke Avenue, where Ellwood was last seen alive. Ranger Tom Jones snapped my picture there to mark the moment, which was one I will never forget.

 Standing on the same spot where 150 years earlier my ancestor gave his life so that this nation might live. One of the most emotional and meaningful moments of my life. It would soon be topped, however.



2. Sunrise in the Cornfield

AT 6:30 am on the morning of the 17th, the park interpretive staff and 600 of our closest friends gathered at the Cornfield for a program to mark the moment 150 years from when the battle began. The program featured an introduction by Antietam Ranger and Chief of Interpretation Keith Snyder. Ranger Snyder was followed by the rangers present reading quotes and providing brief narration. Each reading was composed of words from soldiers, both Union and Confederate, which described the night before Antietam and the start of the battle. A few quotes in, cannon fire and musket fire began. With the mist hanging in the damp early morning air, the artillery fire echoed across the hills, and the intervening moments between gun fire and rangers reading quotes was eerily silent. To have over 600 people gathered together in complete silence to hear an echo of artillery fire 150 years to the moment from when the battle began is something which I will remember for as long as I live. There are no words to describe this experience. Only the photos below do it justice. They are all taken from the NPS social media team, which did outstanding work over Antietam's 150th weekend.

Ranger Alann Schmidt, myself, and Ranger Keith Snyder

 I am proud to call these rangers my colleagues and friends. They are an exceptional group of historians. I would say that one would be hard pressed to find a more professional and oustanding interpretive staff in the country today (left to right: Brian Baracz, Mannie Gentile, Alann Schmidt, Mike Gamble, Chris Gwinn, myself, Keith Snyder, John Hoptak, Mike Weinstein).

1. The closing ceremony in the National Cemetery was incredible. It featured a reading of the names of all those who died at Antietam, a very special way to commemorate their sacrifice. It was wrapped up with Ranger Alann Schmidt reading the "Bivouac of the Dead" poem and a 21 gun salute.

 Ranger Alann Schmidt on the rostrum leading the closing ceremony, reading the poem, "The Bivouac of the Dead"



Jim Rosebrock and park volunteer staff preparing for the 21 gun salute

Now, here is where it gets really cool. 

I wrapped up doing my last program at Burnside Bridge at around 5 pm on the 17th. I decided to drive up to the National Cemetery to see how things were progressing there. I never thought that I would be there in time to read my ancestor's name, so I didn't give it much thought. However, my good friend and colleague Ranger Alann Schmidt kept the sheet with Ellwood's name separate in case I could be there. As I walked into the cemetery, Alann saw me, and signaled for me to come to the rostrum in the National Cemetery. He handed me a sheet of paper and said, "Get in line." I was just in time to read Ellwood's name.

All weekend long, I had done programs for hundreds of people, but this was the only time I was nervous. My friends and colleagues were all there to witness the moment, as was Park Superintendent Susan Trail. When the time came, I ascended the stairs, stepped up to the mike, and read a list of names of those who died at Antietam. When I read the name of Ellwood Rodebaugh, I paused and simply said, "He was my great-great-great grandfather." I continued, and upon finishing the list, when I stepped off the rostrum, I lifted my head up to the sky, and said a few simple words....

"Thank you grandpa"

A photo of me reading Ellwood's name at the National Cemetery. There is an album of pictures on the park facebook page as well, available here.


There are not words to describe how amazing Anniversary Weekend was. If there ever was a weekend where it was clear to me that I am a ranger at Antietam because that is God's plan for me, the weekend of the 150th was it. I am very blessed indeed. I will remember those days for the rest of my life.


September 22, 1862: "Then, Thenceforward, and Forever Free..."

“When the rebel army was at Frederick, I determined, as soon as it should be driven out of Maryland, to issue a Proclamation of Emancipation… I said nothing to anyone; but I made the promise to myself and to my Maker. The rebel army is now driven out, and I am going to fulfill that promise.”

Abraham Lincoln, September 22, 1862

150 years ago today, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, signaling a beacon of hope in the darkness for over four million people held in bondage, and signalling the death knell of slavery in the United States. The road toward freedom would not be complete with one proclamation; the proclamation would be but the first of many steps transitioning from slavery to citizenship for African Americans. Yet, without the first step, none of the other steps would have been possible. The blood shed at Antietam on September 17 had radically transformed the country. The dead of Antietam led to "a new birth of freedom" for this country. 

 

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation.
I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States, and each of the states, and the people thereof, in which states that relation is, or may be suspended, or disturbed.

That it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all slave-states, so called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States, and which states, may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, immediate, or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits; and that the effort to colonize persons of African descent, with their consent, upon this continent, or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the Governments existing there, will be continued.

That on the first day of January in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any state, or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

That the executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States, and parts of states, if any, in which the people thereof respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any state, or the people thereof shall, on that day be, in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States, by members chosen thereto, at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such state shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such state and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States.

That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled "An act to make an additional Article of War" approved March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and figure following:
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for the government of the army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed as such:
Article-. All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor, who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled "An Act to suppress Insurrection, to punish Treason and Rebellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes," approved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figures following:
SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the government of the United States, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army; and all slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them and coming under the control of the government of the United States; and all slaves of such persons found on (or) being within any place occupied by rebel forces and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude and not again held as slaves.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other State, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the service.

And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and naval service of the United States to observe, obey, and enforce, within their respective spheres of service, the act, and sections above recited.

And the executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the United States who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion, shall (upon the restoration of the constitutional relation between the United States, and their respective states, and people, if that relation shall have been suspended or disturbed) be compensated for all losses by acts of the United States, including the loss of slaves.
L.S.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this twenty second day of September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty two, and of the Independence of the United States, the eighty seventh.

By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

September 17, 2012: A Very Special Day

I will have plenty more to post and share in the days to come, but for now, let me simply say that commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Antietam by working out on the battlefield and leading programs for 13 hours as a park ranger was an experience I will never forget. I am forever in debt to my friends and colleagues at Antietam National Battlefield, as well as those rangers from other NPS sites who came in to work with us this weekend.

 

At the end of the day, I was able to take part in the reading of the names of those who died by reading the name of my great-great-great grandfather. Here is a link for a special photo album on the ANB facebook page with pictures of the moment.

 

The following pictures are just a small glimpse of how special today truly was...



 

Ranger Dan in the Sunken Road at age 9

 

Ranger Dan in the Sunken Road at age 25, taken on September 17, 2012, the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Antietam

 

 

 

The picture above was taken today along the fence line where, 150 years earlier to the very moment from when the photo was taken, Private Ellwood Rodebaugh was last seen making a desperate stand with members of the 106th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry

 

 

 

September 17, 1862

150 years ago today, Private Ellwood Rodebaugh, an ordinary shoemaker from Canton, Pennsylvania, a husband and a father, sacrificed his life "upon the altar of freedom" on the fields north of Sharpsburg, Maryland.

That day, he was one of 23,000 who were killed wounded or missing.

In honor of all those who fell that day, we will pause today to remember.

The Cornfield at Sunset, September 16, 2012

The following is an article written by Dr. Joseph Harsh for Hallowed Ground, published in 2002. As we commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Antietam today, I found that Harsh's words are quite appropriate to remind all of us of what we are commemorating today. 

They are all gone now.

The dewy cheeked boys, who left home before their first shave; their older brothers, who marched away from young wives clutching infants in their arms; and their grizzled fathers, whose gray streaked hair and beards belied arms as stout as their hearts.

They are all gone.

The men who discovered at Bull Run that war was not a lark, but a vulture; who crept through the Bloody Cornfield and knelt in the Bloody Lane; who crawled through the snows on Marye’s Heights; who would not yield on Little Round Top and who climbed the post and rail fence on the Emmittsburg Pike amidst a hail of bullets; they who lay among the burning trees of the Wilderness; and who endured the dank, stinking trenches of Petersburg.

They who surrendered at Appomattox, and they who did not jeer the vanquished there.

They are all gone.

The men who lost a leg, an arm, an eye, a career, a farm, a fortune. Also gone are their women, who gave up a husband, a son, a brother, a father, a sweetheart.

They are all gone.

They who learned that life is passionate, precarious, and precious. They, who generation was touched with fire.

They are all gone.

And so are their children, for whom they fought. Even their grandchildren are few and very old.

We who are their great, and great-great, and great-great-great grandchildren can never know them now. We can never see them, or hear them, or touch them.

We can know them only through the ancient photographs of faded brown and white, where they stand mute, unmoving, mysterious to our gaze.

Or, through their music, which seems romantic, naïve, and sometimes sickly sentimental to our ears.

Or, through their relics, the torn flags, the moth-eaten uniforms, the dented swords and the rusted buttons, resting on silken pillows, behind glass panes in climate controlled museums, beyond our touch.

Or, through their words, in their diaries and letters and reminiscences, which sometimes approach but never quite convey to our understanding the true meaning of why they fought and what they experienced.

Even more than through any of these, we can come nearer to them when we stand on the ground where they fought, where they sweated in the summer and shivered in the winter, where their blood seeped into the soil, where they risked their lives and many lost the risk, where they faced the ultimate test of loyalty to an idea and a cause.

But, perhaps, we come closest of all to them, when we simply value the legacy they left being. For, WE ARE the future for whom they fought.

Said one of them, who was not a soldier but who also forfeited his life in the war, while standing among the freshly dug graves of Gettysburg, the world “can never forget what they did here.”

But he was wrong. We can forget. We have too often forgotten. We forgot when we built cookie cutter town houses on the fields of Chantilly, and pricey, pseudo-chateaux on Longstreet’s Wilderness, and motels and t-shirt shops on Cemetery Ridge. And, it cannot be that we were remembering, when we contemplated building a racing track at Brandy Station.

Yes, they are all gone now.

And the least that we can do—and, sadly, the most that we can do—to reach back through fast receding years and thank them for the pain, the suffering, the sacrifice, to thank them for our United States, is to preserve, to protect, and to defend the ground they hallowed.

But our obligation is much greater than to thank them. Our most sacred duty, our ultimate loyalty, is to remember, to keep alive, and to pass on their willingness to sacrifice, their love of country, their devotion to freedom.

We are the future now, but ultimately we are only a link between the past and the future. This generation may never be called upon to make huge, soul-wrenching sacrifices of life and fortune.

But someday—and it is as inevitable as the rising of the sun—a future generation will again be touched with fire and will be summoned to defend our country and our freedom.

If our children, or grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, when that call comes, are too soft, too lazy, too uncaring to meet the challenge, not only will they fail, but we fail also, and so will fail every generation which has preceded us.

Antietam, Gettysburg, and Appomattox will have been in vain.

Yes, they are all gone now.

And soon—in a blink of the cosmic eye of time—we also will all be gone. But we are all connected.

The Civil War is not a closed book.

It is a continuing story that never ends.

Antietam 150th: A Time Like No Other

Since I was a 9 year old, I have dreamed about being a park ranger at Antietam National Battlefield. Today, I got to live that dream to the fullest. I led a Cornfield hike for over 100 people, which I concluded by telling them all the story of my great-great-great grandfather next to the Philadelphia Brigade monument in the West Woods. I saw a few visitors getting a bit blurry eyed when I talked about Ellwood leaving behind his young children to die for his country. I must admit that I found myself getting teary eyed at the occasion. I couldn't help but think back to the days when I sat with my Grandpa in Canton, PA, talking about Ellwood and the Civil War. Those are very special memories for me, as was today.

For the rest of the day, I spent time at the Sunken Road and the Cornfield leading battle talks for groups of visitors. The weather was perfect, the park was overrun with visitors, and the ranger staff, volunteer staff, and park guide staff rose to the occasion. 

I must also say that I have been stopped several times by visitors who recognize me from the blog. I am very grateful that people would first take the time to read what I have to say, and second, that they would then take the time to say hello and tell me that they appreciate my writing. Thank you very much to everyone who visits this site!

I am very blessed indeed. 

Ranger Dan as a nine year old walking in the Sunken Road

Ranger Dan today, September 15, 2012, in front of the Cornfield at Antietam

Antietam 150th: Rangers in Action!

Well, folks, Antietam's 150th is just about here. All around the park, tents and new panels are being put in place, grass is being cut, barriers and signs are being set out for safety, and everywhere you look, there seems to be a park ranger working on something.There are many Rangers hard at work this week, making sure that the park is ready for all of the national attention which it will be receiving in the days ahead.

On facebook, the interp staff has been posting a series of videos, one a day, to track the Maryland Campaign as it occurred 150 years ago. We are also filming a series of videos advertising the 150th anniversary of Antietam, as well as videos to track the course of the battle 150 years from when it happened.

 The Pennsylvania History Mobile has arrived at the park, and will be open for the general public to visit during the Sesquicentennial events from the 14th through the 17th

Rangers have been out walking the trails and fields of Antietam, preparing for the hikes which are sure to draw hundreds upon hundreds of visitors. I will be leading two hikes myself: on both Saturday and Sunday morning, I will be leading the 90 minute overview hike of the Cornfield and the West Woods, leaving from the Visitor Center at 10 am. Hope you can tag along!

While many rangers have been hard at work recently, one of those deserves a special shout out in this blog post. My good friend and colleague Ranger Mannie Gentile has been working up a storm in his "Photo Tent" getting ready for the 150th. Let's have a look at what Ranger Mannie has been up to....

Outside the photo tent are signs, made by Ranger Mannie, advertising what is inside...

Inside one gallery, visitors can view many of the photographs of the battlefield taken by Alexander Gardner in the days following the battle...

An image of Alexander Gardner himself

Ranger Mannie hard at work with just a few days to go before the 150th...

Even Bob Casey, head of Western Maryland Interpretive Association, was driving by to check out Mannie's handiwork...

 Ranger Mannie has spent the last week or two painting a very large mural of Burnside Bridge to go inside the other gallery of the photo tent. Although the three canvases still need to be firmly affixed together, the finished product is almost there. Visitors will be able to set their camera on a post and sit in front of the mural to get their picture taken with the Bridge and Antietam 150 in the background. In the end, it should look something like this...

Ranger Dan and Ranger Mannie in the Photo Tent at Antietam!

If you are able to come to Antietam this weekend, please do so. Rangers like Mannie Gentile have been working very hard to make sure that this event is one that people will still be talking about when the Bicentennial rolls around in 2062.

I have to say that the past few days have been some of the best days I can remember. Between my research presentation and award on Saturday, all of the attention the park has been receiving this week, and the events to come, I have to pause and say that I am truly blessed to work at Antietam, and to work here with such wonderful colleagues and friends. On to the 150th!!

September 6, 1862

150 years ago yesterday, Confederate General Thomas Jonathan Jackson, the legendary "Stonewall", crossed over the Potomac River into Maryland with his command. 150 years ago today, he was followed by James Longstreet's command. Riding across the Potomac with Longstreet's command, in the back of an ambulance due to badly bruised and broken hands, was the man who had, just a few weeks earlier, saved the city of Richmond from McClellan's army and, just a few days earlier, smashed John Pope's Army of Virginia at Second Manassas. While Robert E. Lee was entering Maryland in the back of an Ambulance, the strength and momentum of his army was moving towards what he hoped would be a war winning victory in Maryland.


150 years ago, the Maryland Campaign was officially underway.


I will do my best to keep posting 150 updates on here over the next few weeks, but if you are looking for more 150 updates, be sure to check out the Antietam National Battlefield facebook page. My colleagues and I are posting short 30 second videos every day from now until September 17th, some days more than 1 video. These short segments will cover the main events going on 150 years ago that day. Things are getting very busy at the park. Crowds are up, the phones are ringing off the hook, official programs have arrived, the schedule is set, and now all we have to do is to sit back and enjoy the ride!

If you are in the area this weekend, be sure to stop by the Battlefield on Saturday morning, as I will be presenting my research for the Save Historic Antietam Foundation's Joseph L. Harsh Scholar Award at the SHAF seminar at the Mumma Farmstead. I am speaking at 10:45, and I hope to see you there.

September 3, 1862: "The present seems to be the most propitious time..."

On September 3rd, 150 years ago today, Confederate General Robert E. Lee sat down to write to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Fresh off of the battlefield victory at Second Manassas, Lee was seeking a major campaign to capitalize on his hard won momentum. For this campaign, Lee had his sights across the Potomac River. As Lee wrote to Davis that day, “The present seems to be the most propitious time since the commencement of the war for the Confederate Army to enter Maryland."

Lee was looking to move into Maryland, assisting the state which many in the South saw as being unfairly held in the Union by the strong handed Lincoln administration. In the letter Lee notes that, by his estimate, over 60,000 new Federal troops had entered Washington, thus making time of the essence; striking before these new troops became trained soldiers would be vital for the upcoming campaign. While Lee was writing to Davis, he was not necessarily asking for permission. Rather, by the time Davis would receive the letter, Confederate soldiers were already on Maryland soil. By moving into Maryland, Lee would provide Virginia a respite from the war, find new supplies and support for his army, threaten major Northern cities, put increased pressure on a war weary northern public, and force a defeated, demoralized, and disorganized Federal army in Washington D.C. to enter a major campaign before they had recovered from the last one.  As Confederate General Bradley Johnson would later write, Lee’s campaign in Maryland “had the possibility of ending the war and achieving the independence of his people by one short and brilliant stroke of genius, endurance, and courage.” Lee’s letter, 150 years ago today, signaled the beginning of the Maryland Campaign.

Head Qurs Alex: & Leesburg Road near
Drainsville [Va.] 3d September 1862

Mr. President--

The present seems to be the most propitious time, since the commencement of the war, for the Confederate Army to enter Maryland. The two grand armies of the U. S. that have been operating in Virginia, though now united, are much weakened and demoralized. Their new levees, of which, I understand, sixty thousand men have already been posted in Washington, are not yet organized, and will take some time to prepare for the field. If it is ever desired to give material aid to Maryland, and afford her an opportunity of throwing off the oppression to which she is now subject, this would seem the most favorable. After the enemy had disappeared from the vicinity of Fairfax C. H. and taken the road to Alexandri[a] & Washington, I did not think it would be advantageous to follow him further. I had no intention of attacking him in his fortifications, and am not prepared to invest them. If I possessed the necessary munitions, I should be unable to supply provisions for the troops. I therefore determined while threatening the approaches to Washington to draw the troops into Loudon, where forage and some provisions can be obtained, menace their possession of the Shenandoah Valley, and if found practicable, to cross into Maryland.

The purpose, if discovered, will have the effect of carrying the enemy north of the Potomac, and if prevented, will not result in much evil. The army is not properly equipped for an invasion of an enemy's territory. It lacks much of the material of war, is feeble in transportation, the animals being much reduced, and the men /are/ poorly provided with clothes, and in thousands of instances, are destitute of shoes. Still we cannot afford to be idle, and though weaker than our opponents in men and military equipments, must endeavor to harass, if we cannot destroy them. I am aware that the movement is attended with much risk, yet I do not consider success impossible, and shall endeavor to guard it from loss. As long as the army of the enemy are employed on this frontier, I have no fears for the safety of Richmond, yet I earnestly recommend that advantage be taken of this period of comparative safety, to place its defence, both by land and water, in the most, perfect condition. A respectable force can be collected to defend its approaches by land, and the steamer Richmond I hope is now ready to clear the river of hostile vessels. Should Genl [Braxton] Bragg find it impracticable to operate to advantage on his present frontier, his army, after leaving sufficient garrisons, could be advantageously employed in opposing the overwhelming numbers which it seems to be the intention of the enemy now to concentrate in Virginia. I have already been told /by/ prisoners that some of [Don Carlos] Buell's Cavalry have been joined to Gen'l. [John] Pope's Army, and have reason to believe that the whole of [George B.] McClellan's, the larger portions of [Ambrose E.] Burnside's & [Jacob D.] Cox's, and a portion of [David] Hunter's, are united to it, what occasions me most concern is the fear of getting out of ammunition. I beg you will instruct the Ordnance Dept: to spare no pains in manufacturing a sufficient amount of the best kind, & to be particular in preparing that for the Artillery, to provide three times as much of the long range ammunition, as of that for smooth bore or short range guns.

The points to which I desire the ammunition to be forwarded, will be made known to the Department in time. If the Qur. Master's Department in time can furnish any shoes, it would be the greatest relief.

We have entered upon September, and the nights are becoming cool. I have the honor to be with high respect Your Ob't Servant,

General Robert E. Lee