Harsh Award Presentation

Yesterday, I presented my research for the Dr. Joseph L. Harsh Memorial Scholar Award at the Save Historic Antietam Foundation Seminar at Antietam Battlefield, and it all went better than I could have ever expected. I had family and friends in attendance, the reception for the research was wonderful, and I got to meet several members of the Harsh family. To all those who helped me out with the research and the project, I can't thank you enough. Specifically, I want to thank Jim Rosebrock, the leader of Antietam Battlefield Guides, who helped me with research at the National Archives, and who also spent lots of time chatting about the project while working the front desk at the Antietam Visitor Center. Also, I need to thank, once again, my colleagues on the ranger staff at Antietam. Rangers Brian Baracz, Keith Snyder, John Hoptak, and Mannie Gentile all talked with me about the project and assisted with advice and comments along the way. Antietam Superintendent Susan Trail was also in attendance yesterday, and I was especially grateful that she was there. We are all very proud to have her leading Antietam into this important week for the 150th this year. Also, Ranger Alann Schmidt approved the joke I used to start the program, which was perhaps the greatest assistance I could have received. Those of you who have the pleasure of knowing Alann understand why this was an essential component to my presentation. The man knows his jokes.

I have to also thank SHAF President Tom Clemens for all of his work putting the event together, as well as his assistance with the project along the way. It couldn't have been done without his help. 

I hope to put some of the research up on the blog over the next few weeks, but as I will be publishing this research in an article, I will limit what I will put on the blog. Stay tuned however, because I think that this is just the start of what could be more research and work on the Army of the Potomac at Antietam, as there are still many myths about the army that need to be erased. If I had to lay out my conclusions in a concise manner, I would say for the sake of brevity, they are as follows:

1. McClellan did not know his own strength at Antietam. In fact, he likely overestimated it.
2. Straggling was just as big a problem for the Union army as it was for the Confederate army in the campaign.
3. Union commanders from McClellan down to corps, division, and brigade command struggled with understanding their strength and getting the army into a condition where it was ready for combat.
4. The Union army and its commanders, specifically brigade commanders, were FAR less experienced that the Confederate army at Antietam.
5. Returns and morning reports, coupled with Ezra Carman's numbers for the army, show that Federal forces dropped considerably throughout the campaign.


I was able to uncover considerable amounts of unpublished material on the army and its commanders in the campaign, as well as the numbers of the army, and I truly hope that the data, letters, and dispatches which I found and used will help to correct the myth that the Federal army at Antietam was an invincible force. In fact, it was a cobbled together army which limped its way north, and the fact that McClellan was able to do what he did with it is utterly remarkable.Stay tuned for pieces of the research to appear on here, as well as for updates on where and when the research will be published.


That will have to do for now. Here are some pictures of the event yesterday, as well as a short video of the award presentation, filmed by Ranger Brian Baracz.

 SHAF President, and great Antietam historian, Tom Clemens presenting me with the Dr. Joseph L. Harsh Memorial Scholar Award

 Dad, Mom, Myself, and my girlfriend Alison

Antietam Superintendent Susan Trail, myself, Rangers Keith Snyder, Brian Baracz, and John Hoptak

Alison and I

Here is the video of the award presentation...

September 7, 1862: "A victory now and we will soon be together"

150 years ago today, Major General George Brinton McClellan moved his headquarters into Rockville, Maryland, officially beginning his move northward into Maryland to pursue Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. McClellan wrote the following letter to his wife that day:

We are all well and the entire army is now united, cheerful and confident. You need not fear the result for I believe that God will give us the victory. I leave here this afternoon to take command of the troops in the field. The feeling of the Government towards me, I am sure, is kind and trusting. I hope with God's blessing, to justify the great confidence they now repose in me, and will bury the past in oblivion. A victory now and we will soon be together. I send a short letter today. God bless and reward your trust in Him and all will be well.
 

This short post will have to do for today. For those in the area, tomorrow I will be presenting my research on the strength, experience, and condition of the Army of the Potomac at Antietam for the Save Historic Antietam Foundation Seminar at Antietam National Battlefield. If you are in the area, stop on by. The seminar will be at the Mumma Barn, and I will be speaking at 10:45 am.

It is a great time to be at Antietam. Today, the Visitor Center was packed from open to close, we officially opened our new museum gallery, and the phones were ringing off the hook. The 150th is definitely right around the corner!

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.

Dr. Joseph L. Harsh Memorial Scholarship Award

This past February, Save Historic Antietam Foundation (SHAF) accepted applications for the Dr. Joseph L. Harsh Memorial Scholarship. This award is a research grant in honor of the late Dr. Joseph L. Harsh, a man whose work is a staple in Maryland Campaign historiography, and has inspired generations of historians, including myself. I am extremely honored and humbled to announce that Save Historic Antietam Foundation has named me the first recipient of this award.


This award is an incredibly exciting opportunity for me. It consists of a research grant to further knowledge on Antietam. For my research, I will be studying the strength, composition, and experience of the Army of the Potomac at Antietam. My work will investigate exactly how strong a fighting force the Army of the Potomac was, and how its strength potentially affected how George McClellan fought the battle. I believe this topic has tremendous implications for how we understand the accomplishments of the Union army during the Maryland Campaign, and it could also inform how we understand the generalship of George McClellan. Upon the completion of my research, I will be speaking and presenting my findings at a seminar, sponsored by SHAF, on September 8 at Antietam National Battlefield, the weekend before the park’s official Sesquicentennial celebrations. I will also be submitting the research as a publishable article. Needless to say, I can’t wait to get started on this project. I will hopefully be able to incorporate my research and findings into posts on here as well, sharing tidbits that I come across along the way.


As I said, I am extremely honored and humbled by this award. Dr. Harsh’s work on the Maryland Campaign has been an enormous influence on my growth as a historian. Before I read Dr. Harsh’s work, I was just a common observer of the campaign. I wasn’t truly a student of Antietam until I had dog eared, underlined, and highlighted copies of Dr. Harsh’s main work Taken at the Flood, and its companion Sounding the Shallows on my bookshelf (not to mention Confederate Tide Rising as well). To be doing such important research on such an important topic during the year of the Sesquicentennial for Antietam is beyond anything I could have imagined. If you told the nine year old me who was fascinated with Antietam when he first visited that he would be doing this kind of work during the 150th anniversary of the battle, he wouldn’t have believed you. I am incredibly blessed.


I sincerely thank the folks at Save Historic Antietam Foundation for this opportunity. Below, I have the text of their press release on the award. I would also like to congratulate Susan Rosenvold from the Pry House Field Hospital Museum. SHAF has awarded Susan a Sesquicentennial Award for Scholarship, funding her research on the work which Clara Barton did during and after Antietam. Susan will be presenting her research at SHAF’s September seminar as well.

 

For Immediate Release

Save Historic Antietam Foundation Inc. (SHAF) is proud to announce the recipient of its first Dr. Joseph L. Harsh Memorial Scholarship. The winner’s research will be presented at a free seminar at Antietam National Battlefield sponsored by SHAF on September 8, 2012. This award was created in honor of Dr. Harsh, a professor at George Mason University, an award-winning author on Confederate strategy in the Maryland Campaign and member of SHAF. The purpose of the Scholarship is to further knowledge on the battle of Antietam and Maryland Campaign, and it is open to all applicants. The first award recipient is Daniel Joseph Vermilya of Kirtland, Ohio. Dan is a seasonal ranger at Antietam National Battlefield. His topic will be “The Strength, Composition, and Experience of the Army of the Potomac at the battle of Antietam,” which will also be submitted to SHAF as a publishable article. Dan’s research is based on primary sources, and will be conducted extensively at the Antietam Battlefield library and the National Archives.

There were several very strong applications, and the selection process was quite difficult. After long deliberation the selection committee decided to also fund a proposal by Susan Rosenvold, the Director of Operations and Education, Pry House Field Hospital Museum at Antietam National Battlefield. Susan is an authority on the life and services of Clara Barton, and her proposal was to identify and locate the places on and around the Antietam Battlefield where Barton worked and cared for the wounded. Susan listed an impressive number of sources she intends to consult to complete her project, and she, too, will present her findings at the SHAF Seminar in September. The results of her research will also be published. Because of the merits of her proposal and the experience she brings to the project the selection committee decided to award Susan a special SHAF Sesquicentennial Award for Scholarship.

Additional information on the research papers and the free September 8, 2012 Antietam seminar will be posted this spring on SHAF’s website (www.shaf.org).

Further information can be obtained from Tom Clemens, President of SHAF, 301-432-2522 or at Antietam@verizon.net.