Antietam - The Sunken Road

This was my second trip to Antietam but on my first trip I was amazed by the Sunken Road. My first contact with a sunken road was at Shiloh and once you've been to both you know there is truly only one sunken road. Shiloh's sunken road would barely protect an ankle from a bullet while Antietam's is, with some variations, a pretty extensive trench.

To truly understand this area though you have to walk the ground that the Union attacked over. The tower does help show the undulating ground but until you wander across those fields you really don't have an appreciation for the rolling ground. That being said though I lack good pictures to show the rolling ground, just one of those things you kinda need to walk to get a feel for. I have included a photo taken from the tower that does shows the rolling ground somewhat.

This first picture was taken from outside the observation deck at the VC, looking east-southeast towards the tower. The Union attack came from the left side of the picture.

Here's two views looking back towards the VC from in the sunken road. Even these don't really convey the depth of the road. This monument is also the one that appears prominently in my sunrise pictures post of a few days ago. The second photo I included just because I like how much is in the shot. The 132nd Pennsylvania is in the foreground with the 14th Connecticut and New York monuments also visible. Additionally the cannon just south of the VC are visible.
And here's a shot looking mostly north taken from the tower. The rolling terrain can be made out somewhat.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my mom, and all the other moms out there. Even though she drives me nuts sometimes, I do love her. I'm pretty sure my mom will freak out that I'm posting her photo on here, but hopefully she'll cope. This photo is of my mom and dad resting at the Georgia monument at Chickamauga.

Dunker Church

Our walk through the West Woods circled back towards the Dunker Church. Like Shiloh some of the brutal fighting swirled around a church. It used to seem odd but after studying the war for years these sort of things no longer seem odd. Unfortunate or ironic but hardly anything seems odd anymore. Today the church is a focal point of tours and photos. The Visitor's Center is just across the street so its a natural stopping point. The first picture is the view as you approach the church from the west as we ended our loop through the West Woods.
One morning I caught the first rays of the day shining on the church.
Obviously, the view from inside.
Sitting on a pew and shooting the Maryland monument through the door frame.

Antietam - West Woods

The next loop we made covered much of the West Woods area. We parked near the Visitor's Center and then went north along the Hagerstown Pike towards the Philadelphia Brigade monument. This first picture shows the view looking north from near the VC. The fence line near the center of the photo runs along the Smoketown Road as it angles towards the northeast away from the Dunker Church. The small tree line that runs across the photo is the modern Cornfield Avenue.
The Philadelphia Brigade monument is on the eastern edge of the West Woods just south of Starke Avenue (which is what Cornfield Avenue is called on the western side of the Hagerstown Pike). It is a very tall obelisk, unfortunately all of my pictures of the main monument have a slight tilt to them.
Next we walked into the West Woods, and it right now is woods. Near the modern highway bypass we came upon the 15th Massachusetts monument. They were part of the force that penetrated into the West Woods and then was caught in absolute hell as the Confederates converged on them, plus their escape route was blocked by Union divisions behind them. In 20 minutes 330 men fell, they entered the fight with 606 men. That included 75 killed and 255 wounded. 43 of the wounded would die of those wounds. 54% of the regiment was a casualty that day. Every four seconds another man was killed or wounded. Simply a brutal fight, words cannot express the horror that had to have been. The back of the monument lists the 118 men who were killed or died of wounds. I often stand in awe of what the soldiers suffered through, this is one of those moments.

Antietam - The Morning Phase

A good walk, that Mike and I did before the group arrived and then later with the group, is the Cornfield loop. You park on the north end of the park tour in what was the North Woods. The North Woods is being replanted, below is a picture showing the early progress.From there you walk east past several monuments marking starting positions for Hooker's Corps. After a little jaunt you turn south and walk towards the East Woods. Here is a picture of the view looking roughly south-southwest from between the East and North Woods. The farm in the distance was not there in 1862. The cornfield would have been between us and the non-historic farm.

Mike and I walked the road the first time so we went past Mansfield's monument and then turned onto Cornfield Avenue. The group made a short cut into the East Woods and then across the field to the avenue. From an area near the non-historic farm from the previous pictures I took this picture looking back north. Above the fence post can be seen, barely, the Joseph Poffenberger farm. The parking lot is next to that farm. For our photos crops would have looked more scenic but it was nice that there was so little to interfere with those long views. A better feeling for the distances involved is possible and if picturesque crops blocked the view some of that would be lost.
From here you can either go back to the parking lot by going directly north through the Cornfield or follow the Hagerstown Pike back. Both times I took the Hagerstown Pike route, I have a thing for the Iron Brigade (family is from Wisconsin, even had a relative in the brigade but not until 1864) and love to hear the story of the fighting they did along the Pike. Here is a view looking north along the pike with the rail fences on either side. This is somewhat similar to a Brady photo of dead along the Pike but was not my sole intent in taking this shot.

Roundtable Presentation

My "Critical Decisions of Shiloh" presentation to the Rocky Mountain CWRT went well. I delivered most of what I hoped to, left a few things out but these are always growing processes. Future presentations will further polish it until its how I want it. There were slides to remove and slides to add, but all in all I was pleased with how it went. And the feedback from the audience was positive so it seems I got my points across well. No Antietam trip posts tonight though as I am pretty tired and got home late after the meeting. I promise to make up for it this weekend with an extra post or two as I start to cover the battle of Antietam.

Mary Locher cabin

During our many days at Antietam we ran into Ranger Mannie many times. One of his tips was to take a small side trip across Highway 65 just west of the West Woods. Maybe only 30 yards off the road is the Mary Locher cabin. If you look on the Trailhead Graphics map you will not see it but it is just north of the A. Poffenberger farm.

The Locher cabin is believed to be the oldest building on the battlefield and one of the oldest in the county dating back to colonial days. The building is in sad shape and is well past the point of being fixed up to allow visitors and it is now hoped that the building can be fixed to the point that its not in danger of falling over.

A carport-like structure has been built over the building to keep as much rain, and wind, away from the building. This was a neat side trip, thanks Mannie.

Sunrise(s) at Antietam

To do a good job shooting his movie Mike secured a special use permit from the park so we could be on the field early and late. We ended up getting two good sunrises. The first produced the first three pictures, the 132nd Pennsylvania monument in the Sunken Road. For the first two we stood back from the monument near the parking lot. Once the sun was up I went into the Sunken Road and got the sun cresting that ground too. I like the effect of the silhouetted fence rails.


On another day, once the main group had arrived, we got another great morning. This time we started out near the Visitor's Center. My first shot shows some cannon with the New York monument. The second one I like better, its the Maryland monument. There's a cool prism-type effect above the monument, I hope that turns out well here, it's pretty cool on my computer.

South Mountain - part 2

At Crampton's Gap the most prominent thing is the War Correspondent's Arch. Built by George Alfred Townsend as a monument to himself and his fellow war correspondents. It has names of a good many war correspondents, I'm sure it's not a complete list but its a significant number. There are no views down the ridge due to the trees but that was expected. There are a few markers at the gap and down the road, though there are few parking opportunities to see those markers. At the bottom of the gap we had a pretty good view of the valley. Picture opportunities were slim so all I have here is the arch and a detail from the arch.

South Mountain - part 1

Our main group finally united on the night of Thursday, April 12. The Rocky Mountain CWRT had a very strong showing this year with Mike L., Nick K. (me), Gary K. (my dad), Larry P., Matt S., Wayne P., Dave T., Ray P., Bob B., Ian D. (and his wife Susan), Ned G., Jim P., and Craig O. On Friday we started with a tour of South Mountain, rising early and driving out to the Reno monument near Fox's Gap. This monument marks the location where Major General Jesse Reno was killed. We followed the war college guide pretty exclusively which also took us past a new North Carolina monument. This is a very nice new monument. Garland's brigade fought near here and was made up of North Carolinians.
Here's us huddled in the cold at a stop near the turnpike. Gibbon's brigade would attack behind us up the road. I have a strong affection for Gibbon's brigade, the Iron Brigade, because my family is from Wisconsin and at this point the brigade was 75% Wisconsin. I had a relative serve in the 6th Wisconsin but he was a draftee who didn't join the regiment until the winter of 63-64. Matt had encased a topo map in some sort of plastic and written troop movements and tour stops on the map. It made it easier to orientate ourselves and is the mark of an experience tour guide.
This shot is from tour stop 7 in the war college guide. Confederate artillery was stationed near here. The turnpike going into Turner's Gap would be below the first line of trees. Its hard to see but there is a power line on the far mountain in the photo and this marks Garland's position. The two gaps are pretty far apart and this site helps put that in perspective.
Due to the amount of pictures I'm posting Crampton's Gap will be tomorrow's post. I didn't want you to think I had forgotten about it.

New title

I have finally come up with a new title. I thought since a good chunk of posts would deal with my battlefield wanderings I should incorporate that into the title. And I will also post about oddities I find while researching plus whatever else interests me. I looked around a bit and don't think Battlefield Wanderings is taken already, Battlefield Trampings is taken but not Wanderings. And since sometimes it seems like I'm just wandering around that seemed apropos.

Ball's Bluff

Another of the spots we wanted to see if time permitted was Ball's Bluff. We knew there wasn't too much to see there but that it was better than it used to be. This was the first visit for both Mike and I. I really liked the walking trail, there were a lot of good markers that helped explain the battle. The trail down to the river didn't really impress me as to the size of the bluffs. There were some other overlooks that did give some indication of the bluffs but the trail down to the river wasn't that steep or difficult. There is a small national cemetery there, believe it is the smallest national cemetery in the system. The ridges and gullies on the Union left did really impress me as far as how steep they were. That was by far the most difficult part of the hike, plus it was starting to warm up so Mike and I were really huffing by the time we finished (this would be the first day of the trip of what could be called shorts weather).

This picture shows the 8th Virginia marker. They formed on the edge of a field, so like most Civil War battlefields some sense of imagination is needed to picture the fight. The path on the right side of the picture is the direct route to the national cemetery and I believe is an old road trace dating to the battle.
This marker shows where Clinton Hatcher of the 8th Virginia died during the battle. Notice anything wrong with this picture?
That's right, someone put US flags at the marker. Certainly not a befitting tribute to a fallen Confederate.

This is where Colonel Edward Baker was killed, except from reading James Morgan's book on the battle, "A Little Short of Boats," we know that this is just one interpretation, that the site may not be right.

And here's a picture of the national cemetery as viewed from Baker's marker.After this we went to Manassas and wandered around there a bit. I didn't take many pictures because the areas we walked around I had been before. We primarily stuck to the railroad cut area as Mike wanted some footage of that to sync up with some lines in his movie. We then stopped at a winery, Mike's wife wanted a local bottle and who am I to pass up a chance at wine. And then we headed back to Antietam. We had been there the day before but now we wanted some sunset shots, plus hit a few areas that the main group might not get to just so that the movie had full coverage. Tomorrow I'll finally start posts about the main study group trip, starting with South Mountain.

White's Ferry

On our final day before the arrival of our main group we did a few things we hadn't really planned for. We had planned extra time to get plenty of shots of Antietam and had a rain day built into the trip. We did our full day at Antietam (which I will include when I post about specific areas of Antietam) and had this day to go wild. One thing we had heard of and wanted to try was White's Ferry. It is just upriver of Ball's Bluff and is well worth a visit. We parked the car nearby and rode the ferry on foot. 50 cents per person each way. By far the best dollar I have ever spent in my life.

The ferry boat is called the "Jubal A. Early." Early isn't exactly among the pantheon of great Confederate generals so the choice of name seemed odd, but kinda refreshing in its oddity. The views of the river are great from midstream. I've never been on a ferry before so that was new experience. I think the locals in their cars thought we were a bit odd. The ferry operator thought we were a bit odd too but we didn't get to talk to him much as he was busy working. On the ferry was a bumper sticker that said "I rode the Jubal A. Early" Unfortunately the store on the Maryland shore was closed or we would have had to buy one. How many people can say they rode the Jubal A. Early?

Speaking of the store they had markings on the building showing the worst three floods there, or at least since the store has been there. I think the Potomac would have to be 30 feet above normal to reach those marks, that was truly amazing to contemplate. Even though I've done it once now I would definitely go back, I still gotta get me that bumper sticker. :)

Rocky Mountain CWRT

I had read on Eric's blog where a reader had complained that Eric did not promote his upcoming talk at a roundtable. I'm not in the same class as Eric but I thought that I would promote my upcoming talk to the Rocky Mountain Civil War Roundtable, mostly on the off chance that someone from the Denver area is reading this and isn't already a member of the roundtable.

The RMCWRT is a Denver based roundtable with most of our membership coming from Littleton. We meet the 2nd Thursday of the month at the Country Buffet near Southwest Plaza, presentation at 7 but we have the room starting at 5:30.

My presentation is on the critical decisions of the Shiloh campaign. This will start with decisions being made in March until a week after the battle. Basically the way the talk is organized is that a critical decision is one that changes the apparent flow of the battle at that point. I also shied away from decisions that seemed too obvious. For instance the formation of a final line of defense along Dill Branch is not a critical decision because it is a sound military practice to have fallback lines, in this case there was few options for another line farther north so this has to be a final line. Its a good decision but since any good commander should make it, it is not a critical decision. If Grant had made a conscious effort to not build a final line that would have been a critical decision.

An example of a critical decision is the Confederate plan of attack; attacking with each corps in a line instead of by column. This causes a ton of command and control issues that cause confusion which brings along delays and piecemeal attacks. If the attack had been made by column there would have been less confusion and maybe (we'll obviously never know) the Confederates could have taken certain geographic positions earlier in the battle which might have brought a victory.
My talk is next Thursday, May 10. I hope to make everyone think a little differently about some things at Shiloh. If you're interested in more information about the roundtable please email me at rockymtncwrt@aol.com.

Front Royal

By the time we got out of Winchester and hit the road we knew we would only have an hour or so before sunset at Front Royal. For Mike's movie he wanted a shot of the Shenandoah Valley from a highpoint, and sunset shots are a bonus. This though meant no time for any museums in town. We headed up Skyline Drive and the views were amazing. My pictures do not do it justice. There are several pull offs with fantastic panoramic views of the Valley. We stopped at a few before settling on this one. I can only recommend a visit to Front Royal based on the scenery but that was spectacular. I hear that the Warren Rifles Confederate Museum is a good one but I'll have to wait for another trip to find out for myself.

Winchester

After spending half the day in trekking up and down Maryland Heights, plus some wandering around Harper's Ferry, we headed up the Shenandoah Valley to Winchester. Neither of us had ever been there so our first stop was the town Visitor's Center. She suggested a few sites downtown and gave us brochures for the driving tour, though we took them knowing we didn't have that kind of time as Winchester was not our last intended stop of the day. The first site suggested was the old courthouse (below) but it was closed which seemed very odd because it was 4 pm on a Tuesday. Next to our parking spot was some sort of chamber of commerce building that happened to be having a Kunstler exhibit. We walked the halls a bit but ran into no other people and were starting to wonder why anyone would visit Winchester.
The next stop was amazing. It was Stonewall Jackson's Headquarters. I went in not expecting much after the two earlier letdowns but this is truly a gem. This made our day. They have an amazing collection of Jackson stuff and Civil War stuff in general. Unfortunately they did not allow pictures inside so I can't share pics with you. One room was setup just like it was when Jackson was there. Apparently he liked the house so much that he described his room in great detail to his wife and those letters were used to replicate the room later. Jackson liked the desk so much that after he left the owner packed the desk away, quite literally the last person to use that desk was Jackson. His prayer table was also there. My loyalties are not with the Confederacy, so I don't want you to think I'm gushing over artifacts of my beloved Confederacy, I'm gushing over fascinating artifacts of the war. That stuff was cool enough but then our guide also showed us the chest that held the diplomatic papers that were being cared by Mason and Slidell when the whole Trent Affair erupted. Mike and I left thinking that it was sad that this place didn't list some of these gems in its brochure, it might get a few more visitors. Our guide said she thought they average about 20 people per day. I wonder how a place stays open with that sort of attendance. It was an amazing place that I'd gladly visit again.

Our next stop was the Stonewall Confederate Cemetery inside of the Mount Hebron Cemetery. Winchester was fought over a ton, locals said the town changed hands 74 times. That equates into a lot of fighting and a lot of dead. The Confederate section had monuments for each state, some simple but some pretty ornate. This also was land that was part of one of the five major battles in the Winchester area. Turner Ashby is also buried here. In the future I might do a post that deals with all the various monuments in this cemetery, there were a lot, too many to post today. Across the street from the Confederate cemetery was a National Cemetery. This also had quite a few monuments. Some were placed in an area that had a bunch of dead from that state. Others were monuments that commemorated the battles. I guess in the absence of a huge battlefield park to dedicate monuments a national cemetery seemed like the next best place. Below is the Pennsylvania monument. It reminded me of the Wisconsin state monument at Shiloh, which is a favorite of mine.
Next stop, Front Royal and Skyline Drive.

Trains

As promised here are several pictures of trains we saw on the trip.
The first one is of a freight train rumbling across the river at Harper's Ferry. This picture was taken from Maryland Heights.
This commuter train was coming through Harper's Ferry. In the picture above it was on the track on the left.
Another commuter train, this time at Monocacy.

Finally another frieght train crossing the Potomac River at Shepherdstown.
We saw our fifth train as it passed the train depot at Sharpsburg. We pulled up as it was coming, Mike jumped out and took some video but I was there thinking, "Five trains, geez, how many pictures of trains do I really need?" So I sat in the car while Mike got his minute or two of footage.

Harper's Ferry

Mike and I had both been to Harper's Ferry years before. And its a neat town but we were not interested in seeing the town again. What we really wanted to see was the view from Maryland Heights. We really had no idea how steep and long the hike was. Our hike was longer than it had to be because we took the bus into town instead of parking at the trailhead. But we did want to see some of the town we were just more interested in getting onto Maryland Heights so it wasn't a huge deal.




The first place you get a view from the mountain is at the Naval Battery. The guns here were designed to sweep Bolivar and Loudoun Heights. During the fighting in September 62 the guns were swung around to fire at the crest behind them but not to too much good. Some of the remains of the fortifications can be seen below as well as the view of town beyond.


The view from the top though is what we were after and although it was a tough hike it was worth it. It was a beautiful day, a few birds drifted by but each time they just missed Mike's camera. Later in the trip it became clear that birds did not like Mike's but that cows were much more willing to be photographed. As I said the view was worth it. If we had packed a lunch we might have continued on the trail to the stone fort but we did not bring a lunch and we had other sites to see in the Shenandoah Valley. I'm not sure I'd hike it again, it really is a steep hike. Part of our problem was tons of heavy camera equipment but I am glad I did it.





FYI John Brown's Fort can be clearly seen in the photo if you know what you're looking for. It is next to the left fork of the railroad just after it crosses the river. The building sits alone. The original site is marked by a 6 foot tall obelisk. It can also be seen in the photo but it a bit harder. It is just to the right of the large red brick building at the end of the street and is between the road and the railroad. These sites can be seen a bit better in the photo below this one.
And here's a photo of Maryland Heights taken from the streets of Harper's Ferry.

We also added two more trains to our list at Harper's Ferry. First we saw one crossing the river from the top of Maryland Heights. Then in town we saw a commuter train roll right past us on the street. I will have a train post in the next few days showing all the trains from the trip.