Antietam Battlefield, Harpers Ferry & Pathfinding

Antietam Battlefield

AUG 3

The Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, climaxed the first of Confederates two attempts to carry the war into the north. About 40,000 Southerners were pitted against 87,000 Federal Army of the Potomac and it was the site of the single bloodiest day of the Civil War with 23,000 soldiers killed, wounded or missing.

More men were killed or wounded at Antietam on September 17, 1862, than on any other single day of the Civil War. Federal losses were 12,410, Confederate losses 10,700. Although neither side gained a decisive victory, Lee's failure to carry the war effort effectively into the north caused Great Britain to postpone recognition of the Confederate government. The battle also gave President Abraham Lincoln the opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which, on January 1, 1863, declared free all slaves in States still in rebellion against the United States. Now the war had a dual purpose: to preserve the Union and end slavery.

Attack and counterattack was the strategy of the day. Although outnumbered two-to-one, Lee committed his entire force, while the Union army General George B. McClellan sent in less than three-quarters of his army, enabling Lee to fight to a standstill. During the night, both armies consolidated their lines. In spite of crippling casualties, Lee continued to skirmish with McClellan throughout the 18th, while removing his wounded south of the river. McClellan did not renew the assaults. After dark, Lee ordered the battered Army of Northern Virginia to withdraw across the Potomac into the Shenandoah Valley.

The Antietam Battlefield is huge and it is hard to fully it take it in but the Rangers have a wonderful overall presentation that they do in an observation room where you can see most of the battlefield and with the descriptions envision the troop movements. After the Ranger presentation and a video presentation, I did some walking around for the nearby monuments and Dunker Church and then I did the driving tour.

Harpers Ferry

John Brown’s Raid led a group of 21 men in a raid on the Harpers Ferry U.S. Arsenal on October 16, 1859 and it is one the seminal events sparking the Civil War. Brown hoped his raid and capture of the arsenal would cause slaves to run to join him but in that it was a failure. When the raid failed, Brown found himself hold up in the armory fire engine house, now known as John Brown’s Fort. A detachment of U.S. Marines under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee was dispatched from Washington D.C. by President Buchanan to take care of the situation and Lee asked one of his subordinate officers, Lt. J.E.B. Stuart if he would lead the attempt at peaceful settlement and if that failed the initial assault; and we all know that Brown was captured, tried and hung by the State of Virginia.

Harpers Ferry was an industrial town on the convergence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers and also the C & O Canal and B & O Railroad ran through it; Harpers Ferry was well situated as a gateway to the west. George Washington surveyed the area, Thomas Jefferson stayed overnight there on his way to the Philadelphia Continental Congress and Meriwether Lewis outfitted there for the Lewis & Clark expedition west. Also there were several Civil War engagements in the area with both sides continuing to blow-up, burn-down and rebuild the railroad bride. The North burned down the arsenal to keep it from falling into Confederate hands but that failed to destroy all of the rifle –making machinery that General Stonewall Jackson captured, dismantled and shipped south for southern use.

Pathfinding

I had been pre-warned that finding Mark and Lil’s house could be difficult but I was prepared. First I had a map that Mark had drawn for me when he visited AZ last spring and second the address was recognized by me Garmin GPS.

The plan was to leave the trailer at their house while I flew to Denver for my 50th High School reunion and for awhile everything was going according to plan. I had past problems with Garmin directions but with Mark’s map, a AAA map and daylight on my side off I went from Harpers Ferry direct to Sheppard town and Dam # 4 Rd, Garmin doing well. Driving down Dam # 4 Rd and following Garmin directions, Garmin told me I had arrived at my destination on my left. WRONG. The house number on my right was 806; far above the number I was looking for, and on my left was the actual Dam # 4. Ok, walk over to the 806 house and ask directions and the gentleman told me he didn’t know where it was but to get into his Jeep, because that was easier than searching while pulling a trailer, and we would go find it. He also said some friends of his from AZ had a hard time finding him last year and when I said I was from AZ we were instant pardners. He didn’t find it, stopped at a friend of his and asked him and the friend said he didn’t know but, unremembered name house, on the right was number X and second unremembered name house, on the left was number Y so it must be between those two. With those hints we immediately found the number and driveway but 806 pardner wouldn’t let it go at that so he drove up Mark and Lil’s driveway to make sure I could get the trailer up; WOW when was last time someone was so kind, all in all he spent a good 20-minutes with me.