I'm green with envy.  I only had a few hours on the battle filed and
it rained too.  I've enjoyed your posts even if they remind me of
what I missed.

From Washington Post (9/18/01):
:
"At Antietam Civil War Battlefield, Echoes of Another Day of Horror"

SHARPSBURG, Md., SEPT. 17 -- Here, too, anguished families came when the day
was over, searching for missing loved ones.

From field hospital to field hospital, they went: Have you seen my son?
they asked. My husband? My father? He was here, and we've had no word.

Very often they, also, learned the worst.

For here, on another dreadful weekday in September, the death toll had been
awful: 3,654 in a single cataclysmic event that was, until last week, the
deadliest day ever on U.S. soil.

But the Civil War's Battle of Antietam, whose 139th anniversary was marked
today, now appears eclipsed by the terrorist airplane attacks last Tuesday
at the Pentagon, in New York and in Pennsylvania.

More than 4,900 people are missing and presumed dead just in the World Trade
Centers assault, authorities have said, and the total death count will
likely be well over 5,000.

Today, as Americans across the country sought to resume their lives after
last week's disaster, about 50 people gathered here on a cool and sun-washed
morning to walk the battlefield together, to reflect, and, perhaps, they
said, to draw some comfort from the past.

"By going back to their story," Bob Wilhelm, 57, one of the group, said of
Antietam's participants, "it helps us sort out what we're going through.

"Time disappears," he said.

They gathered outside the National Park Service visitor center at 9:30 a.m.
and gazed out over the rocky fields of bleached corn stalks, damp clover and
yellowing soybeans where the battle was fought.

Crickets sang where 87,000 Union soldiers battled 40,000 Confederates to a
draw from dawn to dusk on Sept. 17, 1862, and swallows darted over the
sunken farm lanes where soldiers perished by the hundreds.

The pilgrims, in jeans and T-shirts, fanny packs and ball caps, had come
from Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania and other places.

There was a banker, a steelworker, a Web manager and several retirees. Some
carried binoculars, books and battlefield maps. Some said they visited
regularly; others had never been before. Many had never been on the
anniversary of the battle.

Park rangers pointed out to them that just as there is a kind of media
saturation surrounding last Tuesday's tragedy, Antietam was a media
sensation in its day: Photographer Alexander Gardner's grisly pictures taken
a few days after the battle were the first ever to show the U.S. public the
horrors of war.

The death toll, combining both sides, was in addition to more than 17,000
wounded, the Park Service noted. And Antietam would be followed by other
savage struggles at places like Fredericksburg, Gettysburg and Spotsylvania.


The group, lead by rangers Mike Weinstein and Keith B. Snyder, made its
first stop at the towering obelisk monument to the Philadelphia Brigade, a
Union outfit that lost 545 men that day.

Weinstein paused to remind the walkers of the hundreds of family members who
traveled here after the battle in search of missing soldiers, or their
graves.

"I must tell you," he said quietly, "that when I watched the TV news and saw
the people of New York traipsing around the city, going from hospital to
hospital looking for their loved ones, all I could think of was the
battlefield at Antietam and all those stories about people wandering around
this battlefield" seeking missing relatives.

He then read the account of a New York man, Lemuel Stetson, who, after
searching, had found his son, John, buried on the battlefield. "I found the
burial rude and imperfect, like all soldiers graves upon the field," the
father wrote.

He gathered a burial party and reburied his son in a more dignified way,
covering the grave with brownstones and boughs cut from oak trees shot down
during the battle.

"I stood among strangers, the rank and file of the army, to make my
grateful, heartfelt acknowledgments for their kind assistance," Stetson
wrote. "You may in all times of affliction rely on the human and generous
sympathy of the common soldier."

The listeners stood hushed in the grass.

It was interesting, Snyder noted, that last week's disaster may also have
helped people understand the emotions of 1862. "I think it helped people
connect with the emotion and the feeling of the tragedy here," he said. "It
certainly did for me. You have an immediate understanding of that feeling in
your gut."

Jeff Baldwin, 35, of Hagerstown, said he felt it clearly, as he stood with
the group at the edge of the infamously bloody part of the battleground
known simply as "the cornfield."

"The people here would have thought at the time: 'It's changed America
forever. It'll never be the same. We will never recover from the death.'
Everything you hear now, you'd have heard right after this. The country will
be different forever.

"With hindsight, you can see that the country was better after it. We can
look back now and say, 'Why were you worried?' Maybe in a hundred years
someone will look back [on today] and say, 'It all ended okay.' "

The walkers spoke quietly as they brushed past the purple berries of the
pokeweed and bright blue chicory flowers that have always grown here. It was
warm and bright, and there seemed to be solace in the surroundings and the
story.

Bob Wilhelm said he planned to stay with the walk, which covered the entire
day's conflict, until it ended at sunset.

"I hope, at the end of the day, when we get to the end of the battle,
there's a little bit of closure," he said. "We're not going to have that
closure with the bombing -- not for a while."

POSTED BY: Tom Shay

From USAToday 9/17/01:

"WTC attack may eclipse Antietam 139 years ago today, battle was bloodiest
day in U.S. history"

ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD, Md. -- Even on a brilliant, sunny day, the
question hangs over the cornfields and country lanes here like an ominous
shadow.

Is this still the site of the single bloodiest day in U.S. history?

Exactly 139 years ago today, an epic battle took place here. By nightfall,
3,654 Union and Confederate soldiers lay dead or dying. Another 17,303 were
wounded, and it's estimated 2,500 of those died from their injuries; 1,717
were missing or captured.

Until Tuesday's attacks, it is feared, those were the most horrific totals
for one day of bloodshed on U.S. soil.

Those who come here say the causes that men fought over on Sept. 17, 1862 --
freedom, liberty, the right to self-determination -- are more important than
ever.

Tuesday's attacks "are not something that happened far away, so that we have
to debate whether or not there should be a response," Michael Eastman, 36,
of Clarksburg, Md., said Saturday. He was here with other Union re-enactors
from Company C, 2nd regiment, of the U.S. sharpshooters.

"There must be a (military) response because this is our country, this is
our soil," Eastman said, reflecting the opinion of many interviewed here and
of Americans polled over the weekend.

"We as Americans, each and every one of us, have to be ready to stand
shoulder to shoulder and defend freedom in its hour of need."

Symbolism inescapable

Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon
just outside Washington, and the crash of a hijacked jet in rural western
Pennsylvania, appeared to be on the minds of everyone who came here Saturday
to tour the battlefields.

Hundreds walked and drove through the historic sites. Many, like Eastman,
were here to take part in re-enactments of Civil War camp life and fighting
techniques.

"We knew (the Antietam battle) was the bloodiest day" in U.S. history, said
Margaret Owenby, 55, a pediatric nurse from Arden, N.C. She and her husband,
Chester, stopped here on their way home from a vacation in Canada and Maine.
"But it didn't dawn on us that this was the anniversary."

The attacks last week and the history made here "are reminders that freedom
is not something that you pay for once," said Rick Sweeten, 42, a
self-employed contractor who came here with his son's Boy Scout Troop 44
from Mullica Hill, N.J. "As a nation we'll always be making sacrifices."

The lesson learned in 1862 and again last week is that "freedom doesn't come
cheap. There's a price attached, and you need to be willing to pay for it,"
said Julie Rowan-Wolford, a fifth-grade teacher from Points, W.Va.

The battle here effectively ended the first of Confederate Gen. Robert E.
Lee's attempts to push the war into Northern territory. It matched Lee's
40,000 Confederate troops against 87,000 Union soldiers under the command of
Gen. George B. McClellan.

The fighting "came in gray, with a pearly mist that shrouded the fields and
woodlands, and it came with a crash of musketry, backed by the deeper roar
of cannon fire that mounted in volume and intensity until it was continuous,
jarring the earth beneath the feet of the attackers and defenders,"
historian Shelby Foote wrote in The Civil War: A Narrative: Fort Sumter to
Perryville.

Union Gen. Joseph Hooker started the battle. His artillery mowed down
Confederate troops who were massed in a cornfield. "Every stalk," Hooker
reported later, "was cut as closely as could have been done with a knife,
and the slain lay in rows precisely as they had stood in their ranks a
moment before."

Confederate forces under Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson succeeded in
driving the Union troops back soon after. A day of attacks and
counterattacks followed.

At sunset, the fighting ended. "Twilight came down," Foote wrote, "and the
landscape was dotted with burning haystacks, set afire by the bursting
shells. For a time the cries of wounded men of both armies came from these;
they had crawled up into the hay for shelter, but now, bled too weak to
crawl back out again, were roasted."

Pay honor and respect

As he lay on a large rock, dressed in the uniform of a Union private and
waiting between demonstrations by his group of re- enactors, Dave Gilles,
42, talked about why he decided it was important to be at Antietam this
weekend. "To honor those who have gone before us," said the father of three
from Myersville, Md., "and to pay respect to those who have yet to go."

Nearby, C.O. Williams, 33, sat with his back against a tree. He had similar
thoughts. The re-enactor from Thurmont, Md., said it's important for
Americans to be ready to sacrifice and to show they aren't going to be
scared by terrorists.

"I tell my wife that doing this is my sanity break," the registered nurse
said, especially after the "numbness" he felt this week.

Williams picked up the replica pennywhistle that he likes to play when he's
camping with other re-enactors. "I'll play the first song I ever learned,"
he said. "I think it's appropriate for this week."

The notes of Amazing Grace then rose into the air with the smoke of his
campfire.

POSTED BY: Tom Shay

Tom;

Thank you for both articles. The comparison between September 11
and September 17 certainly crossed my mind too.

And it appears also to have been on the minds of thousands of
other Americans too.

Did those who gave the last full measure of devotion at Antietam
die in vain? According to the articles, that appears to not have
been the case. We are a stronger nation today because of the
sacrifice of boys of blue and boys of gray. And we _will_ be a
stronger nation from the sacrifice of the innocent victims of New
York, the Pentagon and a farm field in Shanksville, Pa.

Your humble servant,
Gerry Mayers
Co. B, "Tom Green Rifles",
Fourth Regiment, Texas Volunteer Infantry

"I know of no fitter resting-place for a soldier than the field
on which he has nobly laid down his life."     --General Robert
Edward Lee


----- Original Message -----
From: <rotbaron@...>
To: <TalkAntietam@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001 8:19 AM
Subject: [TalkAntietam] USAToday article: 9/17/01


> From USAToday 9/17/01:
>
> "WTC attack may eclipse Antietam 139 years ago today, battle
was bloodiest
> day in U.S. history"
>
> ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD, Md. -- Even on a brilliant,
sunny day, the
> question hangs over the cornfields and country lanes here like
an ominous
> shadow.
>
> Is this still the site of the single bloodiest day in U.S.
history?
>
> Exactly 139 years ago today, an epic battle took place here. By
nightfall,
> 3,654 Union and Confederate soldiers lay dead or dying. Another
17,303 were
> wounded, and it's estimated 2,500 of those died from their
injuries; 1,717
> were missing or captured.
>
> Until Tuesday's attacks, it is feared, those were the most
horrific totals
> for one day of bloodshed on U.S. soil.
>
> Those who come here say the causes that men fought over on
Sept. 17, 1862 --
> freedom, liberty, the right to self-determination -- are more
important than
> ever.
>
> Tuesday's attacks "are not something that happened far away, so
that we have
> to debate whether or not there should be a response," Michael
Eastman, 36,
> of Clarksburg, Md., said Saturday. He was here with other Union
re-enactors
> from Company C, 2nd regiment, of the U.S. sharpshooters.
>
> "There must be a (military) response because this is our
country, this is
> our soil," Eastman said, reflecting the opinion of many
interviewed here and
> of Americans polled over the weekend.
>
> "We as Americans, each and every one of us, have to be ready to
stand
> shoulder to shoulder and defend freedom in its hour of need."
>
> Symbolism inescapable
>
> Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the
Pentagon
> just outside Washington, and the crash of a hijacked jet in
rural western
> Pennsylvania, appeared to be on the minds of everyone who came
here Saturday
> to tour the battlefields.
>
> Hundreds walked and drove through the historic sites. Many,
like Eastman,
> were here to take part in re-enactments of Civil War camp life
and fighting
> techniques.
>
> "We knew (the Antietam battle) was the bloodiest day" in U.S.
history, said
> Margaret Owenby, 55, a pediatric nurse from Arden, N.C. She and
her husband,
> Chester, stopped here on their way home from a vacation in
Canada and Maine.
> "But it didn't dawn on us that this was the anniversary."
>
> The attacks last week and the history made here "are reminders
that freedom
> is not something that you pay for once," said Rick Sweeten, 42,
a
> self-employed contractor who came here with his son's Boy Scout
Troop 44
> from Mullica Hill, N.J. "As a nation we'll always be making
sacrifices."
>
> The lesson learned in 1862 and again last week is that "freedom
doesn't come
> cheap. There's a price attached, and you need to be willing to
pay for it,"
> said Julie Rowan-Wolford, a fifth-grade teacher from Points,
W.Va.
>
> The battle here effectively ended the first of Confederate Gen.
Robert E.
> Lee's attempts to push the war into Northern territory. It
matched Lee's
> 40,000 Confederate troops against 87,000 Union soldiers under
the command of
> Gen. George B. McClellan.
>
> The fighting "came in gray, with a pearly mist that shrouded
the fields and
> woodlands, and it came with a crash of musketry, backed by the
deeper roar
> of cannon fire that mounted in volume and intensity until it
was continuous,
> jarring the earth beneath the feet of the attackers and
defenders,"
> historian Shelby Foote wrote in The Civil War: A Narrative:
Fort Sumter to
> Perryville.
>
> Union Gen. Joseph Hooker started the battle. His artillery
mowed down
> Confederate troops who were massed in a cornfield. "Every
stalk," Hooker
> reported later, "was cut as closely as could have been done
with a knife,
> and the slain lay in rows precisely as they had stood in their
ranks a
> moment before."
>
> Confederate forces under Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
succeeded in
> driving the Union troops back soon after. A day of attacks and
> counterattacks followed.
>
> At sunset, the fighting ended. "Twilight came down," Foote
wrote, "and the
> landscape was dotted with burning haystacks, set afire by the
bursting
> shells. For a time the cries of wounded men of both armies came
from these;
> they had crawled up into the hay for shelter, but now, bled too
weak to
> crawl back out again, were roasted."
>
> Pay honor and respect
>
> As he lay on a large rock, dressed in the uniform of a Union
private and
> waiting between demonstrations by his group of re- enactors,
Dave Gilles,
> 42, talked about why he decided it was important to be at
Antietam this
> weekend. "To honor those who have gone before us," said the
father of three
> from Myersville, Md., "and to pay respect to those who have yet
to go."
>
> Nearby, C.O. Williams, 33, sat with his back against a tree. He
had similar
> thoughts. The re-enactor from Thurmont, Md., said it's
important for
> Americans to be ready to sacrifice and to show they aren't
going to be
> scared by terrorists.
>
> "I tell my wife that doing this is my sanity break," the
registered nurse
> said, especially after the "numbness" he felt this week.
>
> Williams picked up the replica pennywhistle that he likes to
play when he's
> camping with other re-enactors. "I'll play the first song I
ever learned,"
> he said. "I think it's appropriate for this week."
>
> The notes of Amazing Grace then rose into the air with the
smoke of his
> campfire.
>
> POSTED BY: Tom Shay
>
>       Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>             ADVERTISEMENT
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
Service.
>
>

The  is an excellent article about Doug Bast's Boonesborough Museum of
History in today's Hagerstown Herald-Mail.

URL is:
http://www.herald-mail.com/news/2001/10/01/local/Man_lives_in_the_midst_.html

Tom Shay

Gerry,

Ditto on your comments concerning Tom's post.  I for one am proud of my
fellow countrymen's response to recent events.

Also, since the group has been quiet lately would you pardon an off topic
question?  Are any TalkAntietam members going to the North-South Skirmish
Association competition this coming weekend in Winchester?  For those of you
who are interested in Artillery and haven't been to the competition, you'll
have a chance to see quite an array of cannon firing live rounds at targets
downrange.  I have been to most of these competitions in Winchester over the
past few years and have truly enjoyed myself.

David Lutton
Hollidaysburg Pa
----- Original Message -----
From: NJ Rebel <gerry1952@...>
To: <TalkAntietam@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001 6:58 PM
Subject: Re: [TalkAntietam] USAToday article: 9/17/01


> Tom;
>
> Thank you for both articles. The comparison between September 11
> and September 17 certainly crossed my mind too.
>
> And it appears also to have been on the minds of thousands of
> other Americans too.
>
> Did those who gave the last full measure of devotion at Antietam
> die in vain? According to the articles, that appears to not have
> been the case. We are a stronger nation today because of the
> sacrifice of boys of blue and boys of gray. And we _will_ be a
> stronger nation from the sacrifice of the innocent victims of New
> York, the Pentagon and a farm field in Shanksville, Pa.
>
> Your humble servant,
> Gerry Mayers
> Co. B, "Tom Green Rifles",
> Fourth Regiment, Texas Volunteer Infantry
>
> "I know of no fitter resting-place for a soldier than the field
> on which he has nobly laid down his life."     --General Robert
> Edward Lee
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <rotbaron@...>
> To: <TalkAntietam@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001 8:19 AM
> Subject: [TalkAntietam] USAToday article: 9/17/01
>
>
> > From USAToday 9/17/01:
> >
> > "WTC attack may eclipse Antietam 139 years ago today, battle
> was bloodiest
> > day in U.S. history"
> >
> > ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD, Md. -- Even on a brilliant,
> sunny day, the
> > question hangs over the cornfields and country lanes here like
> an ominous
> > shadow.
> >
> > Is this still the site of the single bloodiest day in U.S.
> history?
> >
> > Exactly 139 years ago today, an epic battle took place here. By
> nightfall,
> > 3,654 Union and Confederate soldiers lay dead or dying. Another
> 17,303 were
> > wounded, and it's estimated 2,500 of those died from their
> injuries; 1,717
> > were missing or captured.
> >
> > Until Tuesday's attacks, it is feared, those were the most
> horrific totals
> > for one day of bloodshed on U.S. soil.
> >
> > Those who come here say the causes that men fought over on
> Sept. 17, 1862 --
> > freedom, liberty, the right to self-determination -- are more
> important than
> > ever.
> >
> > Tuesday's attacks "are not something that happened far away, so
> that we have
> > to debate whether or not there should be a response," Michael
> Eastman, 36,
> > of Clarksburg, Md., said Saturday. He was here with other Union
> re-enactors
> > from Company C, 2nd regiment, of the U.S. sharpshooters.
> >
> > "There must be a (military) response because this is our
> country, this is
> > our soil," Eastman said, reflecting the opinion of many
> interviewed here and
> > of Americans polled over the weekend.
> >
> > "We as Americans, each and every one of us, have to be ready to
> stand
> > shoulder to shoulder and defend freedom in its hour of need."
> >
> > Symbolism inescapable
> >
> > Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the
> Pentagon
> > just outside Washington, and the crash of a hijacked jet in
> rural western
> > Pennsylvania, appeared to be on the minds of everyone who came
> here Saturday
> > to tour the battlefields.
> >
> > Hundreds walked and drove through the historic sites. Many,
> like Eastman,
> > were here to take part in re-enactments of Civil War camp life
> and fighting
> > techniques.
> >
> > "We knew (the Antietam battle) was the bloodiest day" in U.S.
> history, said
> > Margaret Owenby, 55, a pediatric nurse from Arden, N.C. She and
> her husband,
> > Chester, stopped here on their way home from a vacation in
> Canada and Maine.
> > "But it didn't dawn on us that this was the anniversary."
> >
> > The attacks last week and the history made here "are reminders
> that freedom
> > is not something that you pay for once," said Rick Sweeten, 42,
> a
> > self-employed contractor who came here with his son's Boy Scout
> Troop 44
> > from Mullica Hill, N.J. "As a nation we'll always be making
> sacrifices."
> >
> > The lesson learned in 1862 and again last week is that "freedom
> doesn't come
> > cheap. There's a price attached, and you need to be willing to
> pay for it,"
> > said Julie Rowan-Wolford, a fifth-grade teacher from Points,
> W.Va.
> >
> > The battle here effectively ended the first of Confederate Gen.
> Robert E.
> > Lee's attempts to push the war into Northern territory. It
> matched Lee's
> > 40,000 Confederate troops against 87,000 Union soldiers under
> the command of
> > Gen. George B. McClellan.
> >
> > The fighting "came in gray, with a pearly mist that shrouded
> the fields and
> > woodlands, and it came with a crash of musketry, backed by the
> deeper roar
> > of cannon fire that mounted in volume and intensity until it
> was continuous,
> > jarring the earth beneath the feet of the attackers and
> defenders,"
> > historian Shelby Foote wrote in The Civil War: A Narrative:
> Fort Sumter to
> > Perryville.
> >
> > Union Gen. Joseph Hooker started the battle. His artillery
> mowed down
> > Confederate troops who were massed in a cornfield. "Every
> stalk," Hooker
> > reported later, "was cut as closely as could have been done
> with a knife,
> > and the slain lay in rows precisely as they had stood in their
> ranks a
> > moment before."
> >
> > Confederate forces under Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
> succeeded in
> > driving the Union troops back soon after. A day of attacks and
> > counterattacks followed.
> >
> > At sunset, the fighting ended. "Twilight came down," Foote
> wrote, "and the
> > landscape was dotted with burning haystacks, set afire by the
> bursting
> > shells. For a time the cries of wounded men of both armies came
> from these;
> > they had crawled up into the hay for shelter, but now, bled too
> weak to
> > crawl back out again, were roasted."
> >
> > Pay honor and respect
> >
> > As he lay on a large rock, dressed in the uniform of a Union
> private and
> > waiting between demonstrations by his group of re- enactors,
> Dave Gilles,
> > 42, talked about why he decided it was important to be at
> Antietam this
> > weekend. "To honor those who have gone before us," said the
> father of three
> > from Myersville, Md., "and to pay respect to those who have yet
> to go."
> >
> > Nearby, C.O. Williams, 33, sat with his back against a tree. He
> had similar
> > thoughts. The re-enactor from Thurmont, Md., said it's
> important for
> > Americans to be ready to sacrifice and to show they aren't
> going to be
> > scared by terrorists.
> >
> > "I tell my wife that doing this is my sanity break," the
> registered nurse
> > said, especially after the "numbness" he felt this week.
> >
> > Williams picked up the replica pennywhistle that he likes to
> play when he's
> > camping with other re-enactors. "I'll play the first song I
> ever learned,"
> > he said. "I think it's appropriate for this week."
> >
> > The notes of Amazing Grace then rose into the air with the
> smoke of his
> > campfire.
> >
> > POSTED BY: Tom Shay
> >
> >       Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
> >             ADVERTISEMENT
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
> Service.
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

There was also an article recently in AAA World which was
excellent indeed!

Your humble servant,
Gerry Mayers
Co. B, "Tom Green Rifles",
Fourth Regiment, Texas Volunteer Infantry

"I know of no fitter resting-place for a soldier than the field
on which he has nobly laid down his life."     --General Robert
Edward Lee


----- Original Message -----
From: <rotbaron@...>
To: <TalkAntietam@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2001 7:51 AM
Subject: [TalkAntietam] Boonsboro Museum: article


> The  is an excellent article about Doug Bast's Boonesborough
Museum of
> History in today's Hagerstown Herald-Mail.
>
> URL is:
>
http://www.herald-mail.com/news/2001/10/01/local/Man_lives_in_the
_midst_.html
>
> Tom Shay
>
>
>       Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>             ADVERTISEMENT
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
Service.
>
>

At Antietam this weekend (Oct 6-7)......

Technology of War - Park volunteers dressed as Civil War soldiers will
demonstrate how advancing military technology influenced the Civil War. The
program will include artillery firings, musket firings, cavalry
demonstrations and tactical maneuvers.

Tom Shay

I'll be on the battlefield at Sharpsburg on Sunday (10/14/01) with a
group of Scouts from Mohnton, PA.  I do this with them every October
and we have a very good time touring the place.  One year we even
teamed up with a group from West Chester, New York and recreated the
two 51st's taking Rohrbach's Bridge!  THAT was an event that I, and a
few of the lads, will never forget!  They did a better job at
recreating the historic event than most reenactments that I've been
in! ;-)

If you're in the area and see a small mountain wearing an artillery
sergeant's uniform of the blue variety, wander closer and say good
day!  We usually do the hike of the Ninth Corps end of the field in
the fore-noon and then pay our respects at the National Cemetery
before sounding The General and heading back for home.

Mark  A. Pflum

Hurrah for the Artillery!

Mark,
Enjoy the hike....the field is pretty this time of year with the
fall foliage.

If you happen to be up in The Cornfield area at all, please pay
your respects at the Texas monument for me.

Your humble servant,
Gerry Mayers
Co. B, "Tom Green Rifles",
Fourth Regiment, Texas Volunteer Infantry

"I know of no fitter resting-place for a soldier than the field
on which he has nobly laid down his life."     --General Robert
Edward Lee


----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark A. Pflum" <ringgold_redleg@...>
To: <TalkAntietam@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2001 10:33 PM
Subject: [TalkAntietam] This just in . . .


> I'll be on the battlefield at Sharpsburg on Sunday (10/14/01)
with a
> group of Scouts from Mohnton, PA.  I do this with them every
October
> and we have a very good time touring the place.  One year we
even
> teamed up with a group from West Chester, New York and
recreated the
> two 51st's taking Rohrbach's Bridge!  THAT was an event that I,
and a
> few of the lads, will never forget!  They did a better job at
> recreating the historic event than most reenactments that I've
been
> in! ;-)
>
> If you're in the area and see a small mountain wearing an
artillery
> sergeant's uniform of the blue variety, wander closer and say
good
> day!  We usually do the hike of the Ninth Corps end of the
field in
> the fore-noon and then pay our respects at the National
Cemetery
> before sounding The General and heading back for home.
>
> Mark  A. Pflum
>
> Hurrah for the Artillery!
>
>
>       Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>             ADVERTISEMENT
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
Service.
>
>

just a few lines to introduce myself i am from the uk and have
visited the states with my wife for the last 6 years we visit in sept
so we can be in sharpsburg for the festival antietam is our favourit
battle field i am new to discussion groups so if this is out of order
sorry.

           steve

Steve,

Welcome to the group! As you can tell it is pretty quite lately.  If you can
stimulate a discussion topic please do!

David Lutton
----- Original Message -----
From: <stephen.connor2@...>
To: <TalkAntietam@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2001 5:40 PM
Subject: [TalkAntietam] just saying hello


> just a few lines to introduce myself i am from the uk and have
> visited the states with my wife for the last 6 years we visit in sept
> so we can be in sharpsburg for the festival antietam is our favourit
> battle field i am new to discussion groups so if this is out of order
> sorry.
>
>           steve
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

David;

IIRC, the Union crossing of the Potomac by the Sixth US Army
Corps resulted in what was known on the Federal side as the
Battle of Boteler's Ford. The Confederates would have named it
after the nearest town, being Shepherdstown.

I do not know if this helps, but perhaps some others in the group
might be able to assist.

Your humble servant,
Gerry Mayers
Co. B, "Tom Green Rifles",
Fourth Regiment, Texas Volunteer Infantry

"I know of no fitter resting-place for a soldier than the field
on which he has nobly laid down his life."     --General Robert
Edward Lee


----- Original Message -----
From: "David Lutton" <dunkerch@...>
To: <TalkAntietam@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2001 8:19 PM
Subject: [TalkAntietam] Action at Shepherstown


Last weekend,  I was in the area looking at the location of the
action that took place on the 19th and 20th at Shepherdstown.
In Dr. Harsh's book he describes Hill's troops forming up at the
intersection of Trough Rd and the Charlestown Pike, with the main
action occurring on the west side of Trough Rd.  I drove out
Charlestown Pike (I forget what the modern road number is now) to
the intersection with Trough Rd.  It seemed to me that this
intersection was quite far from Shepherdstown.  Now to my
question,  what combat is Dr. Harsh describing that occurred near
this intersection?

David Lutton

Evening All,

	 I found an advertisement for a 4 tape program titled "Civil War Minutes
of the back cover of CWTI. I've ordered my copy and was wondering if
anyone on this group had seen it. According to Brian Pohanka the format
is very similar to "Civil War Journal."
	 The web site for the tape or DVD collection is
http://www.CivilWarMinutes.com .

Regards,
Teej

The battle of Boteler¡¯s Ford or Shepherdstown

Per Dyer¡¯s Compendium of the War of the Rebelion the
Order of battle for the Union Forces is as follows:
Killed 71, wounded 161, Captured or Missing 131,
aggregate 363.
2nd Inf regt District of Columbia
3rd Indiana Cav Regt
8th Illinois Cav Regt
2nd and 20th Maine Inf Regts
1st Mass Cav Regt
B battery 3rd Mass Cav
2nd Co Mass Sharpshooters
9th 18th, 22nd Mass Inf Regt
Battery C 1st RI Artillery Regt
1st 4th and 16th Mich Inf Regt
1st 12th 13th 14th 17th 25th 44th NY Inf Regts
3rd 4th 6th 8th 62nd 83rd and 116th Pa Inf Regts
E battery 1st US artillery Regt
A,B,L,M,K Batteries 2nd US Artillery Regt
5th and 6th US Cav Regts
C & G Batteries 3rd US Artillery Regt
G Battery 4th US Artillery Regt
1st US Sharpshooters
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 6th 10th 11th 12th 14th and 17th US
Infantry Regts

The ford first played a factor prior to the battle of
Antietam with the Potomac at Lee¡¯s back there was
only one crossing point, Boteler¡¯s Ford, near the
village of Shepherdstown, where Jackson was expected
to arrive.

At 2 PM on the 17th A.P. Hill¡¯s Div arrrived at the
ford and crossed after a six and ¨ö hour forced march.
By 2:30 PM the Lee had the assurance that his division
was at hand and could be used to stop Burnside.

On the night of the 18th Confederate sentinels stood
with torches to light the crossing into Virginia.
Crossing back into the Confederacy the 18th
Mississippi band struck up with ¡°Carry Me Back to Old
Virginny.¡±   During the early morning Gen Walker¡¯s
rear guard reported that everything had crossed except
a battery of artillery and some wagons with wounded.
Union Cavalry arrived around 8AM to see the on the
south bank 44 pieces of artillery supported by two
brigades of infantry.  The 18 guns of the Union
Cavalry were brought up and for two hours the forces
engaged in a artillery dual.  Around 10 AM the lead
elements of the V Corps (Gen Porter) arrived and he
deployed the 1 USSS in the dry canal of the C&O
parallel to the north bank of the river. As the
sharpshooters were picking off the artillery men.
Pendleton was in command of the rear guard this was
his first Infantry command.  With less than 600 men in
two brigades He was ordering men forward that he did
not have.  As dusk fell and the Confederates began to
fall back a Federal group of 500 men crossed the ford
and captured a battery of guns (four).  Pendleton
reported during the night to Lee that he feared he had
lost all of his 44 guns in the withdraw.  Jackson none
too happy with the performance of Pendleton took
matters into his own hands and ordered AP Hill to be
ready to march to the river at dawn.  During the night
McClellan dispatched three brigades to the south bank
of the river.  Sykes lead brigade crossed the river at
7 AM  on the 19th. A mile south of the ford these
forces meet the lead elements of Hills division. Sykes
pulled back to the bluffs by the river and then on
order from Porter withdrew across the river along with
another that had crossed after his. Barnes Brigade in
the mean while had crossed and turned north. He sent
the 118th Pa up a ravine to the top of an 80 foot
cliff . While the regiment was forming a line along
the top of the cliff the Division of AP Hill appeared
to the south about one mile away.  Advancing on a
front of three brigades the forces would flank the
regt easily.  While Barnes was leading the other
elements of his regiment across the river one
lieutenant from the Bde informed the commander of the
118th Pa (Col Prevost) of the withdraw.  Col Prevost
refused to withdraw without orders from the Bde
commander.  As the Confederate forces advanced the
Union guns across the river opened up and began to
slow the advance.   Here the 118th returned fire but
many of their enfields would not shoot (this regiment
was green and this was it¡¯s first combat) due to the
mainsprings being too light on the fall to explode the
percussion cap.  The union right flank attempted to
counter attack the Confederate elements flanking them.
When the center of the regiment saw this they took it
for a withdrawal and started to retire. Col Prevost
attempted to rally the troops and was hit by a
confederate bullet. LTC Gwyn assumed command and the
regiment was able to hold for 30 mins or so.  When the
order to withdraw the troops lost there discipline and
a wild rush to the river ensued. As the regiment
attempted to withdraw via the ravine they were cut
down by the confederates firing down on them from both
sides.  When the remainder of the regiment reached the
foot of the cliff near the river their retreat was
blocked by confederate marksman in the old mill. Those
that could attempted to  swim the river and were cut
down mid stream.  Around 2 PM those that could make it
across had made the Maryland shore. The Union
Sharpshooters forced the Confederates to withdraw to
safety. The 118th loss 269 men of the 750 on the
roster.

Hope this is what you were looking for.
VR
James Mattes


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can any one recommend any good books on antietam / south montain
is the book by farasino (not sure of spelling)any good
thanks . steve...........

Bill Frasanito's book is good reading, but not to understand the battle.  I
recommend Joe Harsh's new book Taken at the Flood to understand the
Confederate side, and Murfin's Gleam of Bayonets as a reasonable overview of
the battle.  A good summary piece is Perry Jamieson's Death in September.


stephen.connor2@... wrote:

> can any one recommend any good books on antietam / south montain
> is the book by farasino (not sure of spelling)any good
> thanks . steve...........
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

I alway give out three to four books to some of my
soldiers here in Maryland when they go off to the
advanced NCO course (part of their battlefield
studies). The first is the US Army War College Guide
to the Battle of Anteitam by Luvaas and Nelson, Second
is Landscape Turned Red by Stephen Sears, third the
Murfin book, Frassantito deals more with the
photograhic history of the site, A very good short
read is the Time Life book "Bloody April" part of the
Civil War Series. I have picked up several copies over
the years at used bookstores for a song,  very cheap.
VR
James Mattes

--- Tom Clemens <clemens@...> wrote:
> Bill Frasanito's book is good reading, but not to
> understand the battle.  I
> recommend Joe Harsh's new book Taken at the Flood to
> understand the
> Confederate side, and Murfin's Gleam of Bayonets as
> a reasonable overview of
> the battle.  A good summary piece is Perry
> Jamieson's Death in September.
>
>
> stephen.connor2@... wrote:
>
> > can any one recommend any good books on antietam /
> south montain
> > is the book by farasino (not sure of spelling)any
> good
> > thanks . steve...........
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> > begin:vcard
> n:Clemens;Tom
> tel;home:301-432-2522
> tel;work:301-790-2800 x298
> x-mozilla-html:FALSE
> adr:;;;;;;
> version:2.1
> email;internet:clemens@...
> fn:Tom Clemens
> end:vcard
>


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Hello everyone,

Came across a very interesting site that provides 360 degree
panoramas of various civil war battlefields including Antietam.  Do
check it out... it is worth it.

http://www.jatruck.com/stonewall/

Very best,

Moe

I just started reading "Burnside's Bridge" by Phillip Tucker.

Anyone have an opinion on this book? Any glaring errors I should keep watch
for? All reviews (good or bad) are welcome!

Tom Shay - Cressona, PA

Tom,
I wrote a review of it for somebody, don't remember who right now.  It is OK, a
few minor factual errors, but some good research.  His main theme was my main
issue.  First he narrows Toombs force to 300 men, which is too small a figure,
and then he makes repeated comparisons to them and the 300 Spartans at
Thermopylae.  Obviuosly the comparsison are weak, and i think he'd been bettre
off to simply acknowledge that Toombs did an effective job of denying use of
the bridge to the Federals for several hours.
Tom Clemens

rotbaron@... wrote:

> I just started reading "Burnside's Bridge" by Phillip Tucker.
>
> Anyone have an opinion on this book? Any glaring errors I should keep watch
> for? All reviews (good or bad) are welcome!
>
> Tom Shay - Cressona, PA
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Tom,

Leaving the references to King Leonidas and his fellow heroic Lacedaemonians
aside, (my favorite military campaign),  I did find  the book instructive on
the service performed by Toombs' men after their repulse from the bridge
area in the final repulse of the 9th Corps.


David Lutton
Hollidaysburg PA
----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Clemens <clemens@...>
To: <TalkAntietam@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 10:34 AM
Subject: Re: [TalkAntietam] Burnsides Bridge by Tucker


> Tom,
> I wrote a review of it for somebody, don't remember who right now.  It is
OK, a
> few minor factual errors, but some good research.  His main theme was my
main
> issue.  First he narrows Toombs force to 300 men, which is too small a
figure,
> and then he makes repeated comparisons to them and the 300 Spartans at
> Thermopylae.  Obviuosly the comparsison are weak, and i think he'd been
bettre
> off to simply acknowledge that Toombs did an effective job of denying use
of
> the bridge to the Federals for several hours.
> Tom Clemens
>
> rotbaron@... wrote:
>
> > I just started reading "Burnside's Bridge" by Phillip Tucker.
> >
> > Anyone have an opinion on this book? Any glaring errors I should keep
watch
> > for? All reviews (good or bad) are welcome!
> >
> > Tom Shay - Cressona, PA
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

I thought the handwaving statistics near the end that compared
Toombs losses with AP Hills' losses which overall 'proved' that
Toombs did most of the repulsing of the IX corps, kind of left
a bad impression.

rotbaron@... wrote:
>
> I just started reading "Burnside's Bridge" by Phillip Tucker.
>
> Anyone have an opinion on this book? Any glaring errors I should keep watch
> for? All reviews (good or bad) are welcome!
>

David,
Yes indeed, many accounts ignor that brigade's accomplishments after the stand
at the bridge, and the two other  regiments join them.  Keith Snyder, NPS
ranger, refers to Toombs as the energizer bunny of Antietam.  Agreed.


David Lutton wrote:

> Tom,
>
> Leaving the references to King Leonidas and his fellow heroic Lacedaemonians
> aside, (my favorite military campaign),  I did find  the book instructive on
> the service performed by Toombs' men after their repulse from the bridge
> area in the final repulse of the 9th Corps.
>
> David Lutton
> Hollidaysburg PA
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Tom Clemens <clemens@...>
> To: <TalkAntietam@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 10:34 AM
> Subject: Re: [TalkAntietam] Burnsides Bridge by Tucker
>
> > Tom,
> > I wrote a review of it for somebody, don't remember who right now.  It is
> OK, a
> > few minor factual errors, but some good research.  His main theme was my
> main
> > issue.  First he narrows Toombs force to 300 men, which is too small a
> figure,
> > and then he makes repeated comparisons to them and the 300 Spartans at
> > Thermopylae.  Obviuosly the comparsison are weak, and i think he'd been
> bettre
> > off to simply acknowledge that Toombs did an effective job of denying use
> of
> > the bridge to the Federals for several hours.
> > Tom Clemens
> >
> > rotbaron@... wrote:
> >
> > > I just started reading "Burnside's Bridge" by Phillip Tucker.
> > >
> > > Anyone have an opinion on this book? Any glaring errors I should keep
> watch
> > > for? All reviews (good or bad) are welcome!
> > >
> > > Tom Shay - Cressona, PA
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

I recall mention (while on Antietam tour this summer) that a bus trip had
just been on the field featuring a "Ghost Tour".  With this being Halloween,
can anyone offer some ghostly tales or locales they've heard about Antietam?

Any news on who gives these tours?

I know Gettysburg has turned it's ghostly legends into a budding industry,
but I've little about Antietam's hauntings.

Tom Shay - GO YANKEES!

Tom,
There is no Ghost industry at Sharpsburg or ANB at this present time much to
my surprise and delight.

As far as tales of the ghostly, near anniversary date of the battle, many
people in town have reported hearing bands playing,the clinking of tinware,
and the tramp of hundreds of marching feet down the main street, yet when
they look outside nary an instrument, tin cup and canteen, nor any great
gathering of marching men can be seen.

The Pry house is haunted by a lady in white. Not sure who she is, Mrs. Pry,
Mrs. Richardson, or some other poor unfortunate lady of the house, she once
scared away a gang of workmen replacing the kitchen floor while they were
eating their lunch. She tread where no floor was currently causing a hasty
retreat of workmen back to their shop minus their tools. Refusing to go back
to the work site, the boss had to retreive their tools. Paul Chiles when he
lived in the house was known to sleep with a loaded gun under his pillow so
he would not get any surprise or caught unawares by a person or persons of
this world or not. My own wife has been touch by the woman during a historic
dinner party held in the Richardson Room. She is now afraid to go near the
house.

Some years ago a troop of Boys Scouts told of hearing some drunken
foreigners singing in their native tongues what several boyscouts said was
Jingle Bells. Though no one was seen trespassing on what then was private
land, the Ranger that was told of the infraction thought about for awhile
and realized that what they may have heard was the Gaelic shout of the Irish
Brigade shouting "Fallah Baileah! (Clear the Way!)" from the other side
where many of the Irish of that famed brigade fell in death suddenly.

I can assure you there is a cold spot on the VC side of the road across from
the Dunker Church. I have felt it and dragged my wife through without
telling her what I was doing.

Reporting from the haunted fields of Sharpsburg and Antietam,
Kevin Rawlings

-----Original Message-----
From: rotbaron@... [mailto:rotbaron@...]
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 12:08 PM
To: TalkAntietam@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [TalkAntietam] Ghost tales of Antietam?


I recall mention (while on Antietam tour this summer) that a bus trip had
just been on the field featuring a "Ghost Tour".  With this being Halloween,

can anyone offer some ghostly tales or locales they've heard about Antietam?

Any news on who gives these tours?

I know Gettysburg has turned it's ghostly legends into a budding industry,
but I've little about Antietam's hauntings.

Tom Shay - GO YANKEES!






Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

In a message dated 10/31/2001 12:42:32 PM EST, kevin.rawlings@... writes:
<< There is no Ghost industry at Sharpsburg or ANB at this present time much
to my surprise and delight >>

Kevin, thanks for the stories. I've yet to experience the para-normal on any
battlefield.

I once left the Visitor Center quite aghast. Of course the shock was merely
from the bill of my book purchases!

Tom Shay - GO NY YANKEES!

Last time I pulled my wife through somewhere without telling her I was
welcomed with a good hard punch to the forearm!

Ray

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rawlings, Kevin" <kevin.rawlings@...>
To: <TalkAntietam@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 9:38 AM
Subject: RE: [TalkAntietam] Ghost tales of Antietam?


> Tom,
> There is no Ghost industry at Sharpsburg or ANB at this present time much
to
> my surprise and delight.
>
> As far as tales of the ghostly, near anniversary date of the battle, many
> people in town have reported hearing bands playing,the clinking of
tinware,
> and the tramp of hundreds of marching feet down the main street, yet when
> they look outside nary an instrument, tin cup and canteen, nor any great
> gathering of marching men can be seen.
>
> The Pry house is haunted by a lady in white. Not sure who she is, Mrs.
Pry,
> Mrs. Richardson, or some other poor unfortunate lady of the house, she
once
> scared away a gang of workmen replacing the kitchen floor while they were
> eating their lunch. She tread where no floor was currently causing a hasty
> retreat of workmen back to their shop minus their tools. Refusing to go
back
> to the work site, the boss had to retreive their tools. Paul Chiles when
he
> lived in the house was known to sleep with a loaded gun under his pillow
so
> he would not get any surprise or caught unawares by a person or persons of
> this world or not. My own wife has been touch by the woman during a
historic
> dinner party held in the Richardson Room. She is now afraid to go near the
> house.
>
> Some years ago a troop of Boys Scouts told of hearing some drunken
> foreigners singing in their native tongues what several boyscouts said was
> Jingle Bells. Though no one was seen trespassing on what then was private
> land, the Ranger that was told of the infraction thought about for awhile
> and realized that what they may have heard was the Gaelic shout of the
Irish
> Brigade shouting "Fallah Baileah! (Clear the Way!)" from the other side
> where many of the Irish of that famed brigade fell in death suddenly.
>
> I can assure you there is a cold spot on the VC side of the road across
from
> the Dunker Church. I have felt it and dragged my wife through without
> telling her what I was doing.
>
> Reporting from the haunted fields of Sharpsburg and Antietam,
> Kevin Rawlings
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rotbaron@... [mailto:rotbaron@...]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 12:08 PM
> To: TalkAntietam@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [TalkAntietam] Ghost tales of Antietam?
>
>
> I recall mention (while on Antietam tour this summer) that a bus trip had
> just been on the field featuring a "Ghost Tour".  With this being
Halloween,
>
> can anyone offer some ghostly tales or locales they've heard about
Antietam?
>
> Any news on who gives these tours?
>
> I know Gettysburg has turned it's ghostly legends into a budding industry,
> but I've little about Antietam's hauntings.
>
> Tom Shay - GO YANKEES!
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

Yeah, I've had that out of body experience myself also. Wilmer Mumma has a
ghost book out on the stories in the Sharpsburg area you might look into.

Kevin






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