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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2672
Location: New Jersey | Subject: Antietam/Sharpsburg Battlefield
Spent over 4 hours yesterday with a friend touring this beautiful battlefield sanctuary. It was sunny, windy and cool and with very few visitors we had the run of the place. I can't describe the feeling s I had as I walked these hallowed grounds. We walked the length of Sunken Road or Bloody Lane. Looking through the slats in the fence I tired to imagine what was going through the minds of the confederates laying there waiting for the union soldiers to crest the rise. It was a particularly solemn moment for me. The only pictures I took was of Bloody Lane and Burnsides Bridge. Visiting Burnsides bridge brings you to the rear of where the Georgians were laying in wait, with some of the dug rifle pits still visible. They were on a rise overlooking the Antietam Creek. Had a perfectly clear shot at the union soldiers. We walked onto the bridge and looked around and tried to imagine the troops attempting the crossing and getting picked off. It must have been a terrible day.
Consider these losses:
To view the magnitude of the losses, consider that Antietam resulted in nine times as many Americans killed or wounded (23,000 soldiers) as took place on June 6, 1944--D-day, the so-called "longest day" of World War II.* Also consider that more soldiers were killed and wounded at the Battle of Antietam than the deaths of all Americans in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War, and Spanish-American War combined.
It also resulted in Lincoln finally firing George McClellan, "Mr Over Cautious...." Who kept 30,000 troops out of the battle in case he needed them?????? When Lincoln implored him to give chase to Lee, McClellan said he need to rest his horses and men. Lincoln wrote back, what did they do that they needed rest.
A visit well worth making. |
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Old Salt
Posts: 431
| Subject: RE: Antietam/Sharpsburg Battlefield
I went to Antietam some years back with my wife and son, As we stood at the beginning of Bloody Lane I could feel something eerie. It was like there was still souls there, from having too many men die there. I have never felt that on a battlefield before or since.
Later in the car my son said, "That was spooky".
I asked what he meant.
He said, "The soldiers were still there"
My wife agreed.
I cant explain it better than that. |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2561
Location: Rapid City, SD | Subject: Have you ever been to the Battleground of the Little Big Horn in Montana?
Custer's troops and the killed Sioux and Cheyenne are still there, too.
Cora |
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Old Salt
Posts: 419
Location: Anchorage, Alaska | Subject: RE: Antietam/Sharpsburg Battlefield
I agree with you and Joe both, Mike.
I've been there several times. I've got a great-uncle, lost there in The Cornfield, Lt. Edwin Dallis of the 13th Georgia.
There is definitely an "other world" presence on that battlefield.
Did you visit the cemetery? There are no Confederate graves that I could find.
Edited by Park Dallis 2007-11-07 5:15 PM
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1431
| Subject: RE: Antietam/Sharpsburg Battlefield
I seopped there once a long time ago on my way from DC to Vermont. It is hard to believe all those men fallen in that lane. I didn't hear any thing out of the natural while I was there. I have visited a number of former battlefields and have felt the history and suffering , but the one time I visited Appomatox, I felt nothing but peace and tranquility. |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1814
Location: Boydton, Virginia | Subject: RE: Antietam/Sharpsburg Battlefield
At the 135th anniversary reenactment of Sharpsburg a veteran reenactor was in hospitol recovering from heart problems. He checked himself out prematurly, went into battle of the cornfield and died there. There is a monument dedicated to him there now. (we do not reenact on actual battleground, but close by).
I had that same eirie experience at 140th Gettysburg. By special permission we had an escorted ride over battlefield. When we rode over Picketts field all riders fell very silent and many remarked that evening over campfires how it effected them. There is so much blood
still in that soil that it seemd to cry out to us.
Steamboat sends |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2561
Location: Rapid City, SD | Subject: This from Gettysburg Cemetery
REST ON EMBALMED AND SAINTED DEAD,
DEAR AS THE BLOOD YE GAVE,
NO IMPIOUS FOOTSTEP HERE SHALL TREAD
THE HERBAGE OF YOUR GRAVE. |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 877
| Subject: RE: Antietam/Sharpsburg Battlefield
steamboat - 2007-11-07 7:11 PM
At the 135th anniversary reenactment of Sharpsburg a veteran reenactor was in hospitol recovering from heart problems. He checked himself out prematurly, went into battle of the cornfield and died there. There is a monument dedicated to him there now. (we do not reenact on actual battleground, but close by).
I had that same eirie experience at 140th Gettysburg. By special permission we had an escorted ride over battlefield. When we rode over Picketts field all riders fell very silent and many remarked that evening over campfires how it effected them. There is so much blood
still in that soil that it seemd to cry out to us.
Steamboat sends
I get that feeling every time I go to Gettysburg.. modern life, noises, etc. just fade away. It also happened to me when I visited Dachau concentration camp in 1986.. the minute I crossed into the camp...everything just died away. And the "noises".. of battle, severe firefights.. I "heard" them a few weeks before my visit to Dachau, when I was walking along the Perimeter in Oosterbeek, Holland.. where the remnants of the British 1st Airborne Division held out against the Germans in 1944.. very eerie. |
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Old Salt
Posts: 431
| Subject: RE: Have you ever been to the Battleground of the Little Big Horn in Montana?
Corabelle - 2007-11-07 6:11 PM
Custer's troops and the killed Sioux and Cheyenne are still there, too.
Cora
Ive never been to Little Big Horn I would love to go someday.
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1454
| Subject: RE: Antietam/Sharpsburg Battlefield
Joe, you expressed every feeling I had when I visted the battlefiled. The thing that always stirkes me is the closeness of the fighting. You could throw rocks at the other side in some cases. I did not feel the same eerie presence at Gettysburg probably due to the vastness of that battlefield. I've also visited Manassas and we need to ensure the viability of that battlefield. Commercial developers have their sights on that land and more so the surrounding land. You should try and read Bruce Caton's book "A Stillness at Appomatox". You get a very real insight into the Civil War battles. |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2672
Location: New Jersey | Subject: RE: Antietam/Sharpsburg Battlefield
Tom,
Was at Manassas 20-25 years ago and they had their sites on it then according to the park ranger.
Joe |
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WWII Sub Vet
Posts: 135
| Subject: RE: Antietam/Sharpsburg Battlefield
Have any of you seen the tree stump at the Smithsonian? It came from that battle. It is about 15"-18" in diameter. The bullets were so may they actualy cut the tree down.
Warshot |
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Antietam/Sharpsburg Battlefield
