The Maryland Campaigns and 
Civil War Sites within One Hour of Washington D. C.

Ted Alexander, Historian, Antietam Battlefield;
National Park Service, Author, Remember Chambersburg!

Recorded at the Smithsonian Institution on July 28, 1998

Segment Descriptions

• Click on Segment Title to play RealAudio clip.
• Click on images with a * to enlarge image.

Introduction

• Ted Alexander is a former Marine, Vietnam Veteran, and noted Civil War expert, editor, and author. Currently, he is chief historian at Antietam National Battlefield Park and a popular Smithsonian Associates tour guide specializing in Civil War sites in the Washington region

*On Tour With Ted Alexander at Harper's Ferry

Visit the Antietam
National Battlefield
web site at
http://www.nps.gov/anti/
to view maps, photos and more.

Lee's Maryland Campaign (00:03:21)

• Fighting at Antietam began at 6 a.m. on September 17, 1862. Begins at the Miller Cornfield; that and the Dunker Meeting House may be the most recognizable Civil War battlefield landmarks.
  
  
• Lee brought 40,000 Confederates with him into Maryland, resulting in the bloodiest single battle in our history.
  
  
• Some say it was Lee’s greatest victory--even though he retreated and suffered irreplaceable casualties. 

The Dunker Church, 1862
National Archives Photo

Photography at Antietam (00:02:29)

• Antietam was the first well-photographed battle site.  Brady's photos of the dead shocked his customers and sold like hotcakes.  
  
  
• The reality of the photos were in sharp contrast to the romantic, bloodless paintings which had been the only graphic image civilians had experienced previously.

• Ted discusses the Brady pictures--the grim scenes of battle, Bloody Lane, Burnside Bridge.

Visit the Brady Studio at the National Portrait Gallery

The Dead at the Dunker Church

*Burnside Bridge at Antietam
National Archives Photos

Who Really Won at Antietam? (00:02:57)

• Whether the battle was a draw or a victory for Lee, the most significant outcome was Lincoln's decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation; the second, that Europe remained out of the war.

• It was the true Confederate "high-water mark," and brought the horrors of the war to the North for the first time.  

• SHAF (Save Historic Antietam Foundation) is dedicated to preserving these sites and protecting them from over- development.

Visit the National Archives site to view the Emancipation Proclamation

Caring For the Wounded and the Dead (00:3:22)

• During the Civil War, the wounded often lay on the battlefield for days. Those dead were quickly placed in unmarked graves or buried in trenches with their comrades.
  
  
• Clara Barton monument; the locations of sites used as hospitals after the battle have been identified and marked.
  
  
• The horrific impact of the dead and wounded on the local population who were left to tend to them, and who would forever live with the memory.
  
  
• Why were so many soldiers unknown and so many Confederates left unburied? Ted gives a realistic description of a burial detail.

*Caring for the wounded at hospital established at Smith Farm, Keedysville, Md.

*Confederate dead at Antietam
Library of Congress Photos

Development of Civil War Battlefield Parks, Cemeteries and Monuments (00:18:24)

• In 1864 the cemetery was established by the State of Maryland. Antietam National Battlefield was established in 1890 when veterans began to idealize the war and wanted to commemorate it. It is the oldest national cemetery.
  
  
• Ted tells the story of how Old Simon came to stand guard over his comrades, and discusses other monuments found at the cemetery.
  
  
• The War Department Tablets, which give the facts at each site, were researched and written by Colonel Ezra Carman. A veteran of the battle, he became Antietam's principal historian.
  
  
• Antietam is the best preserved of all the battlefields. Its terrain is the most significant aspect of the battle and the battlefield.
  
  
• Discussion of unique monuments documenting unusual events and occurrences at Antietam. Find out why so many soldier-statues wear coats!
  
  
• Note: The cemetery was closed for new burials in 1953. However, an exception was made for Seaman Patrick Howard Ray who was killed in Yemen in October, 2000, while serving aboard the USS Cole. He was from Keedysville, Maryland, about three miles from Antietam.

Statue of "Old Simon"

Gate to Antietam National Cemetery.
This latch was designed to enable invalid veterans to open it with one hand.

Read recent news about the Irish Brigade's actions at the Battle of Antietam.

Unique Events at Antietam National Battlefield Park (00:03:50)

• A Battlefield for all Seasons:
  
  
  • Available year round--orientation programs, monument tours, artillery and living history programs, as well as self-guided tours.
    
    
  • Bicycle tours and ranger talks in summer; cross-country skiing in winter.
    
    
  • Bird watching; Fourth of July fireworks and
    concert by the Maryland Symphony. 
    
    
  • Torchlight Tour on the anniversary of the battle, September 17.
    
    
  • The Memorial Illumination--Held the first Saturday of December. Illuminaires, or candles, are lit to commemorate each of Antietam's 23,000 casualties.

Visit the National Park Service Antietam web site for a calendar of events.

Civil War Sites in the Vicinity of Antietam (00:11:15)

• Sharpsburg: The Grove House where Lee met with his staff; Lutheran Reformed Church was used as a hospital after the battle; McClellan’s headquarters at the Pry House.
  
  
• Shepherdstown: Shepherdstown Ford; Elmwood Cemetery, where many Confederates from Antietam are buried; the grave of Henry Kyd Douglas, who served on Stonewall Jackson's staff and wrote the famous memoir, I Rode with Stonewall.
  
  
• Harper's Ferry: Earthworks are still preserved, along with many Civil War era homes and buildings. On the Maryland side is the Kennedy Farm, from which John Brown staged his famous raid.
  
  
• Hagerstown: Washington Confederate Cemetery. The Confederate dead remained unburied until this site was established. The Rochester Mansion; St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
  
  
• Mercersburg: Winger home where Stuart captured the postmaster. Steiger home where Stuart had temporary headquarters. Many buildings in the area which were used as hospitals are now identified and marked.
  
  
• Williamsport: Where the Union Cavalry captured Longstreet’s ammunition and kept it out of the Battle of Antietam; also overrun by Lee's army in their retreat from Antietam.
  
  
• Other sites: Chambersburg; South Mountain; Reno Monument at Fox's Gap; Crampton’s Gap and the War Correspondent’s Memorial Arch; Murdock Farm, Jackson’s headquarters; Boonesboro and the United States Hotel.

*Lutheran Reformed Church in Sharpsburg

I Rode With Stonewall
by Henry Kyd Douglas

*Area map of Maryland and Washington DC area Civil War sites

Civil War Sites in Nearby Virginia (00:03:35)

• After Antietam, Ambrose Burnside is made commander of the Union armies. He attempts to fight Lee in Virginia, and instead leads his men to disaster in Fredericksburg. Chatham; Marye's Heights.
  
  
• Ted tells the story of Sgt. Kirkland of South Carolina (not Georgia, Ted!).
  
  
• Also discussed, the battlefields at Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and the remains of the Chancellor Mansion.

*View of Fredericksburg from Chatham Mansion

Civil War Sites Near Washington (00:06:10)

• Monocacy Battlefield, the "Battle that Saved Washington." To take Union pressure off Confederates at Petersburg, Lee sends Jubal Early and 14,000 men into Maryland.
  
  
• Worthington House where Confederates staged their attacks. Gambrill Mill is now a visitors’ center. Living
  
  history re-enactments.
• Francis Scott Key’s grave at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Confederate section has monument to Southerners who fought at Monocacy, South Mountain, and Antietam.

Gambrill Visitor's Center, Monocacy Battlefield
Photo National Park Service