My Antietam Blog

  • Sam's Antietam Fence Rail & the Irish Brigade's Park Trail

    Posted: Thursday, December 1, 2016 - 10:09pm

    One of the most exciting stories from the Battle of Antietam is young Private Samuel Cole Wright of Plympton, Massachusetts, charging toward the North Carolinians in the Sunken Road as a member of the legendary Irish Brigade. In Samuel's own words: :Some 200 yards in advance of our position, which we were holding at a terrible cost, was a fence built high and strong. The troops in advance had tried to scale the fence and reform under that hell of fire. They were actually torn in shreds and wedged into the fence. The cry came to us for volunteers to pull down the fence. Instantly there sprang from the long line, fast being shortened as the ranks closed up over the dead, seventy-six volunteers. We ran straight for the fence amid a hail of iron and lead, the dead falling all about us, but to reach the fence was our only thought. A part of the force reached it, and, as one would grasp a rail it would be sent flying out of his hands by rifle-shots. The fence leveled, we made the attempt to return, and it was as hot for us on the retreat, as it had been on the advance. Few escaped death or wounds. I had almost regained my regiment, when I was hit. The line then successfully pressed on, and the 'Sunken Road' or 'Bloody Lane' as it is now known, was within our lines."

    As a result of his actions on this day, Samuel was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Through the good graces of his great-great-great-grandson Corey MacLeod, that medal is on display at Antietam National Battlefield.

     

     After the battle, Wright took some pieces of that fence home with him. With one piece he created a cane that has two fired bullets that are wrapped in a rose-colored metal that appears to be gold. These bullets were embedded within the fence rail and were removed to turn the cane and returned to their initial location after the cane was finished. Also through the good graces of Corey MacLeod, that cane is now in my personal collection of rare Antietam artifacts.

     The folks at Antietam National Battlefield do an amazing job taking great care of this wonderful battlefield. They are taking comments until December 9th on their new ideas about how to improve the visitor experience. One idea they had that I disagree with is that they want to remove the trail that passes along the Wright's fence line and then up to the Bloody Lane along the exact path the Irish Brigade took to their destiny. To respectfully raise awareness of this trail I will post a tour of that trail over the next few days.


    You can read about and comment on their plans here.

  • When was the Bloody Lane Observation Tower built?

    Posted: Saturday, May 2, 2015 - 11:17am

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    Photographer: 
    William H. Tipton

    A lot of people are curious about when the observation tower was built in the Bloody Lane. O.T. Reilly comes to the rescue and tells us that it was in 1895. Many people have referred to the NPS Administrative History that has a report in it from 1896 that says, basically, that they just finished the tower. But these newspaper items bring us a more precise chronology of the structure's beginnings.


    O.T. Reilly wrote Sharpsburg Items in the local newspapers from 1887 until 1942, just two years before his death. I am systematically transcribing these thousands of gems because they represent the best documentation of any battlefield's memorialization period that, bar none. Not even John Bachelder left such a legacy in Gettysburg.

  • Hike to Black Rock

    Posted: Saturday, April 26, 2014 - 9:53pm

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    Photographer: 
    E.M. Recher
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    I had an incredible hike out to Black Rock today. I can see it from my house but when I have hiked it before I have only gotten to Annapolis Rocks, which is a few miles shorter a hike.

    I have a beautiful stereoview taken by E.M. Recher of some of the rocks and wanted to verify that the image is in fact Black Rock. But the fact is I was more interested this time just to see if I could do the hike without having a heart attack. I did not bring a printed copy of the image, and once i got there, I was not prepared for the onslaught of flies. So I will return soon with a copy image and some bug spray.

     

    That said, I did get some beautiful images and am confident that I was at the right spot, or at least the general area. I am not confident that I found the exact rocks, certainly not the ones in the then and now above. It occurs to me, though, that the rocks may have fallen in the 130 years since the photograph was taken, so this may take some time. Also, the rock cliffs there are very precarious and there is a very long rock slide ledge to examine, easily a quarter-mile long.

    Dangerous but beautiful place, which can be said of most of South Mountain, certainly here where you can find Black Rock, Raven Rock, and High Rock. I feel blessed to have these stunning sites right along the Appalachian Trail basically in my front yard.

     

     

  • Antietam Monuments in Connecticut Park

    Posted: Tuesday, February 18, 2014 - 9:12pm

    A few weeks ago I talked about this monument to the 11th Connecticut at Antietam, and how it was originally in Connecticut Park before being moved down by Burnside Bridge. Well it turns out that another Connecticut monument was almost placed there also, the one to the 8th Connecticut.

    Here is O.T. Reilly in the Antietam Valley Record on Friday, June 8, 1894:

    Your correspondent is in receipt of a letter from a member of the 16th Conn. regiment stating that the 8th, 11th and 16th regiments of that State, will erect monuments on the 10 acre lot of the 16th Conn., south of town, in time to be dedicated on the 17th of September next.

    The 10 acre lot referred to is called Connecticut Park. It is the north-east quadrant of Otto's forty-acre cornfield where now stands the monument to the 16th Connecticut.

    O.T. reported a little over a month later, Friday, July 20, 1894, that the plans of the Connecticut veterans had matured somewhat:

    Mr. John S. Lane and son, Harry C., of Meriden, Connecticut, who stopped at the Wyand House one night this week, were looking over the battlefield the past few days, viewing the field of carnage where Mr. Lane, Sr., helped to defend the Stars and Stripes thirty-two years ago. The State of Connecticut appropriated $1000 for each regiment of that State to be used in erecting battlefield monuments where they did their hardest fighting. Mr. Lane who is a member of the 8th Conn., bought of Mr. Uriah Gross, near Sharpsburg, a plot of ground 20 feet square for which he paid Mr. Gross $100. A monument will be erected on the spot at once and will be unveiled in October.

    So, the 8th CT monument was to be "where they did their hardest fighting" and the dedication date had been moved to October. It is amazing to think that only three months before their monuments were to be dedicated, the veterans were still finishing their plans.

    Also interesting to note the they may have crossed the Long Bridge to get to Wyand's place in Keedysville. The Wyand brothers had places across the street from each other, one a store and the other a train station/hotel. I will post some great old photos of those places soon.

  • The "Fourth" Bridge over Antietam Creek

    Posted: Sunday, February 16, 2014 - 9:42pm

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    Photographer: 
    E.M. Recher
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    sjrc-1372v-0072-edit.jpg

    Photographer: 
    E.M. Recher

    I acquired this stereoview just this last weekend. It was in an antique shop but was originally part of that Chambersburg auction last year that resulted in that hoard I bought off of eBay in December. The seller held back four train stereoviews, all with trains. Very exciting stuff.

    This is one of two of Long Bridge just west of Keedysville. It was built in 1867 by the the B&O as part of a spur from Hagerstown to Keedysville. Many of the Antietam battle veterans took this route to the battlefield. It was the longest wooden trestle east of the Mississippi. It was torn down around 1967 and all that is left is the pillars.

    I tried to get a Then and Now this past saturday, but it turns out that the remnants are on private land. Nonetheless, after much snooping and door knocking I have managed to wrangle an invitation to see the bridge on the next warm weekend. I will keep you posted.

    On a side note, the title is written on the back in O.T. Reilly'ds hand, but someone has tried to erase it and has written the same text in their own hand. This was a naughty thing to do.

  • A truly remarkable Antietam find!

    Posted: Thursday, February 13, 2014 - 8:21pm

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    Photographer: 
    B.W.T. Phreaner
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    Photographer: 
    B.W.T. Phreaner
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    This really blew me away. Probably the most important acquisition I made during the writing of my book, Rare Images of Antietam, was an album of photographs taken by a veteran of the battle named Solomon McFarland. He took many very rare images of Antietam Battlefield and I was lucky to find them right before I finished my book.

    Well, I recently bought a group of Antietam stereoviews taken by B.W.T. Phreaner. They were on an online auction so I never really got a great look at them. I only knew that they were Antietam Phreaner stereoviews, and they are quite rare. So, imagine my surprise when they came in the mail and I looked on the back and I saw that they had belonged to Solomon McFarland himself! They even had a date, 1887, which will be a real help interpreting them.

    Another cool thing is that the lot includes two stereoviews taken by Alexander Gardner of the Antieatm dead. When William Tipton wanted to re-publish those images he apparently was not able to find copies, so McFarland loaned him his. These may well be two that Tipton borrowed from McFarland. 

  • O.T. Reilly's "Battlefield Guide" Published?

    Posted: Friday, February 7, 2014 - 8:31pm

    In 1894, a few months before the Connecticut soldiers returned to Antietam to dedicate their monuments, O.T. Reilly put this in the Antietam Valley Record. I have been wanting, for a few years, to see what I can learn about this "Guide." On reading this over, I believe that the photographs were not put into this guide. O.T. did publish a photo-filled guide book in 1906, but I have never seen the guide he speaks of here. My guess is that the photographs he is talking about were taken by J.H. Wagoner. I posted one of them a few days ago, and will try to match other mentioned with photographs in my collection throughout the spring. He wrote a lot about the Connecticut soldiers and their monuments, so I will be posting as much as I can about that.

     

    The following item appeared in a recent issue of the Tolland County Leader, of Rockville, Conn:

    O.T. Reilly of Sharpsburg, Md., has lately had some photographs made of the 10 acre field at Antietam owned by the Sixteenth Conn. regt., also of the Reformed church, showing the front Memorial windowwhich was presented to the society by the regiment. He also has pictures of Burnside bridge and the two other bridges above. The Dunker church, National cemetery, Bloody Lane, Roulette's farm, McClellan's headquarters, Poffenberger's house and barn, Reno monument and other scenes of interest to soldiers and citizens. Mr. Reilly also deals in relics. A "Battlefield Guide" is a convenient and interesting work, as it gives a review of the Maryland campaign from September 1st to the 20th, 1862, and, of course, includes South Mountain battle. Any one expecting to take in the October excursion of the 8th, 11th, 14th, and 16th regiments will find in the "Guide" and these pictures much to assist them in sight seeing on that memorable bloody field.

    FERRERO.

  • Rare image of 11th CT Monument at Antietam in its 1st Position

    Posted: Tuesday, February 4, 2014 - 9:34pm
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    As a follow-up to my book Rare Images of Antietam, and as reported here, I have decided to write my next book about O.T. Reilly, Antietam's Eye-Witness Guide. In 2007, I spent a lot of time with his grand-daughter, the late Missy Kretzer, interviewing her on videotape about her experiences with her famous grandfather. During one of our sessions she commented that somewhere in the house she had a stack of old photos on 'old orange cards' from 'pop-pop's candy store.'

    One day I went over to her house and, true to her word, she handed me a stack of amazing images of Antietam Battlefield taken by J.H. Wagoner of Hagerstown that she had found in O.T.'s shop after he died. I could not believe my eyes, or her generosity, for that matter. I had read that back in 1894, O.T. hired Wagoner to take pictures of the battlefield for a guide book that was to be sold at the dedication of the Connecticut monuments in October 1894. I have never seen the book and believe it was never published. I also believe that these images Missy gave me where taken for that book and were never published and have never been seen before now.

    Typically I would not put such a rare image on the web before I had a chance to include it in my book, but it will take me another ten years to get another book out, so I figure I will just blog about my research and let people enjoy these great images as I go.

    In the days to come I will have a lot to say, in O.T.'s words, about this monument and Connecticut Park in which it sits.

  • Out in the Cascades on Falls Creek

    Posted: Saturday, January 18, 2014 - 5:08pm

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    Photographer: 
    E.M. Recher
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    A few months ago I joined the Antietam Historical Association on their tour to the site of Blue Mountain House up by Pen Mar Park. The event was run by Todd Andrew Dorsett, who is one of the most knowledgable guys on this area. I had a real blast and was glad to meet Todd. Our tour guides were two young lads, Brett Reichard and Jared Wagaman. And when I say young lads, I mean that they are in high school. I was thrilled to meet these two youngs guys who are both deep into the local history and have enthusiasm to match. It is exciting to see some new blood at these historic sites. 

    Brett has been following my Western Maryland Railroad posts and graciously offered to show me where the cascades are. E.M. Recher photographed this site back around 1880, and it has been on my list of sites to find. Brett said that since I showed him where Jack's Mountain Tunnel is, he wanted to reciprocate by showing me the Cascades.

    Well, of course it snowed last night and we (Brett, Jared, Todd, and me) planned to meet at noon because the temperature was expected to be a balmy 25 degrees. We met at Pen Mar and drove over the mountain to Falls Creek near Fort Fitchie. On our way to the site we walked a short distance on the old Western Maryland Railroad track and saw not one, but two trains on the way. BTW, we even saw one ont the way back, and it was right in the old Pen Mar cut. It was quite a thrill. 

    On the way to the cascade, Brett and Jared showed us some ruins of the old trolley bridge, which was very cool, but on the wrong side of Falls Creek to get to the Cascades. So for a few minutes we tried to cross over the creek, on rocks. Not a good idea. So, we walked thorugh the snow and brambles until we got to the train tracks and that is when the first two train passed us. I mean, Recher took those old photos because that spot was on the train line, but it is rare to see them running, and three in one day!

    We made our way down to the creek and found the exact spot where Recher had his camera. It was a real thrill. Many of the rocks were exactly the same as they had been 135 years ago. Even cracks in the rocks were the same. I felt like Fraz.

    Anyway, we took some images, and on our way out we heard a train coming up from Pen Mar. You have to understand that when the first train passed we were on the tracks but a ways from the cut. We bemoaned the fact that we did not have time to get to the cut and stand there while aa train went through it. So, when we heard a third train that would be coming through the cut, not for another minute, we looked at each other, nodded, and started for the cut. And there we stood as it went through the cut. It was awesome!

     

  • WMRR Leads Me To Gettysburg

    Posted: Sunday, January 12, 2014 - 11:38am
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    When I began researching Rare Images of Antietam, I found that many of the photographers who took early photos of the battlefield also took images of the Western Maryland Railroad. So I figured that if I researched the WMRR photographs, they may lead me to images of Antietam. Well, that has come true, almost. At least I have taken a step in the right direction.


    After a few years of looking, and having now become truly obsessed with the Western Maryland Railroad, I have discovered that the railroad published a number of small books with a lot of information about Gettysburg. They are not about Antietam, but they are exciting, nonetheless, and they certainly point in the right direction.

    This is one of the books I found at the John Frye Western Maryland Room at the new Fletcher Library in Hagerstown. Gettysburg historians are missing a great local resource if they have not made the trek down here.

    The observant reader will notice that the book includes an ad for Levi Mumper, the photographer whose images, owned by Gettysburg photo-historian Sue Boardman, led me to this northern branch of the railroad, and ultimately to this find. Interestingly, I hang out at the Western maryland Room all of the time, but it was her photographs, and my following the threads they exposed, that led me to find these books, hidden in plain view on shelves I have sat next to many times.

    John Frye and Elizabeth Howe, who maintian that collection, would get a giggle at my saying I "discovered" these books...er, that they have sitting on a nice temperture controlled shelf, neatly listed in their catalog. Suffice it to say, I am not Indiana Jones - they did the hard work.