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This.
Antietam was something that was felt as much as it was seen. Not sure how else to say that.

I have a muzzle loader made by Benjamin Mills in Harrodsburg, KY in the 1850s. In 1858 Mills was appointed to an armorer position at Harper’s Ferry and was one of the employees held captive in 1859 during the John Brown raid. Bonus points to anyone who knows who captured Brown and freed the hostages. I have heard that one of Mills rifles is on display in the Gettysburg museum as a sniper rifle. When I acquired my rifle in 1975 it was in good enough condition that I actually fired it on several occasions. Then I decided to give it a good cleaning and preserve it as my attachment to history.

It's with much regret that I tuned in to this thread so late. I was in Thurmont (just north of Frederick, MD) for a three day schuetzen match which got rained out half-way through the second day on Saturday. I could've just as easily skipped over and shook Kirk's hand too instead of going home.

I grew up 15 minutes from Antietam, and then lived for 20 years either in or within spitting distance of Gettysburg. I've walked those battlefields countless times, metal detected the woods and fields on the edges of the National Parks (on private properties that are now mostly within the purview of the Parks) - and have boxes full of stuff I dug out of the ground. I then lived a few years literally smack dab on a battlefield, in Burkittsville, MD at the foot of South Mountain at Crampton's Gap - our farm was a staging area for a large portion of the 6th Corps as they set out to assault the mountain.

Forty years ago I studied Gettysburg like I was doing a doctorial thesis on it with hopes of becoming a sanctioned federal tour guide. Competition was fierce (and still is) because it paid very well. I did extremely well on the test but was relegated to a spot far down on the waiting list, due in part to a bunch of other guys who did even better plus veterans who got added preference points for their service time - and once a guy got the gig he didn't ever leave.

Gettysburg: THE battlefield to visit if you only do one. The town unfortunately is one big tourist trap.

Antietam: The Park Service has striven mightily to preserve/re-construct it as it looked on Sept. 17, 1862. Very open and pastoral. My favorite of them all.

Manassas: Nice little National Park but horribly encroached upon by urban/suburban sprawl.

Chancellorsville/The Wilderness: on par with Antietam but heavily wooded and not as well marked out making it a bit confusing for a newbie to make his way around. Suburban sprawl is taking its toll there too.

A detailed account of Pickett’s charge on Wiki…

WIKI

1,600 Union artillery rounds fired into the ANV during the charge?

It was Lee, in command of the Union Marine forces at Harpers Ferry that captured Brown, his men and then freed the prisioners.

An article

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/harpers-ferry-the-rise-of-robert-e-lee-and-j-e-b-stuart/

They said the confederates fire on Cemetery Ridge for 2 hours at the rate of 3 rounds/second hitting the ground….

A quick stop on the way to Lynchburg…

Just for historical clarification, not to particularly denigrate Custer or his troops (not that they are my chosen side in this), but a significant fact that is often overlooked that gave Custer's troops a significant advantage was that they were all armed with repeating carbines. Stuart's troops were almost exclusively armed with single shot carbines. What very few repeating carbines the Confederate cavalry troops had were battlefield captures and then there was a problem with ammunition as none of the Confederate arsenals manufactured cartridges for the Spencer and Henry repeaters. What few repeaters the Confederates were extremely limited in ammunition. I am not trying to make up excuses here as I am admittedly a Stuart admirer, however, being armed with a good weapon that is capable of firing 7 or so aimed shots in rapid succession then reloaded fairly quickly as opposed to a single shot that one might be able to get off maybe 2 or 3 shots per minute on horseback at best, depending on several factors, is quite a difference. In my estimation as a long time WBTS reenactor, I would say this advantage in superior weapons gave the Federals a per man advantage of probably 4 - 5 to 1 over the Confederates. That is a tremendous difference in a battle, especially with closely massed troops, such as the way they fought back then. That factor of the repeating carbine is what enabled Custer to defeat Stuart in this fight. I am not trying to make excuses for Stuart and not trying to diminish Custer in this. Just pointing out the facts of what happened and why. That's war, you use what you have at your disposal to defeat the enemy. The Federals had the far superior firepower at the right place and time and the Confederates did not.

Gettin in my back yard👍😂

Of course it is necessary to understand the purpose of cavalry and that was mainly reconnaissance. Custer changed the military attitude of the effectiveness of the cavalry as a fast and deadly attack force. Stuart, as capable as he was, had his line completely penetrated by Custer’s advance, which again is a Custer attack principle he used throughout the war…

You gonna stop by Appomattox?

On our way now.



This is the monument to Custer at the East cavalry battlefield. Nothing much for Stuart…

Ya Jeb won’t up to speed that day

Museum of the confederacy is a must see it’s in Appomattox

Fredericksburg has been the most disappointing for me in regards to urban sprawl swallowing the battlefield

Yeah, me too. I coulda gone on and on about suburban sprawl but had to stop somewhere.....

Richmond ain’t far behind

Some real good stuff at Appomattox…

Nothing that you are likely to find in the history bookd happened here (Bedford)
during the war.
But in the last ten years I stumbled over a few things I find interesting.


Camp Misery.
I think there there were a bunch of places named that.

This one was on the Pa/ MD border, right alongside present day US 220.

There were fears of Lee using the rails, then that gap to invade the valley leading to Altoona and the mainline East-West railroad. Plus the coal, coke, iron manufacturing in the hollows along the valley.

Sorry, but the details are fuzzy.
Some military was dispatched, most were not well trained troops.
The settled in a low spot, kind of a basin, just north of the Mason Dixon.
A bad, lazy move, to be near water. Higher elevation was not far.
Of course that lead to living in a stomped up swamp, and drinking water contaminated
by human waste. Dysentery, went wild, infections abounded. I believe there were
several fatalities, and maybe disciplinary action for the command. The Rebs never showed. There is a little memorial along 220 right North of the border.



25 miles North by Northeast.
One day I was on Snake Spring Mt turkey hunting and lost my bearings.
Well, my whole ass was lost.
Saw a roof, went to it. Then followed the lane out to the road, about 200 yards
from my car.

Before the road though, there was an odd pavilion. And I had to check it out.
There was a homemade historical marker, with typewritten info in plastic sleeves.

Not sure if it was the exact time as the above, but they were worried about
Lee for the same reasons.
An officer was sent out to gather local "volunteers" to hold the mountain passes Lee
could use to hop from valley to valley. The railroad and iron were again the concern.

The spot I found was where they dug trenches and had fighting positions.
The trench is still there, but only a few feet deep now, and the state highway
cuts through it. There is a historical marker on the road, but it's on the crest of the hogback ridge in a turn. One would not notice it if not looking for it.


Again, apologies for my poor memory.
Tried to Google info, but can't seem to get anything.
The Camp Misery info came from a newspaper article several years ago,
not sure why I can't find it.

Maybe it's only interesting because I've lived here 50 years, yet never knew
anything about it. Figured it might be to someone else.