Great Antietam Sites on the Anniversary of the Battle

September 17th, 2009 Brett Schulte Posted in Campaigns & Battles, Civil War on the Web, Eastern Theater, antietam Comments Off

On this 147th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam, I had originally intended to have a multi-blog event choosing the Top 7 Antietam books like the ones I recently ran on Gettysburg and Shiloh, but real life intervened.  Perhaps another Civil War blogger may put something like this together next year, or I may do it myself if the opportunity presents itself.  Instead of a best of series on Antietam books, however, I’ve decided instead to bring your attention to some excellent online resources on the Antietam Campaign.

Flickr Photo by Rob Shenk
Flickr Photo by Rob Shenk

First, I’d like to present the work of Brian Downey.  Brian runs The Battle of Antietam on the Web, blogs at behind Antietam on the Web, and created the Talk Antietam Yahoo Message Board.  Did you think you knew everything there is to know about the Battle of Antietam?  Think again.  Many of the members at Talk Antietam have literally spent decades focusing on the battle.  More than one published author also posts there.  Clicking on the three links above will give you loads of information on various aspects of the battle.

Second, there are an amazing number of Antietam blogs out there.  In fact, I think there are more Antietam blogs than their are Gettysburg blogs, though I’m sure that state of affairs won’t last forever.  Here is a list of the Antietam blogs I frequent:

Lastly, I’d like to also toot my own horn briefly and provide a link to my Top 5 Antietam Books post from earlier this year.  Please be sure to check out all of these great sites and take a moment to remember the sacrifice of Union and Confederate soldiers, all Americans, on this bloodiest single day in American history.

Check out Brett’s list of the Top 10 Civil War Blogs!

Read many Civil War Book Reviews here at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog!

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Great Antietam Sites on the Anniversary of the Battle

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Short Takes

September 8th, 2009 Fred Ray Posted in Arms & Armament, Cannon accident, Civil War Individuals, Civil War News, Generals, antietam, double-barrel cannon, horses in the Civil War Comments Off

When you’re firing that nifty new replica cannon you built, try not to drop a round shot through your neighbor’s medicine cabinet as it tends to strain neighborly relations. Video here.

And speaking of big guns, there’s always that double- barreled Confederate cannon, which can still be viewed at Athens, GA.

A young Yankee soldier, found in the Cornfield at Antietam by a hiker, finally comes home.

A lengthy look at the one who literally bore the burden of battle in the Civil War, the horses. Included are famous mounts like Jackson’s Little Sorrel, Lee’s Traveler, Sheridan’s Rienzi, among thousands more in this series. Did you know about General Lee’s other horse? A related article by Deborah Grace has more.

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Short Takes

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Review in Brief: Human Interest Stories from Antietam by Scott Mingus

March 19th, 2008 Brett Schulte Posted in Book Reviews, Books, Books - Reviews, Civil War Individuals, Eastern Theater, Enlisted Men, Military History, Social History, antietam, scott mingus Comments Off

Scott L. Mingus, Sr.. Human Interest Stories from Antietam. Orrtanna, PA.: Colecraft Industries; First Edition (2007). 103 pp. ISBN: 0-9777125-32 $9.95 (Paperback).

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Fellow blogger Scott Mingus saw the release of the second book in his “Human Interest Series” (the first was on the Gettysburg Campaign), published by Colecraft Industries, in 2007. I meant to get to this one a lot sooner than I did, but I’m glad I was finally able to read the book and blog about it now.

The format of the “Human Interest Series” brings readers brief stories and vignettes concerning individuals and groups of individuals taking part in the campaigns in question. In Human Interest Stories from Antietam, Mingus covers the entire campaign from the Confederate invasion through the aftermath of America’s bloodiest single day. These stories are placed in chronological order, so they help to place the timing of certain events like the major battles of the campaign in context.

Each story is paraphrased by the author and the original source is listed at the bottom. Individual vignettes are separated by several asterisks. You might think the book would not flow smoothly with such rapid breaks, but the jumping from one story to the next makes this a fun and quick read. I managed to move through its 100-odd pages in only two sittings.

The format also lends itself well to cultivating further interest in the campaign. These books would serve as an absolutely great introduction to the Civil War for children or anyone new to the Civil War. I hope to visit Gettysburg and Antietam either this summer or the next, and I’m going to give these books to my girlfriend to read before we go.

I encourage anyone who hasn’t yet encountered these volumes to go take a look. To give you a specific idea of the length of these stories, I present one example from the book:

Fighting began in earnest very early on the morning of Wednesday, September 17, when General McClellan launched a series of relatively uncoordinated attacks aimed at pushing through Confederate lines north of Sharpsburg. A hot, dry southwestern wind pushed aside the fog bank that shrouded the top of nearby South Mountain, which still teemed with the dead and wounded. However, in the verdant fields around Antietam Creek, billowing clouds of gunsmoke soon hampered visibility as “Fighting Joe” Hooker’s I Corps advanced. Bullets and shell fragments whizzed through the dawn air, maiming or killing hundreds of soldiers–officers and enlisted men alike. Maj. Gen. George G. Meade was struck by a spent canister shot, leaving him with a severe contusion on his right thigh, and his famed warhorse “Old Baldy” was shot through the neck by a Minié ball and temporarily disabled. Both horse and rider lived, and Meadde would go on to fame as the victorious commander of the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg. Surviving the war by many years, Old Baldy’s stuffed head would later be displayed in a Philadelphia museum.

George Meade, Jr., The Life and Letters of General Meade: Major General United States Army. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1913).

Also look for several more of these vignettes to appear over the coming weeks.

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