Additional Antietam Scenes

[James N.]

Antietam National Battlefield Visitor Center​

In case anyone wonders, the title of this thread harkens back to one I posted showing photographs from a visit made in 2016: https://www.civilwartalk.com/threads/antietam-scenes.104230/ This newer set was made this April during my whirlwind tour of Civil War battlefields with my friend member @1863surgeon Doug Garnett. I've posted these previously, but thought the Antietam ones deserved their own separate thread. From the Visitor Center a trail leads across the road to the Dunker Church.

The Dunker Church

The line of guns both mark the position of a battalion of Confederate artillery under the command of Col. Stephen D. Lee and serve as examples of the four principal types used here and on other battlefields of the Civil War; from left-to-right they are a 10-pounder Parrott rifle; 3" ordnance rifle; 12-pounder smoothbore Napoleon gun-howitzer; and 6-pounder smoothbore gun.

In the distance behind the Napoleon and six-pounder above can be seen the Maryland State Monument.

This six-pounder marks the position of a battery attached to the Union Twelfth Corps later in the day; below, the same gun and in the background, the New York State Monument.

 

[James N.]

The West Woods

Strictly speaking, the West Woods no longer exist, having fallen victim to becoming parkland - and hence park-like - years ago when the Philadelphia Brigade Monument and Park above was erected around the turn of the Twentieth Century. Fortunately, the NPS is currently undertaking a reforestation project, replanting trees to recreate something of its wartime appearance when Sedgewick's division of the Union Second Corps disappeared into it and was largely destroyed as a fighting force.

Markers seen above and below tell the story of the action that occurred here.

Bloody Lane

The notorious Sunken Road or Bloody Lane is at left in my photo above between the twin rail fences that bordered farm fields; Federal troops of French's and Richardson's divisions of the Union Second Corps attacked from the right across that field.

Markers placed here when Antietam was declared a National Battlefield tell the entire story of the battle.

Here along Bloody Lane and beside the observation tower is the relatively new monument to the famous Irish Brigade of Richardson's division that attacked here.

Mortuary monuments in the form of downturned or "fallen" cannon here include the one below dedicated to Maj. Gen Israel Richardson who fell in the field behind; and to Confederate Brig. Gen. George Anderson, mortally wounded in the Sunken Road.

 

[luinrina]

Strictly speaking, the West Woods no longer exist, having fallen victim to becoming parkland - and hence park-like - years ago when the Philadelphia Brigade Monument and Park above was erected around the turn of the Twentieth Century. Fortunately, the NPS is currently undertaking a reforestation project, replanting trees to recreate something of its wartime appearance when Sedgewick's division of the Union Second Corps disappeared into it and was largely destroyed as a fighting force.

Great to hear they're reforesting the West Woods! IMO it's easier to imagine and understand how the battle took place if you as a visitor actually stand in a wood and get a sense of what it was like for the soldiers.

Speaking of woods: Are the East Wood still like in 1862 or have they been altered to park-like appearance too? Or disappeared altogether?

 

[James N.]

The Phillip Pry House - McClellan's Headquarters and Federal Hospital

Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan made his headquarters in the yard of the imposing home of Phillip Pry; the roof was used as a Signal Corps station from which messages were relayed by signal flags during the battle. The house itself became the field hospital of the Union Second Corps for wounded officers; enlisted men were treated in the nearby barn. Generals treated here included mortally-wounded Israel Richardson and Maj. Gen Joseph Hooker commanding the First Corps.

Burnside's Bridge

Burnside's Bridge above, has recently undergone a total restoration and looks better than ever! The other photos here show portions of the Confederate position on the heights above and overlooking the span.

Confederate guns here assisted the Georgia Confederate defenders on the morning and early afternoon of September 17.

Above, marker describes the positions taken by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside's Ninth Corps, temporarily led by Brig. Gen. Jacob D. Cox, after capturing this position from its Confederate defenders. The Ohio marker below is dedicated to one of Burnside's/Cox's regiments.

 

[James N.]

Great to hear they're reforesting the West Woods! IMO it's easier to imagine and understand how the battle took place if you as a visitor actually stand in a wood and get a sense of what it was like for the soldiers.

Speaking of woods: Are the East Wood still like in 1862 or have they been altered to park-like appearance too? Or disappeared altogether?

The East Woods have similarly been cut down to only a shadow of their 1862 acreage, though they still look like woods and not a park.

 

[bankerpapaw]

Wonderful pictures. Thanks!!!

 

[upton j.]

Great pics. Thanks for posting.

 

[AnnaLee]

I never tire of seeing Antietam. Thanks for the great posting.

 

[JOHN42768]

Thanks for the memories. Haven't been there in forty years

 

[Todd 11PVI]

Nice pictures, makes me want to head down to the battlefield this weekend!

 

[MC44]

loved looking at these!

 

[Wesley P Ellington]

To me it looks like the West Woods still very much resemble their 1862 appearance, other than the open area west of the Dunker Church. Is this where they're replanting? It also looks like the Philadelphia Brigade memorial was built in an area that was already open space.

 

[BlueandGrayl]

Antietam the most important battle of the Civil War on a political, military, and foreign intervention basis. It's nice to see the Antietam battlefield as it was and now today.

 

[James N.]

… To me it looks like the West Woods still very much resemble their 1862 appearance, other than the open area west of the Dunker Church. Is this where they're replanting? It also looks like the Philadelphia Brigade memorial was built in an area that was already open space.

I'd never compared it like this before, and you may be right about the Philadelphia Brigade Park. The noticeable replanting is in the open areas right around the monument and its parking lot, especially evident behind (south) of the mortuary monument for Gen. Starke.

 

[James N.]

Another *BUMP* for the anniversary of the battle. (Excuse Civil War News' typical problem with getting dates right!)