David Ireland
Corporal
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2017
We are trying to find my partner’s relative, who we believe was killed in the Battle of Snicker’s Gap and buried somewhere in the area.
Below is a memo written by one of her uncles which is questionably reliable.
Can anyone help me figure out where and when he fought, died, and was buried? Also was he at Antietam, and if so, where?
He was from Amsterdam or Gloversville, NY, his name was Warner Brown, and we think he may have been in either the 14th US or the 14th NY.
Any info is appreciated .
“
Chasing Warner Brown
I was in the Washington DC area last week to visit some old friends
connected to an Amsterdam family. I scheduled some extra days to visit a few
Civil War battlefields in Virginia. In order to give it some pertinence, I
decided to connect my travels to Warner Brown's experience. I did quite a
bit of research before going there. I wanted to see & experience the
locations where Warner served.
I knew I would need help from the Park Service guides to do this, which
meant having detailed information on his unit. For the record, at the time
of his wartime action, he was in Company E, 2d Battalion, 14th U.S.
Regiment, General Sykes' Division. From Warner's letters, I know he was in
action at the 2d battle of Bull Run, (sometimes called the battle of 2d
Manassas) on August 28-30, 1862. Three weeks later, he was caught up in the
battle of Antietam, Sept.17, 1862.
Both battles were major actions, with Bull Run accounting for 14,462 Union
casualties, killed, wounded or missing in three days and Antietam
numbering12,410 casualties in one day, the bloodiest single day encounter in
the Civil War.
Armed with this unit information, the Park Service was wonderfully
cooperative. Using their detailed unit maps, they were able to translate
Warner's location during the battles to the location as it exists today.
Unfortunately, his spot at Antietam is now heavily forested and on private
land and can't be visited. At Bull Run, however, his location is within the
dedicated park and I was able to stand pretty close to where Warner was when
engaged. It is a strange and emotional experience, seeing what he saw and
wondering what it was like for him.
The most important and emotional visit was my return visit to Snickers Gap,
the spot where Warner was mortally wounded on August 3. Snickers Gap is also
called Castleman's Ford, so-called because the river is narrow & shallow
there and can be crossed on foot. It is not on most maps. It is on the banks
of the Shenandoa River, just south of where the Rte.#7 bridge now crosses
the river, about one mile west of the small village of Bluemont, VA. which
is about 50 miles west of Washington DC. On Rte.7.
Warner's wounding and death was not really a battle. It was a tragic error
resulting from a spurious order. Their mission was to conduct a
reconnaisance, not to engage the enemy. His unit advanced thru the woods
toward the ford and stopped while still hidden in the woods. Ahead of them
was a wide, open area, then the river. There were Confederate troops on the
west side of the river. Some fool, forever unknown, issued an order to
advance into the open slope down to the river. As soon as they left
concealment, the enemy opened fire and decimated Warner's unit.
There was much recrimination by the officers in immediate command of
Warner's unit. They knew it was an unauthorized order, but were unable to
find out who called for the advance. This kind of thing happens in battle
and it blew over. Warner was taken back to Bluemont where the local church
was being used as a hospital. He died there the next day, August 4, 1862.
I have visited this site three times. It looks almost unchanged from the day
of the skirmish and is easily identifiable. A visitor is able to walk toward
the river virtually in Warner's footsteps. It is affecting and I like to
think that being there and thinking of him is the only way we have to honor
him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In conversations with park officials I may have found the reason for the
discrepancy in his Memorial headstone in Amsterdam identifying his unit as
the 14th NY Regiment, when his unit at the time of death was the 14th U.S.
Regiment. They tell me that he may well have joined the 14th NY at his time
of enlistment and was later transferred to the 14th US. This was then not
uncommon.
Bob”
Below is a memo written by one of her uncles which is questionably reliable.
Can anyone help me figure out where and when he fought, died, and was buried? Also was he at Antietam, and if so, where?
He was from Amsterdam or Gloversville, NY, his name was Warner Brown, and we think he may have been in either the 14th US or the 14th NY.
Any info is appreciated .
“
Chasing Warner Brown
I was in the Washington DC area last week to visit some old friends
connected to an Amsterdam family. I scheduled some extra days to visit a few
Civil War battlefields in Virginia. In order to give it some pertinence, I
decided to connect my travels to Warner Brown's experience. I did quite a
bit of research before going there. I wanted to see & experience the
locations where Warner served.
I knew I would need help from the Park Service guides to do this, which
meant having detailed information on his unit. For the record, at the time
of his wartime action, he was in Company E, 2d Battalion, 14th U.S.
Regiment, General Sykes' Division. From Warner's letters, I know he was in
action at the 2d battle of Bull Run, (sometimes called the battle of 2d
Manassas) on August 28-30, 1862. Three weeks later, he was caught up in the
battle of Antietam, Sept.17, 1862.
Both battles were major actions, with Bull Run accounting for 14,462 Union
casualties, killed, wounded or missing in three days and Antietam
numbering12,410 casualties in one day, the bloodiest single day encounter in
the Civil War.
Armed with this unit information, the Park Service was wonderfully
cooperative. Using their detailed unit maps, they were able to translate
Warner's location during the battles to the location as it exists today.
Unfortunately, his spot at Antietam is now heavily forested and on private
land and can't be visited. At Bull Run, however, his location is within the
dedicated park and I was able to stand pretty close to where Warner was when
engaged. It is a strange and emotional experience, seeing what he saw and
wondering what it was like for him.
The most important and emotional visit was my return visit to Snickers Gap,
the spot where Warner was mortally wounded on August 3. Snickers Gap is also
called Castleman's Ford, so-called because the river is narrow & shallow
there and can be crossed on foot. It is not on most maps. It is on the banks
of the Shenandoa River, just south of where the Rte.#7 bridge now crosses
the river, about one mile west of the small village of Bluemont, VA. which
is about 50 miles west of Washington DC. On Rte.7.
Warner's wounding and death was not really a battle. It was a tragic error
resulting from a spurious order. Their mission was to conduct a
reconnaisance, not to engage the enemy. His unit advanced thru the woods
toward the ford and stopped while still hidden in the woods. Ahead of them
was a wide, open area, then the river. There were Confederate troops on the
west side of the river. Some fool, forever unknown, issued an order to
advance into the open slope down to the river. As soon as they left
concealment, the enemy opened fire and decimated Warner's unit.
There was much recrimination by the officers in immediate command of
Warner's unit. They knew it was an unauthorized order, but were unable to
find out who called for the advance. This kind of thing happens in battle
and it blew over. Warner was taken back to Bluemont where the local church
was being used as a hospital. He died there the next day, August 4, 1862.
I have visited this site three times. It looks almost unchanged from the day
of the skirmish and is easily identifiable. A visitor is able to walk toward
the river virtually in Warner's footsteps. It is affecting and I like to
think that being there and thinking of him is the only way we have to honor
him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In conversations with park officials I may have found the reason for the
discrepancy in his Memorial headstone in Amsterdam identifying his unit as
the 14th NY Regiment, when his unit at the time of death was the 14th U.S.
Regiment. They tell me that he may well have joined the 14th NY at his time
of enlistment and was later transferred to the 14th US. This was then not
uncommon.
Bob”