Bloody Lane

Looking north down the Bloody Lane from the observation tower. 

The Union army came through this cornfield from the right of this photo, toward the Bloody Lane on the left.

Sharpsburg battlefield, looking south from the observation tower 

Harry lecturing at Sharpsburg 

Burnside Bridge 

Burnside Bridge from the opposite side of Antietam creek.That is me at the base of the tree. This same tree is in a Matthew Brady photo from the war. 

Burnside Bridge, looking from the heights. The old town of Sharpsburg is behind this point of reference.This was the position of the Georgia troops. 

Day One Con'd -- Antietam or Sharpsburg

The battle in Sharpsburg, MD was the bloodiest single day battle during the war. It happened on September 17, 1862. This was the first attempt of Gen. Lee to carry the war to the north. Lee had about 40,000 troops, compared to the 87,000 Federal troops in the Army of the Potomac, under the command of Gen. George B. McClellan. Lee had recently had a tremendous victory at Manassas in August, and took his Army of Northern Virginia into Maryland to try and get fresh men and supplies. McClellan followed, and they eventually drew battle lines east and west of Antietam creek. This is a good time to point out that the names of battles during the war were different for the south and north. The armies of the north named battles after the landmarks that were in the area of the battle; the south for the closest town or city. Thus, there are many times two names for the same battle, i.e. Sharpsburg(the town) and Antietam(the creek). Another good example is Manassas(town) and Bull Run(creek). I find that I use them interchangeably. Now, at Sharpsburg, Jackson's Stonewall Brigade was absent 2 days prior to the battle, because Lee had sent him to capture Harpers Ferry. Jackson arrived, after the surrender of Harpers Ferry, on the 16th, and Lee consolidated his army on a ridge running north and south of the town. Harry took us through the entire timeline of this battle, covering the locations of the southern and federal troops. Many of the troops were killed in tall cornfields, where the smoke from the musketry and cannonade made visibility impossible. During the war, trench warfare was realized. There were, at the time, many rural roads that ran through the countryside. These roads, after much wagon travel, would become lower than the land around them. They became known as 'sunken roads'. Troops realized that these roads were great cover and protection, and would try to use them whenever possible. Eventually, they would make their own 'sunken roads', later called trenches. The most famous of these roads was in this battle, and became known as 'The Bloody Lane'. For 3 1/2 hours(9:30 to 1p.m.) a fight raged across this sunken lane. Confusion and exhaustion finally ended the battle in this area of the field. Southwest of this area, Gen. Ambrose Burnside had his federal troops trying to cross Antietam creek on a bridge since 9:30 that morning. About 400 Georgia troops held them off each time. The union troops finally got across at around 1 p.m. They drove the Georgians back, nearly to the town, and threatened to cut off Lee's retreat route. Finally around 4 p.m. , A.P.Hill's division arrived from Harper's Ferry and drove Burnside's troops back to the heights near where they crossed the bridge, now known as 'Burnside's Bridge'. The battle was over. On the 18th, Lee began to withdraw across the Potomac River. The day ended with 12,410 dead yankees, and 10,700 dead rebels. I will post some of Dad's photos of this part of the trip, then continue. We loaded the bus, and left Sharpsburg at 5p.m. , headed to Gettysburg. We arrived and entered Gettysburg from the west, following Lee's route into the town, down the Chambersburg Pike road. We got to the hotel around 6p.m. , had dinner, then a quick Bible study and meeting, then hit the rack to get much needed rest for the next day.

The front of Jackson's hqrs 

Harry at Jackson's hdqrs. 

In front of hdqrs. 

Harry Reeder lecturing on the bus 

Battlefield Tour: Day One

Our trip leaves out from the seminary in Charlotte, N.C. at 5:30 a.m. Since my father nor I live in Charlotte, we drove there Monday. Monday night, at the seminary, there was a meet and greet dinner for those going on the trip. This gave a few of us a few minutes to get acquainted, and to get an overview for the week's trip. The trips are meticulously planned out by Luther Bigby. He is recently retired from RTS, and lives in Charlotte. Our days were planned to the minute. Dad and I both noticed that at every stop the bus made, Luther was making notes on his itinerary about how long each thing took. They started these trips in the early '90's, and have gotten the tour down to a science. The morning of the first day, July 27, everyone assembled in the parking lot at RTS to load and board the bus. As I stated, there were 42 in the group, as well as Harry, his wife Cindy, and Luther. Time is crucial, and we were loaded and underway at precisely 5:30 a.m. ! We had a couple of hours for some shut-eye, as we stopped for breakfast at 7:30. Jim, our driver, eased us out of Charlotte, heading north on I-77. We took this to I-81, where we headed north through the Shenandoah Valley. Dad and I have each attended these trips before, so we were a little prepared and knew what to expect. Therefore, we made sure that we had seats near the front of the bus. This has a couple of advantages: first, I would be videoing Harry each time he had anything to say and got better shots of him from just a couple of rows behind him; and, it's easier loading and off-loading the bus from the front. Our first stop will be Winchester,VA where Stonewall Jackson had his winter headquarters. We arrived at 12:30 p.m. Here, we had a brief tour inside by volunteer tour guides who work there year round. These guys are very knowledgeable about this wonderfully restored house. Interestingly, this house was restored with the help of Mary Tyler Moore, who is a distant relative of the original owners of the house during the war. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside, but we did get some shots outside.
From here, we boarded the bus and had Arby's on the way to Antietam. We arrived there at 2:30 p.m. We toured the battlefield, Dunker Church, and Burnside Bridge. I will post some photos of this part of the trip, then describe Antietam.

A Battlefield Trip to Gettysburg

I have recently taken part in a guided, four day tour of the Gettysburg battlefield, with stops along the way. I accompanied my seventy-year old father in a group of forty-two. The trip is called "The Christian Character Tour", sponsored by Reformed Theological Seminary, and guided by Dr. Harry Reeder. Harry is pastor of Briarwood Presbyterian Church(PCA) in Birmingham, Alabama. Harry is an authority on the Civil War, and is a captivating speaker. He leads two trips per year. Harry uses the lives of Robert E. Lee, Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson, and Joshua Chamberlain to demonstrate Christian character, and how it applies to us. This trip goes to Winchester, Lexington, and Appomattox in Virginia, Antietam(Sharpsburg) MD, and Gettysburg PA.
During this trip, my father took still shots on his digital camera, and I shot digital video. In the coming weeks, I will chronicle our trip while using the still photography as reference. I will also try to include links relative to the subject.