48th Pennslyvania blog

When it rains, it pours! My friend Steve Soper got his 3rd Michigan blog up and running(http://thirdmichigan.blogspot.com) and so, too, does my buddy John Hoptak start one regarding the 48th PA, those coal miners who dug the mine at Petersburg.

Author, historian, and educator, Hoptak is an authority on the fighting men of Schuylkill County. He's also a great person to walk the Gettysburg battlefield with. A G'burg resident, John invited me up for Remembrance Day this past weekend.
This is John at the National Cemetery where he did some fine storytelling for me.

I'm putting together an i-movie on the remembrance day parade now which I hope to have completed by the end of this week.

Check out both John's and Steve's sites...The Army of the Potomac can always use the reinforcements!

Days Grow Shorter

(click on pix)
Autumn deepens and we shifted to daylight savings time. Our days at the park seem so short now. As sundown happens around 4:45 we have some incredible views available from the back of the visitors center as we go about our routine of shutting down for the day.

With the sun at such an extreme angle hidden features of the park begin to pop right out at you. The elusive Pry House becomes instantly visible up on Red Hill, though only for a few moments as it's Western face is briefly bathed in direct sunlight. The sheep grazing at the Mumma farm become bright white puffs of light.

The valley is filled with contrasting bands of light and shadow as the sun competes with the clouds.

And before you know it, another day has ended. Time to bring down the flag, lock up and look forward to another Antietam day.

Storm over South Mountain

Yesterday a major storm rolled in. Rangers had to hold onto their hats as the wind picked up an the lead-gray clouds barreled across the lowering sky. A punishing south wind had the flag standing straight out from the flagpole, straining at the halyards, and as they say down here in Sharpsburg, "nothing good ever came from the south".

As the front rolled through we were left with a late afternoon of dramatic clouds and lighting. In a single glance you had your choice of low rainfilled clouds or bright blue sky.

The mountain always provides for exciting weather.

I Can See Clearly Now (the leaves are gone)

(Click on the pix)

Drop what you're doing and come to Antietam! This is the time of year to really get a handle on the lay of the land. Terrain was such a crucial player in the outcome of the battle and with the leaves off the trees there is so much more clarity available to the visitor.

Last week I made a beeline for the Cornfield to get an unobstructed view of Nicodemus Heights. Both from the position of Battery B 4th U.S. Artillery
and the "sweet spot" (as the ranger's call that place just inside the Cornfield where you are high enough to get a glimpse of Dunker Church). The view of the heights in the far distance is dramatic and telling. Through the bare branches of the trees it becomes immediately obvious that Stuart's guns on those heights commanded much of the Cornfield.

Another great view is of the Roulette Farm in the foreground, the Mumma Farm in the middle, and the East Woods in the background, all from the heights that were surveyed by Israel Richardson shortly before he was felled at the Sunken Road.

From the Confederate position at Burnside's Bridge (stop 9 on the auto tour) you can get a great view of Cemetery Hill, location of the Confederate guns that were pasteing the men of the Ninth Corps as they surged across the bridge.

The heights of the cemetery can also be viewed from Rodman Avenue, with Cemetery Hill (the tall trees) to the left and the observation tower at the Sunken Road in the the far distance (middle right).

From that same position you can get a great view of the Sherrick and Otto farmsteads. From this vantage point you can just imagine that long, long Union line of battle, anticipating victory in Sharpsburg, but meeting, instead, Confederate general A.P Hill and his 3,000 Rebels.

C'mon! Now is the time, Antietam is the place.

Dress warm,

Ranger Mannie

Third Michigan Blog

My good friend, Steve Soper, has just recently started a blog chronicling the Third Michigan Volunteer Infantry (1861-'64).

Steve has been working on a comprehensive compilation of Third Michigan materials for about 15 years now and has become the "go to" guy for info on this particular pack of Wolverines.

Steve included me (and many others) in this treasure hunt and I would scour the vast collection of a large West Michigan museum that I used to work at, searching for stuff related to the "old Third".

His research has been relentless and pretty exhaustive, and this blog may well be the premier place to go for information on this unit that was so emblematic of the efforts of the Third Corps, AOP.

Check in on him from time to time. http://thirdmichigan.blogspot.com

(photo is of Sgt. Dan Crotty, 3rd Michigan Infantry)