Burnside Bridge in 25 mm

Go here to see how I spent my weekend.

One of the things I saw that really floored me was Burnside Bridge rendered in 25mm scale. It was absolutely remarkable.


The size of this construction was remarkable as was the accuracy.  This diorama makes it pretty clear that the Rebels held a pretty commanding position from the heights on the Sharpsburg side of Antietam Creek.


The Union point of view very much as it appears in the historic Alexander Gardner photo from the same angle.


One of the 51sts is making its move.


The bridge is nearly perfect, save for an important detail, which I kept to myself, not wanting to appear to be a Mr. Smarty pantz, sharpshooting, know-it-all.


Confederates, from their vantage point above the bridge.


Little did these rebs realize that there would be a parking area here one day.


And little do they realize that General Rodman's men are about to appear to their right.


The Artist, John McConnell.

It was a fun event!

Ranger Mannie

Check your crawl-spaces!

If you like artillery projectiles, check this one out:

here

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What is History?

                                         (click on image to enlarge)

Thanks to Ranger John Nicholas.

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Spring Round-up

Spring is near, the time when a young calf's fancy turns to thoughts of finding the weak spots in the fence.

Last week, coming into work, I stopped to shoo two big brown cows from the middle of the Boonsboro Pike. This morning, just a mile from the Brown cow breakout I encountered six Holsteins making their break for glory. And yesterday, a beautiful pre-spring day on the battlefield, I was poking around the Joseph Poffenberger Farm and saw what I thought was a black trash bag in the brush.


Closer inspection revealed that it wasn't a trashbag at all but a calf laying low hoping to run off and join the circus.

He cast me a wary eye as I radioed "Ranger on Patrol" for some problem solving expertise.

Ranger Rory showed up and slowly, slowly made his move.


Everyone likes being scratched behind the ears, and before you know it...

all's well that ends well as the calf ends up back inside the fence, probably plotting his next break.

Keep an eye out for battlefield bovines.

Ranger Mannie

There were farmers here

When you explore the battlefield, look closely and you'll find evidence everywhere of hard work from an earlier era.  This was, is, and hopefully always will be a valley of farms and farmers. The farm families that are long gone left distinctive, and strangely beautiful, evidence behind.  

I remember how these used to squeal when pushing the big barn doors open when I was a kid in Michigan.

A long gone gate left behind an iron hinge.  One can just imagine the day it was pounded into a newly-hewn timber on what was to be a productive family farm visited one September day by an incredible calamity.

Where tractor parts are found in the nooks and crannies of a 20th century farm, the detritus of horse culture still form the sculpture of Antietam's farmscape.

There's always so much to discover at your National Park.

Ranger Mannie