Tag Archives: Battle of Antietam

Ancestors of Two Twentieth-Century Hollywood Influences Clash in Antietam’s Cornfield

Posted on November 5, 2019 by Kevin Pawlak

Some of the most popular movies portraying the Civil War appeared on the big screen in the era before and during the centennial anniversary of the conflict. Two of those films include Gone with the Wind (1939), based on Margaret … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles, Civil War in Pop Culture, Ties to the War | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“The Batteries On Each Side Ceased Firing”: Civilians In Antietam’s Cross Fire

Posted on September 17, 2019 by Sarah Kay Bierle

While the Confederate and Union artillery guns dueled during the morning hours of September 17, 1862, their shells flew over the farm land and homes of local civilians. Long before the Sharpsburg area became a battlefield, it was quiet community … Continue reading →

Posted in Artillery, Battles, Civilian | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

“The Hand of a Master”: Confederate Artillery on the Left Flank at Antietam

Posted on September 17, 2019 by Sarah Kay Bierle

By sunrise on September 17, 1862, the Confederate guns waited on the left flank. Ordered to guard “Stonewall” Jackson’s flank and use the high ground advantage to blast Union attackers, the assembled cannons and crews prepared for battle. General J. … Continue reading →

Posted in Artillery, Battles | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Antietam Eve: September 16, 1862

Posted on September 16, 2019 by Kevin Pawlak

Each of the approximately 100,000 soldiers bivouacked in the fields and woodlots around Sharpsburg, Maryland and along Antietam Creek knew what the morrow would bring. With the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac having been in … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles, Campaigns, Civilian, Common Soldier, Emerging Civil War, Primary Sources | Tagged , | 1 Comment

World War I sparked the memory of a Civil War hero’s funeral

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

With the centennial anniversary of the armistice effectively ending World War I having recently passed, it seemed fitting to stumble upon the article reproduced below from the September 21, 1918 issue of the Watertown Daily Times (NY). The article is titled “Funeral of Civil … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership--Federal, Memory, Newspapers, Primary Sources | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Railroads – Tracks to the Antietam: The Railroad Supplies the Army of the Potomac, September 18, 1862

Posted on October 27, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

“We can distinctly hear firing again this afternoon in the direction of Harpers Ferry,” wrote a Union soldier in the Washington defenses on September 17, 1862.[1] Closer to the Antietam battlefield, one onlooker attempted to count the number of Federal … Continue reading →

Posted in Arms & Armaments, Artillery, Battles, Leadership--Federal | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Did Alexander Gardner photograph Charles Tew’s corpse in the Sunken Road?

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

Charles Tew’s story is compelling. Daniel Harvey Hill called him “one of the most finished scholars on the continent, and [who] had no superior as a soldier in the field.”(1) Indeed he was. Tew graduated first in his class from … Continue reading →

Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Photography | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

“A Fury Unequaled”: A North Carolinian’s Account of Antietam

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

Finding personal accounts of battlefield experiences always raises my eyebrows, as it does for many of you. The details and immediate stories they contain are the stuff historians crave. When I read the account of James W. Shinn, a soldier … Continue reading →

Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Common Soldier, Emerging Civil War, Primary Sources | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Antietam Eve: The Night of September 16, 1862

Posted on September 16, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

“The quiet that precedes a battle has something of the terrible in it,” wrote an Ohio soldier recalling the night of September 16, 1862. That night in the fields and woodlots surrounding Sharpsburg was an awful night for those who … Continue reading →

Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Books & Authors, Emerging Civil War | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

“The numbers of cannoneers is so small”

Posted on July 26, 2018 by Kevin Pawlak

Lt. Edward Williston commanded Battery D, 2nd United States Artillery at the Battle of Antietam. While at the National Archives, I found this revealing letter about the issues Williston’s battery encountered on the Antietam battlefield due to a shortage of … Continue reading →

Posted in Artillery, Battles, Leadership--Federal, Personalities, Primary Sources | Tagged , | 6 Comments