behind AotW

Iron Antietam plaque

A correspondent has asked us to identify this interesting object, recently purchased. She has heard it may have been something people put on houses that survived the War - perhaps especially in or near Sharpsburg.

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who can help identify it a little more surely. I don't think I've ever seen one before.

I've just had an email from J.P. Rogers, a serving Army officer who is researching Private Oliver Cromwell Case, 8th Connecticut Infantry. Case was killed in action on 17 September 1862.

JP has being doing this work since coming upon Case's personal Bible in 1993, and has recently begun posting what he finds on a blog called Oliver Cromwell Case: The Story of a Soldier.

A particularly poignant piece he's found comes in a letter written by Oliver's brother Alonzo of the 16th Infantry ...

... some time that afternoon [19 Sept] we found the body of our brother we were looking after. He was no doubt killed instantly the bullet having passed through his head just about the top of his ears. We wrapped him in my blanket and carried him to the spot where the 16th dead were to be buried having first got permission from the Colonel of the Eighth and the 16th to do so. The 16th men were buried side by side in a trench and they dug a grave about 6 [feet] from them and we deposited the remains of my brother and that having first pinned a paper with his name and age on the inside of the blanket. Then they put up boards to each with name and Regiment on them. His body lay there until December when father went there and brought the body to Simsbury where it now lies to mingle with the sole of his native town.

Do pay Private Case a visit, won't you?

The 150th anniversary of John Brown's 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry is next Friday, October 16th. There are a range of activities planned in commemoration. See more from the HF Park page and one from the Visitor's Bureau.

I smell a War coming ...

Illustration from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 5 November 1859 (Library of Congress)

The Park has announced three Ranger-led hikes in March. Of particular note is

Sunday, 22nd, Nicodemus Heights - This battlefield hike will begin near Tour Stop # 2, The North Wood, at 1:15 pm. The hike will focus on the role played by the Confederate artillery on the northern end of the field, including a stop at Nicodemus Heights, which is seldom visited private property.

The key here is the private property part. This hike only happens once or twice a year. I think I'll make this one ...