behind AotW

Next Monday is the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam in 1862. This weekend will be a whirlwind of activity at the Battlefield and in neighboring town of Sharpsburg. Do get there if you possibly can - the events are fabulous for a student of the battle.

Florida reenactors at Sharpsburg, 2002

The official list for Park events comes from the Park Service. Also check out the Sharpsburg Heritage Day scene from the SHAF site or Sharpsburg Arsenal.

Events run Friday (today) through Monday. I’ll be in town for Heritage Day til about noon Saturday, then over to the Battlefield Park for the 1:30 Bridge/Final Attack tour, 4pm artillery firing, and 7pm Rafuse lecture. Do say hello if you catch me, won’t you?

Civil War action at Turner’s and Fox’s Gaps on South Mountain will be remembered on-site on Saturday and Sunday (8-9 September) and on the actual anniversary, Friday the 14th. Events at the South Mountain Battlefield and Washington Monument parks, brought to you by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), will include talks, demonstrations and walking tours.

See more about the battle action on South Mountain from DNR, which includes mention of Crampton’s Gap - a battle apparently neglected among these anniversary events. See the detailed schedule and get more information from the DNR.

Just announced is the new dedicated website for the Antietam National Battlefield licensed tour guides. Nicely executed by IconGraphics of Hagerstown, the basic site is expected to grow as each guide gets a page of their own.

The current content is basic but helpful. Included are points of contact and typical costs to help you arrange your own custom tour.

Thanks to Tom Shay for the heads-up on TalkAntietam.

Save Historic Antietam Foundation (SHAF) has a shiny new home on the web. I’ll have more time later to talk about the fine folks at SHAF, the great work they are doing and have done.

In a joint venture with the SHAF Board of Directors I have had a part in creating and improving the site. I hope they’ll keep me on to add new online services and features, too. I’ll plan to post more about this exciting web development project as time permits.

Do go have a look, won’t you? And get involved in this worthy cause.

In the spirit of community with my fellow bloggers, I’ve taken the Which American Civil War General are you? quiz. I score as a 65% match for William T Sherman.

W.T. Sherman, death mask (from the Hutton Collection at Princeton)

I don’t really see it, myself. Maybe it was the question about “… a little bit crazy”?

Apparently I’m also part Longstreet (45% match), Lee (45%) and McClellan (35%).