behind AotW

Battle veteran John Benjamin Franklin Red, a Private in Phillips’ Legion, attended the 75th Anniversary events at Sharpsburg in September 1937 at 95 years old. The clipping above from the Hagerstown Herald of 18 September 1862 (online from WHILBR) features President Roosevelt, but also lists Private Red among the veterans.

At the bottom of the clip you can see an interesting sub-headline: Finding of cigar led to conflict. Perhaps an oversimplification of the causes of the battle.

As a time reference, Red died two years later, two weeks after Germany invaded Poland in 1939. His photograph is from an uncredited newspaper obituary posted to his Findagrave memorial by Joe Herring.