behind AotW

There was still plenty of daylight left as I was returning from Sharpsburg last weekend, so I took a rare detour from Alt-40 over to Fox’s Gap.

The glorious charge of the 23rd and 12th Ohio Volunteers …(1864, Library of Congress)

There are a pair of interpretive signs, two monuments, and a regimental tribute at the spot where the road crosses the Gap, noting the combat there on 14 September 1862. But that’s all there is to see as one arrives.

There was no one else there when I pulled up. It was blessedly quiet. I took a couple of snapshots to bring some of the place home with me.

Or: another great day on the battlefield.

I was glad to be part of a small group of SHAF volunteers and Park Natural Resources guys planting tree seedlings along Antietam Creek yesterday.

It was in a part of the Park I’d never visited before: a strip of low land along the west side of the stream running north from where the Burnside Bridge Road crosses about one-quarter mile above Burnside Bridge.

A new forest of green tubes (looking northeast, creek to the right)

A larger team of about 35 people had been nearby planting the weekend before, during the Park Work Day. Between us, then, we’d planted hackberry, tulip poplar, and maple (others?) three and four deep along a half-mile of creek bank. These are all native species likely to do well in that location.

These trees and the grassy field adjacent will form a riparian buffer to protect the stream and its banks. The seedlings themselves are protected and nurtured by those ‘greenhouse’ sleeves and stakes.

view back across Antietam Creek from west bank

On the afternoon of 17 September 1862 this ground was the province of the troops of Colonel Benjamin Christ‘s Brigade (First Brigade, First Division) of the Federal Ninth Corps.

They had crossed the stone bridge to the west bank about 2pm and followed it north to this meadow. About 3pm they formed in line of battle here preparatory to advancing toward the town of Sharpsburg [map]. In order south to north (l to r) , behind the 79th New York Infantry as skirmishers, these were the 17th Michigan, 28th Massachusetts, and Christ’s own 50th Pennsylvania regiments.

bluff west of Antietam Creek, north of bridge road

With their backs to the creek, they faced a stiff climb up that steep slope.

… after the formation of the Corps line, the Brigade advanced, under a heavy fire from Cemetery Hill and the high ground west of the road, to within a few yards of this point where it was checked. After a short delay the 79th New York advanced as skirmishers and compelled the Confederate Artillery to retire. The Brigade was about to move forward, when the attack of A.P. Hill on the left of the Corps obliged it to fall back to the Antietam …
(from War Department tablet no. 63 [map])

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Thanks to Tom Clemens and SHAF for sponsoring the planting, the Natural Resource Rangers for doing what they always do: take such fine care of our Park, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) for the young trees, and to the other volunteers for getting muddy with me.
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For related photos–including one of Christ’s Brigade’s tablet–see a lovely page from Tom Shay created on the 100th anniversary of the raising of the monuments to 48th and 50th Pennsylvania regiments at Antietam in 2004.

Ranger John Hoptak reports being

finally ready, officially, to launch my effort to restore the 48th PA Monument at Antietam by replacing the sword missing from the statue of General Nagle

Get the details from the supporting A Monumental Task blog, and find your way to help this righteous project succeed, won’t you?

Happy birthday, General.

WASHINGTON, The site of the single bloodiest day in American history is under siege, threatened by a 120-foot cellphone tower, says a preservation group.

This year’s Endangered Battlefield Report from the Civil War Preservation Trust leads off with the story of a planned cellphone tower for Antietam. If you read newspapers you’ve seen many lead paragraphs like that above from USA Today March 12.

Liberty Towers LLC says the 120-foot structure – it would extend 30 feet above the treeline to the west – would be disguised as a farm silo to blend in with the rolling farmlands of Western Maryland. But opponents say it would overwhelm a battlefield seen nationally as a model of historic preservation.

“One of the reasons that Antietam is so well-known and so well-respected is the fact that here, when you stand on the battlefield, what you see is a very rural environment that hasn’t been impacted by commercial development,” said John Howard, superintendent of Antietam National Battlefield…

Mike Hofe, president and chief operating officer of Liberty Towers, has described the structure as a “stealth tower” that would have minimal impact on battlefield vistas. He says the proposal remains in the “early planning stages”; Liberty has yet to file for permits … (Baltimore Sun, March 14)

Dr Tom Clemens, President of Save Historic Antietam Foundation (SHAF) noted that the threat of a cell tower has been seen before near Sharpsburg, and

I observed the test for this tower back in early January [2008]. They put up a balloon to the height of the proposed tower and it was awful. You could see it from all over the place. Not just from the battlfield, but all over Sharpsburg. SHAF
wrote a letter protesting the tower, as did the NPS [National Park Service] … no reply yet to either of us.

The Hagerstown Herald-Mail story adds:

National Park Service officials were notified in December 2007 of a proposal to erect a stealth cell tower south of the battlefield off Mondale Road in Sharpsburg, park Superintendent John Howard said Thursday.

“Any modern intrusion on it really detracts,” Howard said.

Can you help? Contact:

The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT)
Save Historic Antietam Foundation (SHAF)
And let your US Representative or Senator know you want them to bring pressure to bear to protect the Battlefield.

… is better than a good day ‘most anywhere else. And I had a great one yesterday.

I was delighted by the people, weather and events in Sharpsburg and at the Antietam National Battlefield Park on Saturday. I very much appreciate all the hard work and care the Park and Heritage Festival folks put into the Anniversary weekend – my hat’s off to you.

Thanks particularly to Harry Smeltzer – a great battlefield-stomping companion. Together we ranged from town to field, tavern to auditorium. I’m usually a solo act, but Harry greatly enriched my day at Antietam. Thanks again, Harry.

At the risk of putting both my readers to sleep, below is a description of the day.

I visited the battlefield Visitor’s Center (VC) last Friday evening for a special event, and, as is always the case at Antietam, came away with some unexpected gems.

These include seeing Antietam on the Web used ‘in the field’ on a wireless PDA, hearing news about progress on Virtual Antietam, getting my mitts on the new Park brochure, and being charmed by a nightscape from the mountaintop …