The Second Battle of Antietam
Early in the morning of August 25, 1924, more than 3,000 Marines under the command of Brig. Gen. Dion Williams marched onto waiting barges at the Marine Camp Quantico. At 4 a.m., the Navy tug boats towed the barges up the Potomac River toward Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, tanks and artillery pieces towed by trucks rolled out along the Richmond Road headed for the same place. Their ultimate destination was Sharpsburg. Sixty two years after the historic battle, the bloodiest day of the Civil War was soon to be refought. Saving the Corps Despite having proven themselves to be fierce and effective warriors during World War I, politicians and some military leaders began talking about disbanding the U.S. Marine Corps after the war ended. Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, understood that his Marines needed to Read more…
How the South Kidnapped Two Union Generals From the Middle of Their Army
With the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Antietam fast approaching, I thought that anyone interested in Civil War history might be interested in another event that took place not too far from Sharpsburg. In February 1865, McNeill’s Rangers pulled off what has been called the most-daring raid against the Union that the South ever undertook. About 60 rangers were able to ride into the heart of Cumberland, Maryland, which at the time had 8,000 soldiers protecting it (the citizen-to-soldier ratio was said to be 1:1). Once in the city, they kidnapped Gen. Benjamin Kelley and Gen. George Crook and escaped with them back to Richmond. I recently published a short e-book about the event called, Kidnapping the Generals. Any of you with Kindles will be able to find the book on Amazon.com. It costs only 99 cents Read more…
Remembering Battle of Antietam in 1937
As Western Maryland prepares to remember the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam in Sharpsburg, no actual Civil War veterans will be attending. The last major anniversary event for a Civil War battle that saw actual veterans in attendance was the 75th. Antietam’s 75th anniversary was in 1937. For Washington County residents, the event also represented the bicentennial of the settling of the county and the 175th anniversary of the founding of Hagerstown. The latter events had been originally planned for 1935, but they had been postponed because of the country’s poor economic condition. The money just wasn’t there to plan for a big event. However, remembering Antietam was not only a big event, but it was a federal one. President Franklin Roosevelt created the National Antietam Commemoration Commission and appointed Maryland U.S. Sen. Millard Tydings to chair it, Read more…
Giving History a Hand…and Arm
History can be funny, fascinating, inspiring and sometimes just plain yucky. The National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, MD, received a forearm as an anonymous donation this year. It is a human foremarm that still has the right hand and skin attached. It is said to have been found by a farmer in Sharpsburg, MD, about two weeks after the 1862 Battle of Antietam. It had been displayed for decades at a private museum. It was shown in a glass-topped, pine case with a card that read, “Human arm found on the Antietam Battlefield,” according to the Associated Press report. When the museum’s owner died in 2001, the museum’s contents were sold at auction. Museum officials are hoping to verify that it is a relic of the battle, though they have little hope of figuring out which soldier’s arm Read more…
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