This is the first of a seven-part series reviewing the recent annual Civil War Symposium produced by the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie, Pennsylvania.
With the weather still not quite at peak battlefield trekking conditions, the opportunity to explore the Civil War indoors with first-class scholars and historians (in some instances, both!) was the recent offering of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall (AFCL&MH).
Welcoming the largest crowd in Symposium history, more than 200 journeyed into the Music Hall for the first time the event occurred in that storied venue as the headline lectures took place on the 164th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter. The focus, though, was on the (misnamed?) “Maryland Campaign.”
While there is no need to recount the strategy and tactics surrounding Lee’s first invasion of the North in the late summer of 1862, these presentations take into account specific aspects or points-of-interest which are often overlooked both in battle studies and presentations. They will include:
Harper’s Ferry: Lee’s Achilles (Part 2): We previously provided an overview of Dennis Frye’s discussion of Harper’s Ferry during the First Invasion. Befitting of a first class historian and National Park Service veteran, this presentation provided some new and different takes on the critical role the Ferry would play during the campaign. Arguably having completely disjointed Lee’s plans to make it into Pennsylvania, Frye is passionate about the importance of Harper’s Ferry both before and after the engagement at Sharpsburg. While you may have read our earlier review of a previous Frye talk on “Lee’s Achilles,” there are some different takeaways to be offered this time around.
“This Has Been a Glorious Victory…” The Battle of South Mountain: An Overview: Often lost in the shadows cast by Antietam three days later, the forcing of the gaps in South Mountain by McClellan’s Army of the Potomac on September 14th, 1862, represented a significant victory for the Union and the first clear defeat of Lee’s Confederates. Indeed, South Mountain would go a long way toward scripting the events that would occur over the next several days. Historian and NPS ranger John Hoptak weaves a story of battle that ties two personalities on opposite sides of the battle lines who had something in common with each other, one of which who was also a First Defender! Almost something one would anticipate from a Hollywood script, this is a story of valor, victory, defeat… and death.
Antietam: The Soldier’s Experience: In most Civil War stories, the events tend to overshadow the people. Although many histories make use of letters, diaries and other remembrances from those who were there, the personal commentaries are often limited in scope and intended only to bring some “life” to the strategies and tactics. Veteran NPS ranger Scott Hartwig, often associated with his long tenure at Gettysburg NMP, has authored what will likely be the definitive study (two volumes!) on the Maryland Campaign and the Battle of Antietam. In developing this work, he has used countless first-person accounts of the times and events in September 1862, and this presentation focuses on the emotions and reactions of those who were there and recorded them, not years later, but as they lived them. Clearly, it was not all glory.
“Nothing can be half so melancholy as a battle won…” Sharpsburg Civilians and Antietam’s Aftermath:
When visiting or studying a battlefield, the armies and what they did grab most of the attention. Often overlooked without a moment’s consideration is the simple fact that battles do not simply occur in some outdoor stadium or vacant lot prepared just for that event. Rather, they happen in a town filled with civilians, across farmsteads tended to by simple families, deposit unimaginable wreckage and human suffering in their wake all the while moving on and leaving the locals to figure out how to handle the mess and try to move on with their lives. Ashley Whitehead Luskey has a storied career for someone so young both as a NPS ranger and assistant director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College. Her presentation discussed Antietam from a civilian point-of-view, including the property damages faced by the Sharpsburg community, the post-battle human suffering and disease resulting from the dead and wounded soldiers and thousands of decaying animals, as well as the unwanted phenomenon of becoming a “tourist attraction” in the days and weeks after the battle when more than just Matthew Brady arrived seeking a direct window into the carnage. While sometimes not much more entertaining than a bill of lading, a review of the records shows area residents suffered mightily after the armies left town, sometimes even into the 20th Century!
In the Wake of Antietam: The Loudon Valley Campaign of 1862: After the fighting died down late in the day on September 17th, most believe neither army really did much until they finally stirred themselves to relocate to Fredericksburg in December. Although it would take George McClellan more than a month to finally cross the Potomac River, he would finally stir himself into some action by turning his cavalry loose in the picturesque Loudoun Valley of Virginia. Kevin Pawlak is no stranger to the First Defenders CWRT, nor is he a stranger to the events that would occur in Maryland and Virginia in the late summer and early fall of 1862. Although they account for scarce attention in histories of the Civil War, life was quite busy for troopers in both blue and gray. Their clashes would bring some uncertainty into the mind of Robert E. Lee who would be unable to draw an understanding as to what his counterpart was planning. And, although many of the skirmishes were inconclusive, the Union cavalry was already beginning to meet its Confederate counterpart with equal skill and daring.
Extra Bonus: The Ca