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Civil War

132nd Pennsylvania Volunteers At Antietam

Antietam

Antietam

On September 4, 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee was riding high. After a successful campaign against the Federals in Northern Virginia Lee decided that it was time to take the fight to the enemy resupply his army on their lands and demoralize their civilians. With those goals in mind, he would lead his men across the Potomac River and into Maryland.

On the Federal side General McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac, searched for Lee’s army and a chance to end the war once and for all. With a stroke of luck, one of his men had come across a copy of Lee’s orders at a former campsite. These orders gave McClellan what he needed. The invasion culminated with the battle of Antietam just outside the town of Sharpsburg Maryland on September 17th in what would be to this point the bloodiest day of the war.

132nd Pennsylvania Volunteers

 

In August 1862 in Harrisburg, PA the 132nd PA Volunteer Regiment was formed under the command of Colonel Richard A. Oakford. A few weeks later they found themselves in Maryland taking part in their first battle. They would attack a Confederate position that would become known as Bloody Lane. By the time the battle was over the 132nd had lost 152 men killed, wounded and missing, including their commander.

The following is a brief excerpt from the regimental history written by Richard Hitchcock and available through Project Gutenberg:

A remarkable fact about our experience during this fight was that we took no note of time. When we were out of ammunition and about to move back I looked at my watch and found it was 12.30 P.M. We had been under fire since eight o’clock. I couldn’t believe my eyes; was sure my watch had gone wrong. I would have sworn that we had not been there more than twenty minutes, when we had actually been in that very hell of fire for four and a half hours.

Just as we were moving back, the Irish brigade came up, under command of General Thomas Francis Meagher. They had been ordered to complete our work by a charge, and right gallantly they did it. Many of our men, not understanding the order, joined in that charge. General Meagher rode a beautiful white horse, but made a show of himself by tumbling off just as he reached our line. The boys said he was drunk, and he certainly looked and acted like a drunken man. He regained his feet and floundered about, swearing like a crazy man. The brigade, however, made a magnificent charge and swept everything before it.

To read more click here.

Monument

The monument in the photo was dedicated to the regiment on September 17, 1904 and was erected by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for their brave men. Besides the units name the single inscription reads simply, Virtue, Liberty, and Independence.

 

Civil War

A View From The “Burnside” Bridge

Burnside Bridge over Antietam Creek

The “Burnside” Bridge

So let’s use our imagination for a second.

It is September 17, 1862 and you are a member of the Union 9th Corps standing on a bridge over Antietam Creek in Maryland. A general engagement has been going on down the line as Confederate and Union forces have been duking it out. You and your fellow soldiers find yourself on the far left of the Union line and in a position to roll up the Confederate flank. That is what your commander, General Burnside has been ordered to do.

There is just one problem.

See that ridge up there?

Now imagine that it contains over 300 Confederate soldiers, dug into rifle pits and covered by artillery.

So not only do you have to take the bridge, but create enough of a “beachhead” to allow your men to cross and THEN you still have to drive the Confederates from those heights. That does not sound like anything close to an easy task.

And it wasn’t.

The Confederates, again about 300, prevented the entire 9th Corp from crossing the bridge for three hours that day. Then, even though very outnumbered, they held their side of the bank for an additional two hours. That is five hours that the Union army basically was fought to a standstill on this part of the battlefield.  In the end, over 500 Union soldiers meet their end here, many staring up at that same spot that you see in the picture.

PS.

The Union won the battle in the end and it was based on this victory that President Lincoln felt secure enough to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. More on that later…

Civil War

Bloody Lane

Bloody Lane

Bloody Lane

Before the Civil War, it was known simply as The Sunken Road. In the idyllic farm country of Maryland, the local farmers would take this road to bypass the city of Sharpsburg. To either side lay the fields, the road cutting like a wide ditch between them.

On September 17th, 1862 its name would change forever. The Confederate army had taken positions around the city of Sharpsburg. The Union forces were determined to drive them out. Along this sunken road, Confederate General Daniel Hill placed is 2,600 man division here awaiting the Union soldiers that were sure to come.

As the battle developed Union General William French maneuvered his division, about 5,500 men towards another skirmish down the line. He soon found himself coming within contact of Hill’s men and the battle commenced. From their position in the “trench” of the road, the rebels were able to pour a murderous fire on the Union troops.

For nearly four hours the exposed Union troops were held at bay by the outnumbered Confederates. As more and more Union troops were thrown into the hornet’s nest it became a bloodbath. Finally about 1 PM the Union was able to overrun the position and pierce the center of the Confederate line. Beaten and bloody the Federal troops were not able to follow-up on their success.

In all during those four hours, almost 5,500 men were either wounded or killed outright.  Bodies from both sides stacked as high as cordwood. Forevermore that sunken road that cut through the idyllic countryside would be known as Bloody Lane. The photo above shows a portion of the sunken road, quiet once again with the passing of the years.