Posted on 09/17/2008 6:08:42 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
Rumor has it at night, people have seen the ghosts of soldiers in the area.
“The new visitors center is spectacular.”
So I’ve heard. We’ll be stopping there.
Can’t wait to visit Spotsylvania.
All though Antietam was the worst single day as far as casualties in losses, there was several other battles that were worst in total Casualties.
If you go to this web site you can get a list of the top ten battles based on casualties.
The Ten costliest Battles of the Civil War(Data).
Also I've created a photoblog of sorts on the Bloodiest battles of the Civil War, Bloodiest Battles of the Civil War
Let me know what you think, I would like to add information on the bloodiest battle on the Eastern front, the bloodiest battle on the Western front, the bloodiest battle of the Naval warfare or the most important battle of Naval warfare. I would like to add greatest lost among armies and Divisions among both the North and South. Any other recommendations would be appreciated.
Stuart profitted at Hazel Grove due to Hooker’s orders to Sickles to abandon the position. So Stuart really caught them betwixt and between. The fight was sharp but not overwhelmingly so. The Confederates were able to press forward afterwards. What really made the Hazel Grove position so valuable was the clear lines of fire it provided and the fact that Porter Alexander had scouted the position the night before. He had batteries ready to emplace on Hazel Grove the minute it was taken by the Southerners. It would be one of the few times during the war where Confederate artillery really pounded their Federal counterparts.
Best Regards,
Speaking of Montana, the Bears Paw battlefield south of Chinook is worth visiting, although out of the way. It’s where Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce Indians made their last stand before surrendering in 1877. Chief Joseph’s statement of why he had decided to surrender is very moving and often quoted. It’s a desolate and evocative place.
The 145th anniversry of bloodiest battle #2, Chickamauga, is coming up in a couple of days.
Oh, yeah. I was there for the first time last autumn after reading about it all my life. That place is genuinely weird and I'm not especially sensitive to that sort of thing. A lot of the locals will tell you the same.
Different feeling at Gettysburg altogether, a sort of sadness and grandeur where Pickett's men fell. At Sharpsburg, though, Burnside's Bridge - that's what the signs call it these days - did carry that sort of eerie feeling, but more to the point it's still obvious that it funneled infantry into a narrow kill zone dominated by high ground on the other side. Like the Custer hill it's hard to describe but easy to imagine when you're actually onsite. The Rebs must have thought it fish in a barrel. I did think that fording the river looked a little more difficult to my amateur eye than the books have related but it's been a century and a half. It sure would have beat trying to cross that bridge under fire.
Comparing the Sunken Road to the old pictures was another case in point of you have to be there. It seems a little more open these days - well-tended, and for good reason. Throw a little more growth on either side and you can see why the battle was drawn there. These guys were shooting field artillery at massed troops at a range of 30 yards. Good God.
I haven't visited Cold Harbor yet but someone above mentioned it as haunted ground. Maybe next summer...
I’m glad you told me about that, I basically forgot about it, Will try to make it this weekend.
My wife and I visited Antietam in 2000...at mid-September (the 13th, as I recall).
Thus, we got to see the battlefield under comparable lighting and weather conditions (a gorgeous Indian Summer day).
It's one of the most moving experiences I've ever had. My wife actually sat down and started bawling for the Mississippians in the Sunken Road.
The bridge, the cornfield and the gully also had an eerie feeling about them -- as if you were in the presence of the dead.
Another creepy battlefield is the railroad cut on the Second Manassas battlefield. Especally strange is the place called “the dump”.
Out by Leesburg VA off US Rt 15 is a place called Balls Bluff. In recient years the area has been developed but 25 years ago it took a real determined visitor to find this place. Dead soldiers from the battle floated down the Potomic to Wash DC.
Appomattox Court House. There is a site by the creek where Lee crossed the river to meet Grant. It is easy to determine the exact site where Lee crossed the stream. This site is a historical “2 fer” as it is the home of a man named Joel Sweeney. Joel invented the 5 string banjo and his grave is right there. A few miles up the road are the last trenches dug by the Confederates (Longstreet)April 9, 1965, the morning Lee surrendered. If you walk into the woods you can clearly see the remains of the works snaking through the trees.
April 9 1865 wrong century.
I was at the 145th Gettysburg reenactment and they were advertising heavily for the Chickamauga one there. Wish I could make it down for that one as well.
I visited Ball’s Bluff a few weeks ago. Man that was a nasty drop down to the river.
My Dad is a Civil War buff. I remember him taking me to Antietam and telling me about the Bloody Cornfield. IIRC, he told me that the battle was so ferocious that all the corn was basically razed to the ground.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
Interesting take on the war. John Bell Hood was as brave as a lion, but of all the Confederacy he was probably the worst general.
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