Sharpsburg Battle 150 Years Ago Today

One of the curiousities of first Libronix and then Logos4, is the libraries include a lot of history resources (mainly American, though also quite a number from England and Scotland too).

The Perseus ones on the Civil War are really interesting. I read them, keeping up with where we are 150 years ago. I'm really fascinated by 'what people do' when they believe in something.

And often, at least on the American side of the pond, we forget just how much was lost in order to gain freedom for some who never had it. Below is from the AP today:

'More than 23,000 men were reported killed, wounded or missing there on Sept. 17, 1862. Their sacrifices enabled President Abraham Lincoln to announce his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation five days later.

The battle was inconclusive but the Confederates retreated to Virginia the next day. Had the South prevailed, France and England were prepared to recognize the Confederacy as a separate nation.'

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Comments

Mike Childs

The Perseus ones on the Civil War are really interesting.

The battle was inconclusive but the Confederates retreated to Virginia the next day.

Indeed, the gift of Perseus
is a wonderful asset to many of us with a passion to study the "War of
Northern Aggression", as I prefer to call it. It is hard for people
who did not grow up in the south to realize the impact that war still has on
us. Nearly everyone with whom I grew up in my small southern town could name at
least one ancestor who fought for the south. We did and do romanticize
the war.

I have come to admire many
of the leaders on both sides of the conflict.
Yes, even General Grant was a
great American. HIs autobiography, which
is included in the Perseus collection is considered the best and most honest memoir
of any American president. It is well
worth the read. (Please, don't tell my
friends that I have become an admirer of Grant. My reputation would be ruined!)
Both sides produced gallant and brave men who did their duty as they saw
it.

As to the point of who won
the Battle of Sharpsburg, as Yankees call it..
Well, Bobby Lee won, of course. Considering
that McClellan had by chance obtained Lee's battle plans, he totaly blew a
chance to decisively win a victory that could have ended the war. However, victories like Sharpsburg lose
wars. We did not have the manpower to sustain such losses,
the north did.

I think that I will watch the movie Gettysburg tonight, and hope for Bobby Lee to pull out a win on the replay.

Mark Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/397549#Comment_397549

I think that I will watch the movie Gettysburg tonight, and hope for Bobby Lee to pull out a win on the replay.

He'll have to push the battle forward on Day One and get Longstreet to stop dilly-dallying around on Day Two.

I think there's little doubt that Lee did more with less than any general in the North. He was a great man in war and in peace. Lincoln continually pulled his hair out over the generals he had available (until Grant, that is).

All-in-all a tragic time for both sides, but being a Yankee, I'd have sided with the preservation of the Union.

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/397549#Comment_397549

Well, my apologies, Michael. I purposely used 'Sharpsburg' in deference to you only to find out I SHOULD have used Antietam. You can easily see an amateur at work. But you're right. My mom lived west of the Tennessee river near Savannah. After Shiloh and Corinth, that awful Grant set up shop in Jackson. It was a sad day.

Kenneth Neighoff

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/397570#Comment_397570

When it comes to this particular battle, my loyalties are divided. Since I am originally from the state of Maryland. I had ancestors who fought on both sides of the conflict.

Most of them fought in the area around the Dunker Church.

I have walked this battlefield many times. It is a place I go whenever I journey back to Baltimore to visit family.

Mike Childs

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/397570#Comment_397570

My mom lived west of the Tennessee river near Savannah. After Shiloh and Corinth, that awful Grant set up shop in Jackson. It was a sad day.

By golly, you are right and I am wrong about the name. My apologies, sir. I have read so many northern accounts that I got confused myself.

Did you know that when President Andrew Johnson planned to arrest General Lee and try him for treason, General Grant rode to the White House and threatened to resign and denounce the president if he did? Johnson backed down. In effect, General Grant kept General Lee from being arrested and quite possibly hung. General Lee never premitted anyone to speak badly of General Grant. I tell you, for a Yankee, Grant was a gentleman, and he wasn't a drunk, despite propoganda to the contrary. I have come to really admire Grant.

Mark is rigt in his comments about that tragic war. The truth is that the leaders of both sides failed their people and cost hundreds of thousands of lives. The United States is the only country in the western hemisphere to require a Civil War to end slavery. It could have and should been done without war here, too. Lincoln's inexperience (only one term in congress before becoming President) and the South's pride left the nation in flames. Lincoln grew into a great leader and became a great man during the war. There were brave and gallant men on both sides, and plenty of blame on both sides.

Logos has provided us with thousands of first person documents and records of that historic war. I expecially recommend reading the daily newspapers from Richmond, VA. You catch the true emotion of the people in the day by day accounts in a unique way.

Mike Childs

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/397555#Comment_397555

I think that I will watch the movie Gettysburg tonight, and hope for Bobby Lee to pull out a win on the replay.

He'll have to push the battle forward on Day One and get Longstreet to stop dilly-dallying around on Day Two.

Lee told Hill to "take the high ground at your earliest convenience". Lee meant "right now!" However, Hill never found it convenient. If only Stonewall had been there! And, of course, JEB Stuart was off galavanting and joy riding, leaving Lee practically blind as to what what the enemy was doing. But I am praying about forgiving them both - one day.

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/397670#Comment_397670

I did not know about Johnson and trying Lee. I've read Johnson wasn't too swift. It's hard to believe he was from eastern Tennessee. Most people don't realize Tennessee came very close to banning slavery in the 1840s. A few votes short.

You are right about Grant; my spouse is Japanese and we remember him also for his later international decisions as a President.

Doc B

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/397549#Comment_397549

As to the point of who won
the Battle of Sharpsburg, as Yankees call it..

The rest of us call it Antietam.

No other battle in any war, WWI or WWII included, resulted in more loss of US lives than that one.

We lost about half as many boys in one day as we lost in the entire 8-year Vietnam conflict.

fgh

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/397749#Comment_397749

We lost about half as many boys in one day as we lost in the entire 8-year Vietnam conflict.

Number of Americans killed according to Wikipedia:

Antietam/Sharpsburg: 3,654

Vietnam: 58,220

What is it I don't get?

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/397764#Comment_397764

What is it I don't get?

We'll never get it - it's a Southern thing.[;)]

fgh

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/397771#Comment_397771

We'll never get it - it's a Southern thing.

[:D]