Frosttown Gap and the Meaning of Stewardship

The Frederick News post ran a story today on the purchase of 97 additional acres for the South Mountain Battlefield here in Maryland. Read the story here - http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=109046.

While our neighbors to the north cannot seem to understand the trust they have been given to preserve and protect a national treasure, Maryland has leveraged funds available through Program Open Space to enhance an important site of the Antietam Campaign. Way to go, Maryland, and thanks to part time Ranger John Miller, who spearheaded this effort.

Why is it so much of Adams County doesn't get it? Some people need a lesson in stewardship. The heritage entrusted to them entails the responsibility to maintain the integrity of the battlefield against short-term, and short-sighted, development opportunities. But economics trumps everything, right? Wrong. Especially the kind of voodoo economics that ignores the adverse impacts to other local economies faced with the same choice who made the wrong decision. So how about it, Adams County?

By the way, to those you in Adams County working to prevent this travesty, thank you.

SHAF Tour – Phase One of the Antietam Campaign: Harpers Ferry and South Mountain

Most of the Summer has slipped by without any major battlefield visits. Happily, this is about to change. Tomorrow I set out with SHAF (Save Historic Antietam Foundation) on a tour of Harpers Ferry and South Mountain, led by Dr. Dennis Frye and Dr. Tom Clemens. Details are available on the SHAF site (the tour is almost certainly closed at this point).

I expect to blog the tour in detail, despite my inactivity here of late. I am also in the planning stages for my annual Civil War weekend later in August. This year’s focus will be the Burnside Expedition of 1862 on the North Carolina Coast, with visits to Forts Fisher and Anderson outside Wilmington as well. I finally found a copy of Richard A. Sauers’s A Succession of Honorable Victories: The Burnside Expedition of 1862, which looks to be the only detailed monograph on the campaign. I always like to read as much as I can before I set out, so I know what I’m staring at.

In any case, I can't wait to spend some time in the field.

Fire on the Mountain

This past Saturday, June 7, my wife and I headed to Fox's Gap on South Mountain for "Fire on the Mountain." Confederate artillery crews serving a battery of four Napoleon cannon demonstrated arillery drill and simulated counterbattery fire against a Federal battery deployed some 600 yards away. The rebels occupied the position held by Bondurant's battery during much of the fighting for Fox's Gap on September 14, 1862.

We started the day at Turners's Gap on Alt 40 near the South Mountain Inn (known as the Mountain House in battle reports). From there, the Applachian trail winds southward along the crest of South Mountain to Fox's Gap. The trail runs along the route of an old logging path known as the Wood Road, and was used by various rebel units moving to the defense of Fox's Gap.

The rebel battery demonstrated firing by piece and by section, followed by a tactical simulation of counterbattery fire and defense against infantry. The boom of the big brass guns echoed across the mountainside, hinting at the din of battle long ago in September, 1862. The heat was intense, the temperature approaching 100 degrees at mid-day. Many thanks to the reeanactors who carried out their drill commands with clarity and precision in an open field undert the hot sun while many spectators struggled to find a shady spot to watch the demontration. Thanks also to the property owner. Much of the battlefield is still in private hands, and without the generosity of these fine folks, events like "Fire on the Mountain" would not be possible.

Note: I added a slideshow above using Picasa by Google. Enjoy the photos!