"Perceptions Not Realities"

In the Mumma Barn on a windy Saturday morning, just nine days before the commemoration of the 150^th anniversary of the Battle, of Antietam 30-40 fortunate people witnessed what I hope is a turn of the page in the scholarship, and treatment of the Army of the Potomac and its commander George B. McClellan.  Those of us who attended the Save Historic Antietam Foundation Seminar today witnessed Antietam Ranger Daniel Vermilya for the first time deliver his findings on the condition of George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Antietam.  Titled “Perceptions, Not Realities: The Strength, Experience, and Condition of the Army of the Potomac at Antietam," his conclusions which cant be ignored demand the attention of all serious Maryland Campaign scholars. Once and for all they refute the typical assumptions made on the condition of the Federal Army and what exactly McClellan understood the status of that command to be on the eve of battle.

Antietam Battlefield Ranger Dan Vermilya

Dan began with some of the usual assertions made about McClellan and the Union Army at Antietam from such sources as Ken Burn’s Civil War and Stephen W. Sears Landscape Turned Red. As a volunteer and guide here at the park, I hear variations on this theme all the time.  The Army of the Potomac outnumbered the Army of Virginia 2-1 at the Battle of Antietam.  McClellan had 30,000 fresh troops on September 18 and could have administered the final deathblow to Lee’s Army if only he had attacked on that day.

Dan’s serious research uncovers a much different story.  He looks at the condition of each corps.  He reveals correspondence from Hooker, Porter and others who describe the serious degradation of readiness in their commands.  We see a total lack of confidence by Hooker in Abram Duryee, something never known before today.  We see present for duty numbers from different sources and different dates that are conflicting and contradictory.  We discover that straggling was just as serious a problem for George McClellan as it is for Robert E. Lee, and we see what measures he and his generals take to fix the problem.  We see a marked decline in strength of the Federal Army as the days of September go by. 

Dan supported his conclusions with slide after slide of detailed documented original source material.

What Joseph Harsh does in precisely documenting the condition of the Confederate Army in his landmark book Sounding the Shallows, Dan does in part for the Union Army in his research.  Like Harsh, he looks at combat experience, this time for each Federal brigade. He finds that unlike the Confederate Army where all of the combat brigades have seen action in at least one but often two or even three campaigns, many Union brigades have never seen action at all. 

Dr. Tom Clemens recognizes Ranger Vermilya

Dan synthesizes all this information into a portrayal of a different Army of the Potomac than the stereotype we normally envision.  We see a commander with a much more complex set of circumstances to face as he advances out of Washington toward Western Maryland than the commander that history has previously portrayed to us. McClellan faces conflicting orders and direction from Washington, confusing and contradictory unit strength reports. There is massive straggling, green troops, dozens of new brigade, division and even corps commanders, heavy combat losses in men and leaders from the months of heavy fighting on the Peninsula, at Cedar Mountain and during the Second Manassas campaign. Trusted senior officers face imminent court martial charges. 

It is not so simple or cut and dried now, is it?  We must relook at all the unsustainable and sweeping generalities that were the foundation of the interpretation for a hundred years. 

What about McClellan’s decision not to attack on the 18^th?  In correspondence not seen in the OR, we hear the condition of Andrew Humphrey’s division.  Virtually all green troops, they made a 26-mile overnight forced march from Frederick to Sharpsburg and arrive on the morning of the 18^th.  Are they ready for battle? Dan also revealed a never before seen handwritten scrap of paper purportedly jotted by McClellan or one of his staff which listed the strengths of the three divisions of the Fifth Corps and Couch’s division, and a list of senior officers killed or wounded in the fighting.  Mistakenly referring to George Hartsuff as mortally wounded, the document must have been written just after the battle.  McClellan appears to be weighing some of the factors (available units and combat losses among leadership) he is considering for deciding whether to attack on the 18th. 

Antietam Battlefield Superintendent Susan Trail, and Rangers Dan Vermilya, Keith Snyder, Brian Baracz, and John Hoptak

Why didn’t anyone else see this before?  What has Dan done differently?  To begin with when not working at the battlefield, he spent much of he summer in the Library of Congress and National Archives.  He pursued an exhaustive, comprehensive, methodical review of original records including strength reports, correspondence, and military orders.  He has NOT rehashed the ocean of secondary sources and their  usual tired themes.

The scope of Dan’s study was limited. However, we glimpse tantalizing details of what else might be learned if this line of investigation is pursued. We were treated to just a part of Dan’s research in his presentation today.  I know that much more will be revealed when he distills this fine research effort either into an article or even better as a chapter in a more comprehensive work that would be for the Union Army, what Taken at the Flood was for the Confederates. 

Yours Truly and Dan Vermilya

So in the Mumma Barn on a windy Saturday morning, 30-40 fortunate people witnessed what I hope is a turn of the page in the scholarship, and treatment of the Army of the Potomac and its commander George B. McClellan.  At the end of Dan’s talk, Dr. Mark Snell, both a presenter and attendee said as much. I agree with Dr. Snell. Keep it coming Dan!

Dan’s work marks him as an objective, thorough, and passionate scholar of the Maryland Campaign.  SHAF chose wisely in selecting him as its first Harsh Scholar. No doubt his great-great-great grandfather, Private Ellwood Rodebaugh, of Company D, 106th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry who made the ultimate sacrifice at Antietam would be proud of Dan.  His family and we who are his Antietam colleagues and friends sure are!

"You cannot separate politics and military operations,"

Doctor Tom Clemens perhaps the foremost living expert on the Maryland Campaign and editor of the 2-volume edition of Ezra Carmen’s papers spoke recently at the Pentagon as part of the Department of Defense Historical Speaker Series.  An article by the American Forces Press Service covered Tom’s speech.  See the article here.  If you entertain any degree of objectivity on the issue of George McClellan's role, read this article.  Afterward in an interview with Claudette Roulo, Tom had this to say. “When we impart history for the masses, we tend to generalize. We tend to create heroes and villains and things become more black and white, good and bad, right and wrong. We know that two of the great icons of American history are Abraham Lincoln, the martyred president, and Robert E. Lee, the noble soldier. So when George McClellan argues with one and defeats the other, it doesn’t fit into the mold. We have to somehow reduce McClellan and minimalize his achievements so that the icons remain icons.”

Dont Miss It! SHAF Lecture Series on the Battle of Antietam

The Mumma Barn at Antietam National Battlefield

Save Historic Antietam Foundation Inc. will host a special lecture series in honor of the 150th Anniversary of the battle of Antietam.  The lectures will take place in the Mumma Farm barn at Antietam National Battlefield on Saturday September 8, starting at 9:00.  This event will also feature presentations from the recipients of two special scholarships funded by SHAF.  Daniel Vermilya has received the first Joseph L.  Harsh Scholar Award and will share his research on the Union Army at Antietam.  Susan Rosenvoldt was awarded the special Sesquicentennial Award and she will share her research about the role and actions of Clara Barton at Sharpsburg.  Other speakers will include Dennis Frye Chief Historian of Harpers Ferry National Park, Dr. Mark Snell, director of the George Tyler Moore Center for Study of the Civil War and local columnist and write Tim Rowland.  The event is free and open to the public, and no reservations will be required.   Donations to SHAF will be accepted and there will be book signing by the authors and other items for sale.  

I am particularly looking forward to the presentation by my good friend and colleague Antietam Ranger Dan Vermilya.  The first recipient of the Harsh Scholar Award, Dan will be discussing his findings on the strength, experience, and condition of the Army of the Potomac.  Dan spent many hours at the National Archives reviewing original material that has not seen human eyes for many years. I have had the pleasure on many Sunday afternoons at the Antietam Visitor's Center, over the past six months to talk with Dan on his research.  His presentation promises to be very informative and an important addition to the scholarship of the Maryland Campaign in the best tradition of Dr. Harsh.    

For more information on the program, see the SHAF website here.  See you there!

The "Lost Paragraphs" of Special Order 191

The copy of Special Order 191 that was found by Sergeant John Bloss and Corporal Barton Mitchell and put into the hands of General McClellan is now on display at Monocacy National Battlefield in Frederick.  I was privileged to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new exhibit on Friday.  On hand beside the bevy of V.I.P.s were descendents of the Bloss and Mitchell families.  They contributed a number of previously unseen letters and artifacts to the exhibit. It was exciting for me to see such an important part of history and something so key to the Maryland Campaign.  We owe a debt of thanks to everyone who made the exhibition possible. 

On Sunday when I was working at the Antietam Visitor’s Center, a sharp-eyed visitor asked why the copy of the Lost Order on display begins with paragraph III.  Look closely at the order here.  Was that a typo?  Where are the “lost” paragraphs?

In its entirety, Special Order 191 does in fact have paragraphs I and II.  However, these paragraphs, which dealt largely with administrative matters not important for the combat commanders, were omitted from the copy written for D. H. Hill.  The copy, written out for D.H. Hill by Jackson from his original, also does not contain these paragraphs.  Here are the “lost” paragraphs:

I.               The citizens of Fredericktown being unwilling while overrun by members of this army, to open their stores, to give them confidence, and to secure to officers and men purchasing supplies for benefit of this command, all officers and men of this army are strictly prohibited from visiting Fredericktown except on business, in which cases they will bear evidence of this in writing from division commanders. The provost marshal in Fredericktown will see that his guard rigidly enforces this order.

II.             Major Taylor will proceed to Leesburg, Virginia and arrange for transportation of the sick and those unable to walk to Winchester, securing the transportation of the country for this purpose. The route between this and Culpepper Court-House east of the mountains being unsafe, will no longer be travelled. Those on the way to this army already across the river will move up promptly; all others will proceed to Winchester collectively and under command of officers, at which point, being the general depot of this army, its movements will be known and instructions given by commanding officer regulating further movements.

McClellan's West Point Classmates

Lieutenant McClellan in 1846 after graduation

It is not novel to say that the Civil War was almost unique in that so many of the senior leaders were classmates and frequently close friends with their opponents.  This was largely due to their West Point connections and prior service in the Regular Army.   Of the 197 officers that I am aware of that fought at the Battle of Antietam or otherwise supported the Maryland Campaign, 48 attended West Point when George B. McClellan was a cadet.  It is normal to see in an officer’s biographies that authors often state who they graduated with at West Point.  Take that a step or two further.  Who was also at West Point when they were students their entire time.  In a four year curriculum like that at the Academy in the 1840s, a man would be connected with a total of nine year groups of cadets.  He would certainly know the men in his class the best.  But for men who arrive in the year immediately before or afterward, he would be spending three years of his life with them as well.  Men in these classes would also often be best of friends.  Look at the table. 

1843 (5)	1844 (3)	1845 (6)	1846 (14)	1847 (9)	1848 (6)	1849 (5)
Upper Classman				Under Classman
William B. Franklin Roswell Ripley James A. Hardie Henry F. Clarke Rufus Ingalls	Alfred Pleasonton Winfield Scott Hancock	William F. Smith Fitz-John Porter John P Hatch Delos B. Sacket William H. Wood David A. Russell	George B. McClellan Jesse L. Reno, Darius N. Couch Thomas J. Jackson Albert L. Magilton Truman Seymour Richard H. Rush, Samuel D. Sturgis David R. Jones, George H. Gordon Frederic Myers Delancey Floyd-Jones John D. Wilkins Nelson H. Davis	Orlando Willcox, Ambrose P. Hill Horatio Gibson Ambrose Burnside John Gibbon Clermont Best, Romeyn B. Ayres Charles Griffin Thomas H. Neill	James C. Duane Robert S. Williamson Joseph C. Clark John C. Tidball John Buford George N. Evans	John G. Parke Edward R. Platt Edward M. Hudson Samuel B. Holabird Alfred Cumming Names highlighted in gray served in the Rebel Army

The Class of 1846 contains such well-known officers as McClellan, Reno, Couch, Jackson and Sturgis (if you only count division commanders or higher.)  McClellan also had very close friends in the classes that graduated before and after him.  Consider William Franklin (1843), Baldy Smith (1845), Fitz-John Porter (1845), and at one point his best friend Ambrose Burnside (1847).  Many of the less known officers will appear on McClellan’s staff.  Commanders had much leeway in who they selected for their official military family and would certainly have chosen men who they got along with or who they were associated with previously. 

From the class of 1843 came officers who were present at West Point when McClellan was a fourth year cadet.  They include his Chief of Commissariat Colonel Henry Clarke, Chief Quartermaster Lieutenant Colonel Rufus Ingalls, and Assistant Adjutant General James Hardie.  The Inspector General of the Army was Colonel Delos Sacket from the Class of 1845.  Also from that class was McClellan’s Assistant Provost Marshal, Major William Wood.  From his own graduating class came Major Nelson Davis, an assistant inspector general.  McClellan’s chief engineer Captain James Duane came from the Class of 1848 as did one of his many aide-de camps Lieutenant Colonel Edward M. Hudson.  These were third-year men when McClellan graduated.  Coincidence? 

There were only six officers in this range of years who would don the gray uniform.  Two of them Stonewall Jackson, and A.P. Hill undoubtedly were among the greatest commanders that served the rebels.  McClellan was very close to Hill and knew and respected Jackson’s work ethic and attention to his studies. Additionally, Confederate division commander David "Neighbor" Jones graduated with McClellan.  Ohio-born rebel Roswell Ripley graduated after McClellan's first year.  Brigade commander Nathan "Shanks" Evans and Albert Cummings (who commanded Cadmus Wilcox's brigade of Richard Anderson's division) were underclassmen during Little Mac's tenure.

When I array this kind of information in various ways, it is fascinating how the names line up and the relationships emerge.  I won’t offer any further analysis (for now), but take a look yourself and make your own conclusions.

100,000

I awoke this morning to find that the combined odometer on my two blogs South From the North Woods (SFTNW) and Antietam Voices (AV), rolled over the 100,000 hits milestone.  These two blogs are something that I have really enjoyed working on over the past four year.  I have many more ideas than I have time to post so I am sad that I don’t get to spend time with my babies like I really want to.  Thanks to the loyal group of friends out there who take the time to look in on SFTNW and AV now and then.  I appreciate the support and interest.  Stay tuned… and just 47 days to the 150^th!

Fifty Days

Colonel Turner G. Morehead 106th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry

Stephen Vincent Benet recounts the futility and frustration of smoothly translating a military plan of execution into the hard and cold reality of battle as he describes the Battle of Bull Run in his poem John Brown’s Body. 

This poem opens William Hasslers classic book George B. McClellan Shield of the Union. 

"If you take a flat map and move wooden blocks upon it strategically, The thing looks well, the blocks behave as they should.

The science of war is moving live men like blocks

And getting the blocks into place at a fixed moment.

But it takes time to mold your men into blocks

And flat maps turn into country where creeks and gullies

Hamper your wooden squares. They stick in the brush,

They are tired and rest, they straggle after ripe blackberries,

And you cannot lift them up in your hand and move them.

A string of blocks curling smoothly around the left

Of another string of blocks are slow

To move, when they start they take too long on the way –

The General loses his stars and the block-men die

In unstrategic defiance of martial law

Because still used to just being men, not block-parts

As one of a priveleged number of people - rangers, volunteers and battlefield guides  who humbly look forward to supporting the commemoration of the 150^th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam, it will be our challenge, and our honor to turn the abstract battlelines on a map, and the little wooden block-men as Benet refers to them, into the living breathing men like Colonel Morehead pictured above and a hundred thousand others who fought ferociously, demonstrated unbelievable bravery, feared for their lives, witnessed indescribable carnage, died in droves, were wounded and maimed by the thousands, or who survived to fight other battles, and maybe even survive this terrible war, to forever change America forever.  It is in large measure to them that we work so hard to get it right at this years battle anniversary now only 50 days away. Come to Sharpsburg in September.