About Me

My photo
I am a lifelong student of military history with particular interest in the Battle of Antietam. I work for the federal government in Washington DC and have two young adult children who I love very much. I currently volunteer at Antietam and devote much time to the study of this battle and the Maryland Campaign. I enjoy collecting notable contemporary quotations by and about the men of Antietam. Since 2013 I have been conducting in depth research on the regular artillery companies of the Union Army and their leaders. I hope to turn this into a book on this subject in the future. My perspective comes from a 28-year career in the U.S. Army. Travels took me to World War II battlefields in Europe and the Pacific where American valor ended the tyranny of Nazism and Empire. But our country faced its own greatest challenge 80 years earlier during the Civil War. And it was the critical late summer of 1862, when Robert E. Lee launched the Maryland Campaign. It is an incredible story of drama, carnage, bravery, and missed opportunities that culminated around the fields and woodlots of peaceful Sharpsburg MD. So join me as I make this journey South from the North Woods.

Monday, September 12, 2011

September 12, 1862 Voices


Joseph Hooker

"a scared Governor ought not to be permitted to destroy the usefulness of an entire division of the army, on the eve of important operations....It is satisfactory in my mind that the rebels have no more intention of going to Harrisburg than they had of going to heaven.  It is only in the United States that atrocities like this are entertained."
Joseph Hooker, September 12 1862.
Hooker protesting to McClellan the reassignment of division commander John Reynolds to command militia in Pennsylvania at the height of the Maryland Campaign.  From The Maryland Campaign of September 1862 Vol. 1 South Mountain. Edited by Tom Clemens. New York:  Savas Beatie, 2010. Page 204






Robert E. Lee

"Before crossing the Potomac, I considered the advantages of entering Maryland east or west of the Blue Ridge.  In either case it was my intention to march upon this town [Hagerstown]"
Robert E. Lee, September 12 1862
Lee to Davis explaining his intentions to move on Hagerstown. From Taken at the Flood Robert E. Lee & Confederate Strategy in the Maryland Campaign of 1862 by Joseph L. Harsh.  Kent:  The Kent State University Press, 1999.


Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)