Recovering Fence Lines

Sometime in the 1930s an aerial photograph was made of the battlefield looking eastward in the direction of the New York monument and the Dunkard Church (second illustration).

Although the West Woods had been cleared and the land turned to agricultural use, the original fence lines depicted in the Cope-Carmen map were still visible.

In the intervening years, these fence lines were nearly obliterated by agricultural and residential development. Using the Cope-Carmen map, the aerial photo, and a 2010 Google Earth image, we can once again locate the nearly vanished original fence lines.

Here is how it was done. First the Cope-Carmen map (first illustration) is marked with letter coordinates (A-G, H) with F marking the Dunkard Church and H marking the location of the Maryland Monument.

Next the letter coordinates and unit locations (using the Cope-Carmen map) were marked on the aerial photo. Note that the map is oriented North while the aerial photo is oriented East.

G.T. Anderson's position and the positions of the 7th, 8th, and 2nd South Carolina are shown here.

Finally, an image of the same ground from Google Earth was downloaded.



Using the Cope-Carmen and the 1930s aerial map, the letter coordinates were layered onto the Google Earth image (third illustration).

Next, following the traces of the original fence lines marked by small trees and other growth, the fence lines were marked on the Google Earth image using transparent gray lines (fourth illustration). The result is a modern "map" of the original fence boundaries.

As with all images on this blog, click once on the image to enlarge.

For those tramping the ground you can now align yourself with the position of Anderson (C - E) and the 2, 7 and 8 South Carolina (straddling North and South of coordinate A).

Thanks to NPS Ranger Alann Schmidt for supplying the aerial photograph.

The Cope-Carmen Map Revision of 1908

Recently, the Library of Congress posted on its American Memory Project website the 1908 revised Cope-Carman maps of the "Atlas of the battlefield at Antietam" showing the position of troops at various times during September 17.[1] This revision is posted here as the first map image on the left--click to enlarge. The Library had posted the earlier version of the map series--the 1904 series[2]--on its website some years ago--this is posted here as the second map image--click to enlarge.

Both map series can be examined at the Library of Congress' Map Reading Room but the online versions are as adequate as an in-person view.

So how have the two maps depicted action in the West Woods between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.? Here are some observations.

1) The most significant revision is that of the placement of the 69th Pennsylvania from its 1904 location between the left and right "wings" of the 72nd Pennsylvania to further north between the right of the 42nd NY and the left of the 106th Pennsylvania. (Why the map continues to break the 72nd Pennsylvania into two wings is a mystery--I would certainly like to find something in Carman's papers that explains this.) The repositioning of the 69th brings Col. Joshua T. Owen's official report into line with the 1908 alignment. He writes: "As the brigade reached the top of the hill [marching east to west the brigade crests the Antietam Ridge about 100 yards east of the Hagerstown Pike and in clear view of the Dunkard Church], I noticed many of the regiments to the left of Sedgwick's division falling back in great confusion...[this would have been the 125th Pennsylvania pulling back from their position just to the west of the church and which is marked on the Cope-Carman map as leaving that position around 9:20 a.m. ]. ...The Seventy-first Pennsylvania Volunteers...was posted on the right; the Seventy-second Pennsylvania Volunteers...on the left; the One Hundred and sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers...on the right center; and the Sixty-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers...on the left center." This narrative, applied to the 1904 map does not jibe since it depicts the 69th further south and sandwiched between the two wings of the 72nd Pennsylvania. With the 125th Pa. "falling back" and the 69th positioned further north, the 1908 map shows a much different view of the action as Anderson's and Kershaw's brigades swirled around the 34th NY, just north of the church, the split winged 72nd Pa., aligned on the Hagerstown Pike, and the 7th Michigan straddling the fence between the clover field (now part of Philadelphia Brigade Park) and the West Woods.

2. The 42nd NY is shown in the 1908 map to have at least refused its left in order to meet the onslaught of Barksdale's Mississippians--a much better position than depicted in the 1904 series--although the results remain the same.

3. The left of the 15th Massachusetts is shown in the 1908 to be angled further into the West Woods than in the 1904 map and the 59th NY, which fired a fatal volley into its rear, is directly behind the 15th's left. The 1904 map places the 59th in an overlapped position with its right situated behind the 20th.

4. The 125th is shown to have angled its right (or is it depicted as "falling back"?).

5. Smaller adjustments--in the 1908 map, the 106th Pa.'s alignment is less north and south but slightly angled to conform the the 20th Mass. to its front. The 106th and 71st Pa. also have shifted in the 1908 map further north and directly behind the 20th Mass.

6. As for the Confederate positions, there appears to be just one revision, that is the alignment of Jackson's Division to a position along the Hauser farmstead fence line and immediately to the east of the farmyard.

====Notes=====

[1] The map's full bibliographic title is: "Atlas of the battlefield of Antietam, prepared under the direction of the Antietam Battlefield Board, lieut. col. Geo. W. Davis, U.S.A., president, gen. E.A. Carman, U.S.V., gen. H Heth, C.S.A. Surveyed by lieut. col. E.B. Cope, engineer, H.W. Mattern, assistant engineer, of the Gettysburg National Park. Drawn by Charles H. Ourand, 1899. Position of troops by gen. E. A. Carman. Published by authority of the Secretary of War, under the direction of the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army, 1908." Washington, Government Printing Office, 1908. Retrieved at this location.

[2] "Atlas of the battlefield of Antietam / Surveyed by Lieut. Col. E. B. Cope, engineer, H. W. Mattern, assistant engineer, of the Gettysburg National Park. Drawn by Charles H. Ourand, 1899. Positions of troops by Gen. E. A. Carman. Published by the authority of the Secretary of War, under the direction of the Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army, 1904." Washington, Government Printing Office, 1904. Retrieved at this location.

7th South Carolina

On Sunday, early in the morning, a cold front rolled through northern Maryland. With it came rain which gave way to blue, sparkling skies, and cool breezes. The field was Spring in all its glory.

At this time of year, before summer vacations, the park is mostly quiet early in the morning. I decided to ramble across the old Poffenberger farm cornfield, due south from my post at the Philadelphia Brigade Monument. This walk, which is more of a cross-country bushwhack, takes you through a growing forest of trees interrupted every so often by a field of brambles and bushes. In the Fall this overgrown and protected land is home to a flock of wild turkeys and a small herd of deer. About midway from the Philadelphia Monument, you'll come across the recently-opened West Woods Trail, and, if you follow it to the left and rising ground, you will come out at the 125th Pennsylvania and 34th New York Monuments about 100 yards west of the Dunkard Church.

I wanted to capture some views of the part of the woods where the 125th Pennsylvania (XII Corps), 34th New York, and 7th Michigan (II Corps) met Barksdale's Brigade, the 49th Virginia of Early's Brigade, and the 2d South Carolina of Kershaw's Brigade a little after 9 a.m. on September 17.

Click on photo to enlarge.

The view above is that spot. Now it is a cornfield but at the time it was, like the rest of the West Woods, filled with 100 year old oaks and other hardwoods, widely spaced, with little underbrush. The photo, composite of three images stitched together, shows a wide angle view of the south- south west. This is the view the front ranks of the 125th Pennsylvania and the 34th New York would have seen as the 2nd South Carolina approached on the left and the 49th on the right. The 125th Pennsylvania monument is visible on the right.

Below is the Cope/Carmen map of this part of the field showing the locations of units between 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. The photograph above was taken from a point marked on the map below with blue arrows. The topographical lines show that the field falls away in elevation to the west. The woods are bounded by split rail fences which are represented on this map by squiggled lines. The post fences are represented by dots and dashed lines.

Click on map to enlarge.

The view below is the opposite of the images above. The 125th Pennsylvania and 34th New York Monuments are in the center of the frame. The Dunkard Church lies just beyond the tree line slightly to the right of the center of the photo.

Click on photo to enlarge.

Ezra Carmen, chronicles the events in that part of the field:

"The 2d South Carolina was the leading regiment of Kershaw's Brigade. It was commanded by Colonel John D. Kennedy and numbered 253 officers and men. Kershaw made a brief speech of encouragement and ordered it forward to clear the woods and retake a battery beyond the church, which it was reported had been abandoned. It moved double-quick by the right flank, passed to the right of G.T. Anderson's recumbent men, moved up along the south edge of the woods, and began to climb the fence to enter the woods at a point about two hundred yards southwest of the church, when it was fired upon by the retiring skirmishers of the 125th Pennsylvania. Colonel Kennedy was wounded, and Major Franklin Gaillard succeeded the command, but beyond this the regiment suffered very lightly. Being on lower ground, the fire of the Pennsylvanians went over it. ...After firing at Early and the 2d South Carolina, the Pennsylvania skirmishers rallied upon their regiment, and it opened fire. Monroe's battery threw shrapnel, and Early's men were checked and thrown into some confusion. Some men in front were killed and wounded by their comrades in rear. Colonel Smith of the 49th Virginia was severely wounded but continued on the field, and Lieutenant Colonel John C. Gibson of the same regiment was disabled by a wound in the leg. Early's men were old soldiers and well disciplined; they quickly recovered from the confusion into which they had been thrown and returned the fire of the 125th Pennsylvania with great effect. Early led the 49th Virginia in two charges up the hill and then fell back--the better, it is said, to confuse the aim of Monroe's gunners. These movements had the effect of breaking the alignment of the brigade and again throwing it into confusion." [1]

As Sedgwick's Division moved into the West Woods, the 34th New York, the left regiment of Willis Gorman's brigade and the far left of the division, "came up in rear of the left wing of the 125th Pennsylvania, its left going about thirty yards beyond the church. Perceiving that there was no support on his left, Colonel James A. Suiter, commanding the regiment, sent an officer to see what there was in that direction, and he learned that the 2d South Carolina was moving up the hill toward the church. The left of the 34th New York was now refused [see map above] and faced southwest; the right wing, in rear of the left of the 125th Pennsylvania, faced nearly west." The 7th Michigan, part of N.J.T. Dana's Brigade pulled up almost at the same time as the 34th but positioned itself on the right of the 125th. "Almost immediately two volleys in quick succession were poured into the right of the 125th Pennsylvania and left of the 7th Michigan, which broke the former and laid low one-half of the left wing of the latter. At the same time, the entire front of the 125th Pennsylvania and the 34th New York became involved. All these attacks were made by Barksdale's Brigade, a part of Early's, and the 2d South Carolina of Kershaw's. G.T. Anderson's Brigade was advancing to join the fray."[2] The left of Sedgwick's Division now began to crumble.

On my way back north to the Philadelphia Brigade Monument, I heard a booming voice that grew louder as I came nearer to the monument. Was it the ghost of Edwin Vose Sumner? The quiet of an early Sunday morning was certainly broken.

It was National Park Service Historian Emeritus, Ed Bearrs leading a group of headquarters staff around the park.

What a great way to start the day...little did they know that the long march had just begun.


Footnotes.
[1] The Maryland Campaign of September 1862: Ezra A. Carman's Definitive Study of the Union and Confederate Armies at Antietam, edited by Joseph Pierro (New York, Routledge, 2008), p. 259.
[2] Ibid., p. 263.