On September 17, 1862 the armies of the United States of America and the Confederate States of America attacked each other with a savagery that was, and still is unparalleled in our nation’s history. Before the sun set on the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland located near Antietam Creek, the combined casualties for the two sides totaled more than 22,720. The National Park Service states that a total of 3,650 were killed, 17,300 wounded, and 1,770 listed as missing or captured. Most historians agree though that the killed in action total was actually much higher than the official record indicates. Civil war record keeping only accounted for the actual number of soldiers killed on the day of the battle and did not include those who succumbed to their wounds during the weeks and months that followed. It was not unusual for 15% to 20% of the wounded listed in the report to die of complications during their convalescence. The missing and captured figures were also misleading due to the fact that both sides were committed to the Napoleonic battle strategy which called for the massing of your forces shoulder to shoulder and advancing in a compact line toward the enemy. Unfortunately for the infantry on both sides artillerymen of the day made use of what was called canister shot when faced with enemy infantry. Canister shot converted the artillery piece into what many have described as an oversized shotgun, capable of literally vaporizing the bodies of advancing infantrymen. Due to this grisly fact many of the men that were listed as missing on the action report were actually blown into atoms and were never seen again.
Today our Civil War Battlefields are once more tranquil and peaceful, and they are getting more and more tranquil and peaceful all the time. The more than twenty million World War II and Korean War Veterans that loved and visited our National Battlefields are nearly all gone now. Political correctness has also taken its toll, anything that is connected to the Confederate States is associated with slavery, and so school systems and families no longer visit our battlefields like they once did. Also the never ending death and destruction that seemingly has no end or solution in the Middle East has changed the average American’s opinion of war and the men who fight it. Combine all this with the fact that the White House and Congress played a spiteful game with our parks by closing them during the “Sequester” it is a wonder that there is anyone at all is visiting our Civil War Battlefields.
So much for my time on the soapbox, the National Battlefield Parks are a great and beautiful place to visit, and if you ride a motorcycle they make great destination rides. Most are located in rural areas connected by great back country roads which for those of us who appreciate the great outdoors as seen from the saddle of a motorcycle can’t be beat. Whenever I visit one of these parks I seek out a quiet place overlooking some part of the battlefield where the fighting took place and try to imagine what motivated these men (and in some cases women disguised as men) to give up everything including their lives for what they believed in. Whenever I do this I can’t help feeling a sense of gratitude and remembering the words of philosopher George Santayana who said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
On September 17, 1862 the armies of the United States of America and the Confederate States of America attacked each other with a savagery that was, and still is unparalleled in our nation’s history. Before the sun set on the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland located near Antietam Creek, the combined casualties for the two sides totaled more than 22,720. The National Park Service states that a total of 3,650 were killed, 17,300 wounded, and 1,770 listed as missing or captured. Most historians agree though that the killed in action total was actually much higher than the official record indicates. Civil war record keeping only accounted for the actual number of soldiers killed on the day of the battle and did not include those who succumbed to their wounds during the weeks and months that followed. It was not unusual for 15% to 20% of the wounded listed in the report to die of complications during their convalescence. The missing and captured figures were also misleading due to the fact that both sides were committed to the Napoleonic battle strategy which called for the massing of your forces shoulder to shoulder and advancing in a compact line toward the enemy. Unfortunately for the infantry on both sides artillerymen of the day made use of what was called canister shot when faced with enemy infantry. Canister shot converted the artillery piece into what many have described as an oversized shotgun, capable of literally vaporizing the bodies of advancing infantrymen. Due to this grisly fact many of the men that were listed as missing on the action report were actually blown into atoms and were never seen again.
Today our Civil War Battlefields are once more tranquil and peaceful, and they are getting more and more tranquil and peaceful all the time. The more than twenty million World War II and Korean War Veterans that loved and visited our National Battlefields are nearly all gone now. Political correctness has also taken its toll, anything that is connected to the Confederate States is associated with slavery, and so school systems and families no longer visit our battlefields like they once did. Also the never ending death and destruction that seemingly has no end or solution in the Middle East has changed the average American’s opinion of war and the men who fight it. Combine all this with the fact that the White House and Congress played a spiteful game with our parks by closing them during the “Sequester” it is a wonder that there is anyone at all is visiting our Civil War Battlefields.
So much for my time on the soapbox, the National Battlefield Parks are a great and beautiful place to visit, and if you ride a motorcycle they make great destination rides. Most are located in rural areas connected by great back country roads which for those of us who appreciate the great outdoors as seen from the saddle of a motorcycle can’t be beat. Whenever I visit one of these parks I seek out a quiet place overlooking some part of the battlefield where the fighting took place and try to imagine what motivated these men (and in some cases women disguised as men) to give up everything including their lives for what they believed in. Whenever I do this I can’t help feeling a sense of gratitude and remembering the words of philosopher George Santayana who said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
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