Civil War

Editor's note:   It has been 150 years since the Civil War moved into Washington County and North and South met Sept. 17, 1862, on a battlefield along Antietam Creek. The following story is part of a package of stories that look back at the Battle of Antietam and the Civil War's impact on Washington County, Md., and the surrounding area.   By the time Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army reached the Potomac River north of Leesburg, Va., on Sept. 4, 1862, approximately one-third of his troops were barefoot, their shoes worn out from months of marching and fighting.

The Continuing Education and Community Services Division at Hagerstown Community College is offering a half-day seminar titled "Civil War 1861: The Country Disintegrates," Saturday, Oct. 15, from 8 a.m. to noon in the Career Programs Building on HCC's main campus. Taught by HCC instructor Joe Mieczkowki, the course will feature two lectures. Lecture I: "The Country Disintegrates" will cover the period of January through June 1861 and will focus on state secession, the rise of protest leader Jefferson Davis and the country's preparation for war. Lecture II: "Blood, Bull Run and Blockades" will cover the period of July through December 1861 and will focus on the battle of Bull Run, the spread of conflict across the United States and the military decisions made by both Davis and Lincoln.

The City of Hagerstown, the Hagerstown-Washington County Conventional and Visitors Bureau and the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area were recognized Jan. 31 at a Maryland Historical Trust awards ceremony at the Governor Calvert Ballroom in Annapolis. The Maryland Historical Trust, or MHT, selected 10 projects, organizations and individuals as the recipients of the 2013 Maryland Preservation Awards. The awards, presented annually by MHT's board of trustees, are the highest level of recognition for historic preservation and heritage education projects in Maryland.

Dunker Church , Antietam National Battlefield, Sharpsburg, Phil Stone will preach on Lincoln and Antietam: Peacemaker or Warrior at 3 p.m. Sunday. The service will be similar to an 1862 Dunker worship service. Sponsored by area Churches of the Brethren. Call 304-267-4135 or 301-432-2653. St. Mark's Episcopal Church , Boonsboro, will offer a service of prayer and remembrance, using the Evening Prayer Service from 1862, at 4 p.m. Sunday. Hymns from the period will be sung. The Rev. Anne Weatherholt will wear a vestment that belonged to her great-grandfather, a chaplain in the Union Army who fought campaigns in Northern Virginia.

The Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau announces the arrival of its 2011 Visitor Guide. The 72-page guide includes maps of Hagerstown and Washington County, restaurant listings, demographics for each town and details about annual special events. There are focused articles highlighting the commemorations of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War, Washington County's African American history, opportunities for agricultural adventures and bike routes. Convention and Visitors Bureau President Tom Riford said this year's Visitor Guide features a smaller, more portable size, colorful photography and a new design.

Franklin County's series of “Civil War 150” commemorative events is set to continue in Greencastle, with music, food and the start of a special tribute to a woman who became a memorable part of the area's history. Civil War living historians and speakers will be on the property of Allison-Antrim Museum, 365 S. Ridge Ave., on Saturday, June 16, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Confederate and Union soldiers, along with women dressed in Civil War garb, will be represented, helping to illustrate the events of 1863, when the town of Greencastle was under the rule of General Robert E. Lee and his troops as part of “The Gettysburg Campaign.” Historian Ted Alexander will discuss the subject as part of his talk, “When War Passed This Way: The Civil War in Franklin County.” Alicia Miller will also be on hand to educate visitors on the important role the Ladies' Aid Societies of Greencastle, Mont Alto and Waynesboro played during the war. Jeffrey Wert of State College, Pa., will speak about “Lee's Army during the Gettysburg Campaign,” and Steve Recker's topic is “Virtual Gettysburg.” Jerry Bayer of Harpers Ferry, W.Va., will discuss Civil War weaponry.

The Continuing Education and Community Services Division at Hagerstown Community College will offer a one-day Civil War seminar Saturday, March 31, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Elliott Center on the main HCC campus. The seminar is offered as part of the 150th commemoration of the Civil War. Seminar presenters include Tom Clemens, professor of history at HCC, who will discuss “Antietam Like You've Never Heard It;” Dennis Frye, chief historian of the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, who will discuss “September Suspense: The Union Uncertain;” Stephen Recker, producer of Virtual Antietam and member/founder of Antietam Battlefield Guides, who will discuss “Rare Images of Antietam;” and Daniel Toomey, historian and author, who will discuss “The War Came by Train.” Frye will serve as the moderator of the panel discussion, following the individual lectures.

Some might call it a match made in historical buff heaven. The Washington County Historical Society wanted to do something exciting in 2011 to celebrate its 100-year anniversary. Stephen R. Bockmiller, development planner and zoning administrator for the City of Hagerstown, needed to do some research for his work with historical site markers. Bockmiller began visiting the historical society's Miller House, which houses the group's offices, library and museum. A history devotee since childhood and co-author of two books about the U.S.S.

A guided bus tour, Lee's Retreat from Gettysburg to Williamsport and the Wagon Trail of Wounded, is Friday, July 13. The tour is led by author and Civil War historian Steve French. The bus leaves from Springfield Barn, 6 Springfield Lane, at 2 p.m., and returns at 6:30 p.m. Touring areas include Gettysburg, Pa., Fairfield, Pa., Greencastle, Pa., Cearfoss, Pinestump Road, Marion, Pa., Cunningham Crossroads, Battle site in Williamsport July 6, 1863, Confederate Pontoon Crossing Site, site of Michigan Cavalry charge, where the Medal of Honor was won and where Gen. Pettigrew fell in battle.

Three buildings on two sites were dedicated as one museum Saturday, honoring the historical and cultural legacy of South Mountain State Park. South Mountain Recreation Area Superintendent Dan Spedden said Washington Monument and Gathland state parks roughly frame a 12-mile span of ridgetop that forms the battlefield for the Battle of South Mountain that occurred during the Civil War. But that battle is not all that the area has to offer in terms of...

I got a rare opportunity last Monday. I had a chance to watch history twice in the same day. On April 29, I finally had a chance to see “42” -- the story of Jackie Robinson, who in 1947 was used to break the color barrier in major league baseball against the wishes of a segregated society. That morning, I woke up to find out that Jason Collins, a 7-foot center for the Washington Wizards, decided to become the first active athlete in one of America's four major sports leagues to admit he is gay against the wishes of a skeptical society.

Civil War cannons that occupied Doubleday Hill in Williamsport from the late 1800s until they were removed in 2000 returned to their home during a ceremony Saturday. Williamsport Town Councilman Scott Bragunier coordinated the historic project, through which the cannons were sent away to Kentucky firm Steen Cannons for restoration. Bragunier said in 1896, U.S. Sen. Louis E. McComas donated the tubes that had been stockpiled following the war. The town of Williamsport mounted the tubes on bricks and dedicated them on Doubleday Hill on July 4, 1897.

A boom bellowed and black smoke poured from the barrel's mouth, but the caliber of sound the cannon made was only narrowly louder than the subsequent shrieks and gasps from the 12-and-younger crowd on Saturday at Antietam National Battlefield. Junior Ranger Day, which was divvied into sections aimed at Civil War education as well as teaching those in attendance to be “stewards of the park,” drew about 150 children plus their families, park Ranger Christie Stanczak said. Sam Cool of Hagerstown brought two of his daughters to the battlefield on what he termed a “staycation.” “She studied the Civil War in school and this is firsthand experience - can't beat it,” Cool, 47, said of his 9-year-old daughter, Molly, who described the day as “awesome.” Park volunteers Tracey McIntire and Audrey Scanlan, outfitted in uniforms representing the Iron Brigade - regimes from Wisconsin and Indiana that fought in the cornfield at Antietam - demonstrated how soldiers fired artillery using black powder blanks.

A Sharpsburg man planting trees at his Powell Road home Thursday unearthed a live Civil War-era shell that authorities later disposed of by setting it off at a neighboring farm. “When I saw it I knew what it was,” J.D. Taylor Jr. said. “It was the second one I found here. “It was some kind of experience.” Taylor said he at first thought he hit a rock with his steel shovel while digging in his yard about a mile from Antietam National Battlefield sometime between 8:30 to 9 a.m. He pushed the shovel under the object, which was five or six inches deep, and knelt to pry it out. The Maryland State Fire Marshal's office said in a news release that the object was a 3-inch Federal Navy Schenkl that had not been fired and had an intact fusing mechanism.

Many who have not studied West Virginia history believe it became a state in the middle of the Civil War because the people who lived in western Virginia objected to Virginia's vote to secede from the Union. True for some, but the schism between eastern and western Virginia at the time ran much deeper and had its beginnings around the time of the American Revolution, according to “Countdown to West Virginia Statehood,” Charles Town author Bob O'Connor's latest book. Seven of O'Connor's works are centered on the Civil War, including some local events and characters.

There was “Crazy Betsy,” a Richmond, Va., woman who pulled off her job as a successful Union spy by acting like an insane woman whom no one would ever get close to. Or the story about “Old Abe,” an Eagle that was a mascot for the 8th Wisconsin infantry in the Civil War. The bird was kept on perch by soldiers and it endured about a dozen battles. And the story of an 11-year-old girl from Upstate New York who wrote a letter to President Abraham Lincoln to tell him that he was a very ugly man. The girl told Lincoln in her letter that she believed Lincoln would be more appealing to voters in his 1860 presidential campaign if he grew a beard.

Name: Thomas G. Clemens Age: 62 City in which you reside: Keedysville Day job: retired professor emeritus, Hagerstown Community College; licensed Battlefield Guide at Antietam; president, Save Historic Antietam Inc., a battlefield preservation nonprofit corporation.  Book title: "The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, Vol. I & II," written by Ezra A. Carman, edited and annotated by me.  Genre: Civil War...

The Continuing Education and Community Services Division at Hagerstown Community College will offer a one-day Civil War seminar Saturday, March 23, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Kepler Theater. The seminar is offered as part of the 150th commemoration of the Civil War. Presenters include Dennis Frye, author and chief historian of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, who will discuss “The Trap Door Closed”; Joe Mieczkowski, licensed Gettysburg Battlefield guide and author, who will discuss “The Tycoon and the Snapping Turtle: Lincoln, Meade and the Gettysburg Campaign”; Steve Bockmiller, author and historian, who will discuss “Valor in the Streets: The Battle of Hagerstown”; and Eric Wittenberg, author and historian, who will discuss “One Continuous Flight: The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14.”  The course fee is $56 for senior citizens and $75 for others, which includes materials, lunch and registration fee. To register or learn more, call HCC at 240-500-2236.

The City of Hagerstown, the Hagerstown-Washington County Conventional and Visitors Bureau and the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area were recognized Jan. 31 at a Maryland Historical Trust awards ceremony at the Governor Calvert Ballroom in Annapolis. The Maryland Historical Trust, or MHT, selected 10 projects, organizations and individuals as the recipients of the 2013 Maryland Preservation Awards. The awards, presented annually by MHT's board of trustees, are the highest level of recognition for historic preservation and heritage education projects in Maryland.