On Hallowed Ground

"I fell forward and lay unconscious with my face in my cap; and it would
seem that I might have been smothered by the blood running into my cap from this
last wound but for the act of some Yankee, who, as if to save my life, had at a
previous hour during the battle, shot a hole through the cap, which let the
blood out." - Colonel (C.S.A.) John B. Gordon



Unlike previous Army professional development schools I've attended, Army War College does not focus on operations or tactics. There is no dissertation of all the famous battles we've come to know over our years of study. Instead, students of the War College are taught the strategic levels of thought for all the instruments of national power - not just military. The theories of Clausewitz, Jomini, Sun Tzu and others are often referenced. Graduates of the Army War College are expected to understand a much larger picture of planning and decision making. Senior military leadership is as much about successful policy as it is about winning wars. But this doesn't mean that students of AWC don't ever get an opportunity to discuss famous battles or visit scenes of long-past combat. During my resident phase we had such an opportunity and it was to visit one of our Nation's most hallowed battlefields - Antietam.

If I were to ask most Americans what the bloodiest day in our history was it is almost assured that the vast majority would answer incorrectly. Antietam is almost lost in obscurity in our history books. But it was on the fields along Antietam Creek near the town of Sharpsburg, MD that the ferocity of modern combat almost tore the heart out of the two armies that grappled there. September 17, 1862 was the bloodiest day our Nation has ever known. Along the lines of that terrible battlefield, 22,719 men fell dead or wounded fighting over Miller's cornfield, Bloody Lane, and Burnsides's Bridge. Soldiers of both the North and South who survived the war would always refer to Antietam as the most ferocious, terrible fighting they had ever experienced. While Gettysburg, which happened almost a year later, was the largest battle fought during the war, Antietam was the day that the Civil War lost its romantic glamour. On that hot September day, the first invasion of the North by the Army of Northern Virginia was stopped. It was considered a tactical victory for the South but it came at such a considerable loss that it was impossible for General Lee to continue operations in Maryland. Soon after the battle President Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, which abolished slavery and assured that no European power would come to the aid of the Confederacy.


I won't go into a battle summary at this point. If I've stimulated your interest to find out more from about the battle then I've done my part. I suggest you read first-hand accounts. Start with the account of Colonel John B. Gordon, C.S.A. He was one of the commanders of the Confederate lines along the Bloody Lane (known as Sunken Lane prior to the battle). Colonel Gordon was wounded five times that day (see quote above). Later promoted to Major General, he was at the head of the column of Confederate troops who surrendered at Appomattox and later became Governor of Georgia. He was one of the most fearless, gallant, and eloquent leaders of the war on either side. His account will put you right at the battlefield at the moment of the clash of arms. It is that riveting. After you've read all about the battle I'd highly recommend you visit the battlefield. It looks almost identical to how it appeared that tumultuous day.

During our visit to the battlefield we visited every major phase of the fighting. The air is supercharged. There are a lot of souls still fighting on that battlefield. I was often overcome with the feeling of a presence. At every location of the battlefield I felt these Soldiers of Blue and Gray, locked in time, forming their lines, fixing bayonets, tending to their wounded, paying their respects to their dead. Our Country will never again know gallantry that could surpass that which took place on the fields of Antietam. I thank God that is so. Such a terrible day can never come again for our great Nation.