Silas and John's
photos from
140th Antietam
All the below photos are thumbnail shots. Click on any to see the full size photo.
9/11 at the Antietam National Battlefield where 3000 flags were placed behind the visitor's center. It was pretty moving. For some photos, I decided to publish them in color as well as in sepia because either I could not decide which looked better.
The March
Evening of 9/11 at the Washington
Monument Park
where the marchers of the 3d S.C. Batt'n formed for the march.
On
the left is Edwin Sims as he stood looking over the plains west
of South Mountain. It's not a posed shot. The lighting below the
monument and the sunset to his face demanded a photo. On the
right is me at the monument. I'd just driven the route we'd be
taking the following day, and I wondered what a fine jamb I'd
gotten myself into.
Some
photos during three of the rests on the march. The above two are
at a church at the foot of Monument Road. The below left photo
was from Keedysville. I don't recall when the below right photo
was taken.
The below photos are of some of the thirteen marchers who constituted the 3d S.C. Batt'n.
On
the extreme left is Eric Deer who, without a doubt, was the
strongest willed person on the march. I've ever met. Richard
Magwood is the gentleman standing. He models some corn starch for
the camera. Without corn starch and mole skin, the marchers could
not have gone the eighteen plus miles it did on 12 September.
Next is the youngest of the group, Peebles. On the far right is
the dirtiest Confederate in America, John (Stretch) Sylvester.
The
upper two photos show Charles (Amos) Reynolds at the shady,
Drayton's Brigade campsite. The below left is Dave Zulinke. Next
is Jed Dupre who had the biggest, bloodiest foot blisters I've
ever seen. Next is Joseph Bordonaro. At the far right is John
Tyczak who took several of the photos on this page.
The
marchers as they arrived at St. James School after hoofing it
from the Washington Monument, through Turner's and Fox's Gaps,
down South Mountain, through Keedysville, through the Antietam
National Battlefield, and finally across a zig zagging route to
the St. James School. Chris Anders said the distance was eighteen
and a half miles.
Felt like more.
Reenactment Battle of Fox's Gap,
part II
Friday afternoon, 13 Sept 02
Drayton's
Brigade did not participate in this battle. Having just been to
Fox's Gap and having done a fair amount of reading about it
seeing the battlefield, the reenactment battle little resembled
what I recall.
Picket and Battle in the Cornfield
Friday evening/Saturday dawn
Commanders
fed approximately eight to ten thousand reenactors into this
cornfield on Saturday morning. This shot was taken on Wednesday
before the reenactment commenced. During evening picket,
individual companies were sent into the cornfield while the
Confederate reserve was bivoacked from the left of the picture
foreground to the right well beyond what the lense captured.
Union troops bivoacked on the opposite side of the corn
(background). Picket occurred from approximately dusk through
0330 hours. Wish I'd taken an "after" photo of the
cornfield. The bulk of what is seen in this photo was trampled.
The below photos all occurred during the Saturday morning battle.
These
are the same photos, but one is in sepiatone while the other is
color.
Sunrise
on the Union cannons. The source of the fog in the photos is
solely from the expenditure of thousands of pounds of blackpowder
ignited one musket and one cannon at a time.
Union
troops returning to their camp from the battle.
Bloody Lane
Saturday afternoon
Confederate
surgeon
Some Drayton's Photos
On
the left is Chris Anders who commanded the brigade and organized
the weekend for us. In the middle is Jerry Hornbaker who
commanded the 51st GA of the brigade. On the right is Piston.
My Goofy Photos
That's
me with the bloody nose framed by the Ice Angels after the Bloody
Lane fight. At the insistance of slacker John Tylczak who did not
feel like make the long walk from the battlefield and seizing
upon a knocking opportunity, we rode in the back of the pickup
past the marching Confederates who all wanted to trade places
with us. Right Photo:
Got to get me a pair of pants, havelock, and stretchy socks like
the officer pictured in the center of the right photo.
At
the left, our fearless leader on sick call Saturday afternoon. At
the right, three caught at the soda stand slurping sugary suds.
On
the left, Tylczak and I at the 71st PA monument at the Bloody
Angle of Gettysburg. We consumed what was left in our haversacks
and walked the Pickett-Pettigrew Charge from there. On the right
is me at the 136th NYSV monument at Gettysburg. I portrayed a
soldier from the 136th years ago and had not visited the monument
until now.
tAll the below photographs are of
Washingtonians at the event.
Lovin'
you, Dub. Center are three zouaves who wished they had done
Drayton's instead of being in the brigade to which they were
assigned. On the right is that Will Deagan who just cannot keep
clean. A color version of the above sepia is making the rounds in
Washington, but it is not for the weak of heart. View it
here if you dare.
A
lawyer, a high school teacher and a mortgage broker went for a
stroll in rural Maryland.... The three marchers from Washington.
Me on Sunday morning. I was fairly worn out, but in excellent spirits. I don't regret my trudging more than twenty miles to the event site as the march was interesting and informative. Zipping along the backroads in a car does not provide the same view as the marching pace.
Despite the good time I had at the event overall, I don't think I'll return to another mega-event for the foreseeable future. The Drayton experience was great, but the battles were poor representations of the real battles and the camps were too plushy for Civil War soldiers. No surprise on either account. I am
sincerely yours,
Silas,
formerly commanding the 3d S.C. Batt'n of Drayton's Brigade
3d S.C. Batt'n / 15th S.C.V. / 51st GA / Phillips Legion
