The Sunken Road

Now, to go back to Antietam. I took a bit of a walk on the Sunken Road/Bloody Lane Trail. Unfortunately, I didn't have too much time because I really wanted to go back to the VC to do a battlefield tour with a ranger (which I highly recommend to anyone who happens to be in the park on a day that they are offered).

The Bloody Lane happens to be the area where Hancock fought. And being a HUGE Hancock fan, I HAD to go and check it out.

I went to the Mumma farm and cemetery before I got over to the Sunken Road. The farm had a fair amount of school kids running around the yard with Signal Corps flags....so I never got to the farm itself. I'm guessing that these kids were learning about the Signal Corps and how the messages were delivered. This, in and of itself, is a very interesting topic that I will have to talk about some day. Some of the signal stations are in very obscure areas and I have been to a few of them....so I will talk about them soon. But the cemetery was awesome. I love old cemeteries. It's not very big and there are probably a 1-200 people buried in it, but when you start to look at the names, there are quite a few names that are familiar to anyone who has studied the battle. The day that I was there I ran into 2 other people heading into the cemetery to take a look around. So I had it all to myself prior to the others heading in. I can't remember how many trees are in the cemetery but I know that with the trees and the the hilltop, there was a constant breeze. The cemetery is completely surrounded by a beautiful stone wall. It's just a nice little cemetery. As I was leaving, that was when I ran into the other couple.

From there, I went on to the Sunken Road. This old farm road is very deceptive. The first time I went into it, I was shocked at how "sunken" it really is. I stood in the middle of it and the sides were actually over my head. This was a complete surprise to me because in all the pictures I've seen of it and the way it looked from the sides, I didn't think it was that deep. But it is! I'm looking at my map of the different regiments involved. I didn't realize how many actually fought there. On the Union side, they had: 4NY, 108NY, 7WV, 132PA, 5MD, 130PA, 8OH, 1DE, 14CT, 14IN. Then on the Confederate side, it was: 30NC, 4NC, 14NC, 2NC, 6AL, 5AL, 12AL, 26AL. Its odd looking at some of these regiments and seeing those same guys at other battlefields. Some fought at Gettysburg, others fought at Chancellorsville, and the list goes on and on. Some of these guys fought each other repeatedly on the battlefield....but in different places. I think about these things often. Did they recognize the same guys? If they saw a guy, battle after battle, and finally he fell, did they feel bad for him or where they glad? Just what went on in the heads of these men?

I wonder about some of the leaders. Quite a few of these men never made it to Gettysburg. But one that intriques me a bit is Israel B. Richardson. I'm going to have to check out his biography. I guess one of the reasons that he intriques me is because Hancock took over after he was wounded.

There are so many things that I need to look up....and so little time. One day I might scratch the surface!