Scourge of War Boards

I highly agree with Amish John on this one.
Antietam A soldiers battle is problably the best
boots on the ground civil war book I have read.

Years ago when I took a training course from the NPS at Antietam John Priest gave us a tour of the battlefield. What was different about Mr. Priest's tour which made it stand out from the many other tours I've taken was that it concentrated on the human interest stories of the rank and file soldiers, rather than concentrate on the strategy and tactics of the battle. A great tour.

I second Sears' work. Bernard Cornwell, the author of the Starbuck and Sharpe series, called A Landscape Turned Red one of the best campaign books ever written.

Two more that provided valuable information during development of this Battle pack:

The Maryland Campaign of September 1862 by Ezra A. Carman, edited by Joseph Pierro. ($79 for the combined volume 1 & 2).

The Battle of South Mountain by John David Hoptak. ($16)

Both available from Amazon or other sources.

Ezra Carman commanded the 13th New Jersy (3rd Bgde, 1st Div, 12 Corps) at Antietam. He developed a dedication to understanding the battle and had a lively correspondence with many participants over the years. He got himself named to the Board of the Antietam National Battlefield in 1894. He is considered responsible for the locations of most of the monuments on the battlefield. This work is quite detailed and covers the entire campaign. He assembled a large manuscript that has only recently been published. This is the foundation for any serious student of the battle.

John David Hoptak is currently an NPS ranger at the Antietam National Battlefield and obviously has a considerable interest in the battle. His book is one of a sesquicentennial series and provides a good study of the three actions along South Mountain. We freely borrowed some of his chapter titles for scenario names. As these are all quotes from the original participants we are OK from a copyright point of view. He freely provided some very useful information on placement of Rodes brigade on a cold and rainy September afternoon.

-Jim

John David Hoptak is currently an NPS ranger at the Antietam National Battlefield and obviously has a considerable interest in the battle.

I visited Sharpsburg this fall and our battlefield guide randomly ended up being John. The punchline is we told him we were on our way to South Mountain the next day and did he know anything about it? Super nice guy, he should have said- 'yeah i wrote the friggin book', but he didn't even mention it, just gave us some must see locations. We didn't put two and two together until spotting his picture in the gift shop, and he was kind enough to sign our books.

The guy is the real deal- and per his advice if you visit Sharpsburg make sure to follow Burnsides path up from Burnside Bridge: dont cheat and drive up to the top of the ridge like the normal tours do. Its a pretty decent climb but you get a much better indication of what Burnside and the 9th Corp had to accomplish that day, and then what hit them in the side of the head via AP Hill. Gives you a lot more empathy of Burnside (not to mention his men... i cant imagine making that climb under fire, its one of those lost bits of history).

Definitely read up on South Mountain, the context is fundamental to understanding Antietam and I second Carman's Maryland Campaign annotated by Thomas Clemsn (dont skip the footnotes they give you a lot of the modern takes, which if nothing else give you an appreciation for how much Carman got right). And if you really want to get serious read Taken at the Flood by Joseph Harsh. There is a lot of important 'new' scholarship about this era coming around and it flips over a lot of the conventional wisdom.

I've ordered A Landscape Turned Red (Sears) and The Battle of South Mountain (Hoptak) on Amazon in the UK, and The Soldiers' Battle (Priest) from Powells in Portland. The latter brought back happy memories of a few hours spent in the store several years ago.

One day I'll get back to the States and will definitely be visiting Sharpsburg, Gettysburg and a few other battlefields ...

Thanks again all.

Jeff

I bet spending some time at Powell's is really something. Ordered books from them but never been there.

B

Not strictly speaking a history of the battle, but William A Frassanito's America's Bloodiest Day offers a slightly different approach. He takes Gardner's contemporary photographs of the battle and compares them with modern day (1970s) locations. The book also is based around key parts of the battle (Bloody Lane,etc)tracing various individuals from both sides who fought, and often died there. Comparing Gardner's photographs with the game map shows just what an incredible job has been done.

Here's another one I'd recommend:

http://www.amazon.com/Antietam-Soldiers ... 0195084667

Also see the companion book Before Antietam:
http://www.amazon.com/Before-Antietam-B ... 826&sr=8-1

Excellent description of a Confederate army on the march.

A Landscape Turned Red has arrived and I am alternating game-playing with reading - and the seasonal family duties pleasures.

Not strictly speaking a history of the battle, but William A Frassanito's America's Bloodiest Day offers a slightly different approach. He takes Gardner's contemporary photographs of the battle and compares them with modern day (1970s) locations. The book also is based around key parts of the battle (Bloody Lane,etc)tracing various individuals from both sides who fought, and often died there. Comparing Gardner's photographs with the game map shows just what an incredible job has been done.

i was going to recommend this one also; not only a great read, it was indispensable when it came time to create the map.