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Antietam, South Mountain, And Harpers Ferry: A Battlefield Guide (This Hallowed Ground: Guides To Civil War Battlefields)

In September 1862 the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac conducted one of the truly great campaigns of the Civil War. At South Mountain, Harpers Ferry, and Antietam, North and South clashed in engagements whose magnitude and importance would earn this campaign a distinguished place in American military history. The siege of Harpers Ferry produced the largest surrender of U.S. troops in the nation’s history until World War II, while the day-long battle at Antietam on September 17 still holds the distinction of being the single bloodiest day of combat in American history.This invaluable book provides a clear, convenient, stop-by-stop guide to the sites in Maryland and West Virginia associated with the Antietam campaign, including excursions to Harpers Ferry and South Mountain. Thorough descriptions and analyses, augmented with vignettes and numerous maps, convey the mechanics as well as the human experience of the campaign, making this book the perfect companion for both serious students of the Civil War and casual visitors to its battlefields.

Series: This Hallowed Ground: Guides to Civil War Battlefields

Paperback: 282 pages

Publisher: Bison Books (December 1, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 080323970X

ISBN-13: 978-0803239708

Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 0.7 x 8.9 inches

Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #875,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #40 in Books > History > Americas > United States > Civil War > Campaigns & Battlefields > Antietam #1090 in Books > Travel > United States > South > South Atlantic #8723 in Books > History > Military > United States

I am a battlefield walker! I love to stand in the spot where ... happened. At these times, history becomes reality. To get the most from visiting a battlefield you need knowledge of the battle or a companion that has this knowledge or a good guidebook.Knowledge of the battle comes from study and discussion. It is almost impossible for the average person to gain enough in-depth knowledge to make visiting multiple battlefields a vivid experience. A companion paid or otherwise, is usually a good option. The problem is they may not be available or able to communicate their knowledge. Paid guides are expensive and money is not something we usually have in abundance. This makes the guidebook option one of the best for battlefield walkers. The book is always available, ready to go when you are and inexpensive. Most of the books vary from very good to excellent. Much of the difference depends on what you need from the guidebook.Brooks D. Simpson, Mark Grimsley and Steven E. Woodworth are the editors of "The Hallowed Ground: Guides to Civil War Battlefields". This series has always been excellent and this addition meets and exceeds that standard. Ethan S. Rafuse is an inspired choice as author for the Antietam guide. He has in-depth knowledge of the battle, studied under Joseph Harsh and is an expert on McClellan. Dr. Rafuse acknowledges "an enormous debt" to Thomas G. Clemens, Steve Stotelmyer, Mark Snell and Ted Alexander. Any student of the battle recognizes these names as subject matter expert this guide is put together by the A Team.What a guidebook it is! In addition to Antietam, we have South Mountain and Harpers Ferry. Antietam is 14 main stops with several have two to four stops.

Antietam, South Mountain, and Harpers Ferry make up the three points of a triangle that encompasses much of the area covered by the Maryland Campaign of 1862, one of the most important campaigns of the American Civil War. For any student of the war era who is contemplating a visit to the area, with its battlefield parks and historic sites, Ethan Rafuse’s "Antietam, South Mountain & Harpers Ferry: A Battlefield Guide" is a valuable book to take along.Rafuse, a professor of military history at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, writes authoritatively about the major figures and events from the Maryland Campaign, in a way that is likely to appeal to both specialists and casual visitors. This book, part of the "This Hallowed Ground" series of Civil War battlefield guides published by Bison Books/University of Nebraska Press, is clearly organized. Narrative introductions to each of the three major centers of the campaign – the Battle of Antietam (17 September 1862), the Battle of South Mountain (14 September 1862), and the siege of Harpers Ferry (13-15 September 1862) – are followed by an organizational schema that will make the book particularly helpful to the battlefield visitor.Precise and well-designed maps begin each new section. “Directions” take the visitor from one stop to the next. “Orientation” instructs visitors where to look in order to understand how the action unfolded on each particular part of the three sites. A “What Happened” section offers a clear overall look at each site’s battle action. Sometimes, though not always, a “Vignette” section provides engaging human-interest stories from the various battlefronts.

Antietam, South Mountain, and Harpers Ferry: A Battlefield Guide (This Hallowed Ground: Guides to Civil War Battlefields) Manassas: A Battlefield Guide (This Hallowed Ground: Guides to Civil War Battlefields) Antietam National Battlefield (Civil War battlefield series) The Making of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park: A Devil, Two Rivers, and a Dream (American Association for State and Local History) The Battle of South Mountain: The History of the Civil War Battle that Led the Union and Confederate Armies to Antietam Sons of Privilege: The Charleston Light Dragoons in the Civil War (Civil War Sesquicentennial Edition) (Civil War Sesquicentennial Edition (University of South Carolina Press)) Antietam Battlefield, Sharpsburg, Maryland, 1862 (A Civil War Watercolor Map Series) My Side of the Mountain Trilogy (My Side of the Mountain / On the Far Side of the Mountain / Frightful's Mountain) Normandy: Battlefield Guide (Major and Mrs Holt's Battlefield Guides) Souvenir of Excursion to Battlefields by the Society of the Fourteenth Connecticut Regiment and Reunion at Antietam: September 1891; With History and ... on the Fields Revisited (Classic Reprint) Hallowed Ground: A Walk at Gettysburg (Crown Journeys) Hallowed Ground: A Walk at Gettysburg Above Hallowed Ground: A Photographic Record of September 11, 2001 The Big Book of Civil War Sites: From Fort Sumter to Appomattox, a Visitor's Guide to the History, Personalities, and Places of America's Battlefields Kershaw's Brigade - volume 1 - South Carolina's Regiments in the American Civil War - Manassas, Seven Pines, Sharpsburg (Antietam), Fredricksburg, ... Fort Sanders & Bean Station. (v. 1) The Maps of Antietam: An Atlas of the Antietam (Sharpsburg) Campaign, including the Battle of South Mountain, September 2 - 20, 1862 (Savas Beatie Military Atlas) Before Antietam: The Battle for South Mountain Too Useful to Sacrifice: Reconsidering George B. McClellan's Generalship in the Maryland Campaign from South Mountain to Antietam A Field Guide to Antietam: Experiencing the Battlefield through Its History, Places, and People Showdown at Antietam: A Battlefield Tour of America's Bloodiest Day