MDP is back after a three day break for the holidays.   Today’s picture comes from Antietam, it’s a shot of the sunken road, also known as bloody lane as viewed from the observation tower.   The stretch of land on the left of this shot was where the second (out of three) phase of the battle took place.   You can imagine the carnage that results when hours of battle are compressed into such a tiny space of land.

One more fact about the bridge picutre from yesterday is that the bridge carries the Appalacian trail over the Potomac. Most people know that the trail goes through Maryland because they see the sign on the bridge above interstate 70 where the trail crosses the highway. 

Of course, if there’s a train going through a Maryland town, I’m probably going to be interested in it.  Despite the tunnel’s name, it is located on the Maryland side of the river.  This tunnel goes through the harsh cliffs of Maryland heights allowing the trains from Baltimore and DC to pass through it just before they pass over the Potomac and into Harper’s ferry.   If you remember past posts about the C&O canal, you might be interested in knowing that this picture was taken from the canal, as it meanders along the shore of the Potomac.  With the Canal having right of way along the entire shoreline, there was no room for trains to pass.  So the railroad was forced to build this tunnel.

Close to the faded sign from yesterday, these two decided to spend Saturday afternoon on the cliffs above Maryland Heights.   On top of these hills, the remnants of multiple civil war gun placements and forts survive from the years that the Union held Maryland heights and its commanding view of Harpers Ferry and the Potomac.

This cliff faces the Potomac in Maryland Heights, an area just across the river from Harpers Ferry , West Virginia.   Someone in the early 20th centry thought that it would be a great idea to paint an ad on the face of the cliff, forcing knowlege of his product on everyone in Harpers Ferry who dared to look across the river.  

I think this is a hilarious remnant of a time when complicated names for products that did little were perfectly matched with large ads that defaced scenic landscapes.  All that is missing is the song and dance of a less than repuatable door to door salesman. 

On September 17, 1862 in what was then just Sharpsburg, MD, the bloodiest battle in American history was waged along the edges of the Antietam Creek.  

Since I’ve vistied Antietam, I’ve been fascinated by all the history of the battle and the events leading to it.   You can find a lot of intetnet articles which will describe the battle for you.  I hope you look into them.    You can lean about how an equal number of Union generals and Confederate generals were casualties of the battle.  You can also learn how better leadership on the Union part could have made this draw into a decisive victory, and may have ended the war years ahead of time.  

Since I’ve visited, I’ve read enough to know that, in many ways, the Union had a chance to win the war here in Western Maryland, but let it slip from their hands.   Did you know that the Union received secret informaton on confederate positions as they made their way to Sharpsburg?   It’s true.  The Union acted on it, but a bit too late, which is why the real engagement happened in Sharpsburg, and why we don’t hear nearly enough about the Battle of South Mountain.    Did you know that before Antietam, the Confederates entered Western Maryland thinking they could recruit people they found along the way?  That’s true too.   What we know as our state song began as the Confederates’ efforts to recruit Maryland citizens to their side.    

I’ve learned much of this since I’ve visited Antietam.  However, nothing will ever compare to seeing the park itself.   Only by walking through the fields and over the actual creek did I realize how overwhelming it is that the bloodiest day in American history took place over realatively small areas of land.   

It’s the compact areas where the majority of casualties occurred that make you stand back and think about this battle.  There were three major battle areas.  Each one was relatively well contained.   There was a corn field in the morning, later a line defined weakly by a sunken area (called bloody lane, which is roughly seen in the right side of today’s picture up to the modern viewing tower) and late in the day battle moved to a bridge over the creek (visible in a previous MDP post).       

It’s an amazing experience to see these places yourself and to imagine what it was like to fight for them.   I hope you get to go to the fields and see what I mean.  

**** Also: for those who want to learn more, the NPS website has a gallery of pictures taken by Alexander Gardner, a photographer who came to Antietam and photographed the aftermath of the battle.   It’s not for everyone, but if you are interested, I’m posting the link here.

Since it’s almost independence day, I figured this would be a good chance to use this picture of flags in front of a group of ominous storm clouds.   You will note the Maryland Flag and the Washington County flag flying to either side.

Today we have another photo courtesy of Bryan, who took this shot in Antietam specifically becasue it offers more of a pure look at the field; that is to say that it is free from construction and monuments. 

Braddock did indeed make his way through Maryland, meeting with quite a few of our Nation’s most important figures along the way.  Not only did he meet with Benjamin Franklin in Frederick, but he rode a great deal of the way to Fort Cumberland with George Washington. 

This picture was taken in Sharpsburg.  It is entirely possible to retrace Braddock’s movements through Maryland, following these road markers as you go.  Many of them say nearly the same thing.   

This is another picture from the Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, MD.    What’s great about visiting Antietam is that you can take a self guided tour throughout the grounds and there are probably hundreds of monuments and plaques to help you make sense of your journey.  If your New Years Resolution is to visit more Maryland historical sites, this is a fantastic place to start.

Sort of related to the rest of the week’s posts, right.  It’s red.

It’s from just a bit south of this picture, in Hancock, part of the thinnest piont in MD. 

Burnside’s Bridge is named for General Ambrose Burnside, the Union general who ultimately captured the bridge during the battle at Antietam.   It took him and his troops more than three hours to capture the bridge.  It is still debated today whether it would have made sense for him to take his men through the water instead of over the bridge.  In fact, in 1994 a group of cadets from West Point attempted to cross through the water (instead of over the bridge) in similar conditions to those that Burnside would have experienced.  They found that, even though the water was only 3 feet deep, getting up and over the steep embankment on the other side proved difficult (and time consuming) enough to make crossing the bridge instead a valid option. 

The bridge is no longer in use today for traffic, but is part of the Antietam National Battlefield tour and provides, as seen above, some great photo opportunities.  Also named for General Ambrose Burnside: Sideburns.  And if you look at the Bio below, I think you’ll see why:

http://www.civilwarhome.com/burnbio.htm

Here is a shot of the War Memorial in Thurmont, which can be see by looking directly to the left if you are walking down Main St. in the direction of the last Thurmont picutre. 

Here’s Boonsboro, MD.  Founded in, as you can see in the sign, 1792.   I thought it was a nice town when I drove through.  However, after some research on the internet, I’ve confirmed it is not only a nice town but also an interesting town.  You can read more here, but two intersting claims to fame include: the town’s having built the first monument to George Washington and the fact that the town was named after two Boones who were cousins of Daniel Boone. 

While most of the population went east for Memorial Day, MDP went west.  If you are keeping track, the western-most post we’ve had so far was in Hancock.  Moving past hancock, the first thing you find on I-68 is Sideling Hill, and the Sideling hill cut.  This is the deepest road cut in Maryland.  There is a visitor’s center which I almost visited.   There were plenty of sites to visit to the west and an apointment to be kept, so the visitor’s center was shelved for the return trip, but the rain kept that from happenening.   Just something else to which I can look forward. 

Saturday (tomorrow) is national train day, so stations and museums across the country will be having special train-related events; good for kids, good for adults, good for adults that act like kids.  Just don’t act too much like a kid in Hagerstown, or you might end up in this building.    

You know this is a police department because of the police cars strewn out about the lot in front.  However, you can probably guess the former purpose of this building.  Built in 1912, this was the Western Maryland Railroad’s Hagerstown train station.   As the WM stopped serving passengers here, it became administrative offices for the railroad.  After the consolidation of the WM into the Chessie System, with the merged B&O and C&O (the latter of which was sadly based out of Virginia)  the building fell out of use.  In the ‘70’s the town of Hagerstown renovated it (obviously pulling up any remaining tracks) and it later became the Police Department headquarters.  Like so many historic buildings that have recently seen a new life, I suppose we have to be grateful that it is still standing, even if not for its original purpose.   In this case, I am happy that they retained features like the platform and overhang, which retain a taste of the building’s railroad heritage. 

When we had the Hagerstown lamp contest, one MDP reader, who was too afraid to post, called me and asked if it was that town by Camp David. (he later posted)  While Hagerstown isn’t too far from Camp David, he was referring to this town, Thurmont.   Here is the Main St. in Thurmont, which looks like it runs right into a mountain.   In the background is the Catoctin Mountain park, where Camp David is located.  While that park is operated by the NPS, just to its south, or to the left of this picture, is Cunningham Falls State Park.  Either way, the lamp posts in Thurmont are unfortunately modern. 

I hope everyone’s enjoyed the trip to Hancock.  I’ve certainly enjoyed reliving it this week.  Thanks for all the comments.  We’ll definitely try to make some more theme weeks.   I’ve started a new job this week, and its allowed me plenty of time to think of how to satisfy some of your wishlist request, so don’t worry, they are in the works.    For now, you’ve all had a good trip throuh Hancock, its time to sit back and enjoy some time at Weaver’s. 

Weaver’s seems to be a Hancock institution.   The roast beef sandwich and club sandwiches were good, but I think we were missing out by not ordering something covered in gravy.  Take note for next time.  The deserts are also supposed to be delicious.   It’s mentioned in multiple tour books for Maryland and it’s even quoted as a “trail favorite” in the C&O canal biking guide.  I’m sure the updated version of the guide will include updated instructions on the kind of company to keep on the trail, as demonstrated by Chris.    http://bikewashington.org/canal/print.php

I hope you have enjoyed the tour of Hancock as much as I did.  Please don’t think that there were only 5 pictures taken there.  There were plenty more and you should look forward to some great shots of the post office, the C&O canal, flags, and an awesome road sign.  I’ll throw them in between future posts.  

That speed limit sign is firmly on Maryland soil.  However, I was treading on thin Ice and was close to falling into another state as I took this picture.   It’s about as close as you are going to get to encompassing the state in one shot.   We are looking due south.  The town of Hancock is tucked away in a “valley” down there, as is the Potomac.   To give you some point of reference for the field, the mountains in the background are in West Virginia and between those mountains and this speed limit sign is 1.7 miles of old line state.  

Along the trip up to Pennsylvania, from the Potomac, you will find a few interesting stores.  The trip by the way, involves a hike along a road that is appropriately named, Pennsylvania Avenue.  I stopped into the Antiques mall, which also has a flea market and pizza shop.  It’s one of the more popular shops.  There’s also a strip mall with a video rental shop, and there’s a branch of a large regional bank for which the author of this post used to work. 

However, all that glitz and glamour can be found in any town.   Here’s the unique gem of Hancock which I like because, straight down to the car in the lot, it looks like it did many decades ago.  

The river is actually the reason why Maryland is the thinnest state in the union at this point.   The state’s original boundaries were drawn to be north of the river from the starting point of the river.   There are two geographic intricacies that are of interest here. 

First, the river moves Northward from its start point to this place here in Hancock where it reaches its northernmost point.  Some say that the northward moving portion of the river was unknown as the charter was laid out and that the state was never supposed to be this shape.  I’m not sure of that, but I’ll welcome some input from others who might know.  

Second, this stretch of land was never intended to be only 1.7 miles as the original charter for Maryland extended it up to the 40^th parallel, which (and I am being very approximate here) would extend the northern boundary into PA at around the point where I-70 intersects with I-76.  More boundary disputes here. 

In either case, this picture looks out over the northern most southern boundary of the state of Maryland, just across the river and just right of center of the picture.  

 Though you have probably been on I-70 heading west and decided to continue on I-70 into Pennsylvania, or take I-68 west towards Cumberland, you might not have known that the intersection of those two roads, or actually just before that intersection if you are westbound, is sitated in the thinnest part of Maryland.  In fact, that isn’t just the thinnest part of Maryland, it’s the thinnest part of any state anywhere.   

In the town of Hancock Maryland there are only 1.7 miles between the edge of the Potomac and the Pennsylvania border.    Because I know there are a few Marylandophiles here who will call me out on this, I will make the caveat now that I am not including the distance of the river itself as the true border is on the south side of the river.  

This week Maryland Daily Photo goes on assignment to take you on a hike of all 1.7 miles of the thinnest part of Maryland by walking up the appropriately named Pennsylvania Ave. Tomorrow we’ll start at the river.   (also, I know you all are sick of seeing posts…sign posts, lamps posts, foul pole posts, etc.  I promise this is the last one)

Here you see the monument to Major General Joseph Mansfield in the background with the cannon in the foreground that marks the spot where he was mortally wouned.  

Throughout the battlefields at Antietam you will find cannons such as these to mark the spots where all six generals who died or would later die were wounded at Antietam.  In a battle that was waged all day, Mansfield was wounded early, as he was deploying his troops towards the cornfield, which was the first of the three stages of battle there.      

The monument in the background is inscribed:

Major General
Joseph K. F. Mansfield
Commanding the 12th Corps Army of the Potomac mortally wounded near this spot
September 17, 1862 about 7:35 A.M. while deploying his corps in action.

How Mansfield died is one of the interesting stories of Antietam.  As he was making his way to the front line he noticed that they were firing into a woods that Mansfield believed contained retreating union troops.  Seeing this, he rode to the line and told them, “you are firing at your own men.”  

After the men on the line convinced the general that they were in fact firing at the enemy and after agreeing, saying, “yes, yes, you are right,”  he was then shot. 

On part two of the cemetery request we explore another historic gravesite, this time in Washington county.  What you see here is from Antietam National Cemetery in Sharpsburg, MD.  The cemetery was established in 1865, to house only a portion of the 22,500 who died during the single bloodiest day in American history.  4,776 Union soldiers are buried in this cemetery, after it took years for the cemetery board to find and assign identities to the bodies which had fallen or died subsequent to battle in sharpsburg. 

The statue in the center is called the Private Soldier Monument. It originally stood in the entrance of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.  According to the NPS, the statue was transferred here in many pieces.  The midsection of the statue apparently fell into the Potomac during transport and had to be later pulled out and dragged to the cemetery.