On Wednesday, August 18th, Darin Wipperman will present his Summer Lecture Series talk,  – “‘Such a Bloody Set of Men:’ The 35th Massachusetts in the Antietam Campaign”

The new soldiers of the 35th Massachusetts Infantry left Boston in late August 1862, not knowing how quickly their world would be shaken to the core. Joining Ferrero’s Brigade in the 2nd Division of the Ninth Corps, the 35th, under the command of Col. Edward Wild, moved up South Mountain in the late afternoon of September 14. Devastating events then occurred, impacting the regiment’s very foundations. Three days later, a far greater tribulation befell the unproven regiment west of Antietam Creek. In the same brigade as the 51st Pennsylvania and 51st New York — the troops who seized Burnside’s Bridge – the 35th Massachusetts suffered more casualties at Antietam than those two regiments combined. Somewhat forgotten today, the rookies’ stubborn stand north of the 40-acre cornfield did not go unnoticed at the time. After the engagement, a brigade comrade from New Hampshire, admiring the immortal bravery he saw from the rookies, noted that he had never seen “such a bloody set of men.”

This presentation, Darin Wipperman’s third for the Summer Lecture Series at the Rohrbach Inn, includes research used in his next book, currently titled Burnside’s Boys: The Union’s Ninth Corps and the Civil War in the East.  In December, Stackpole Books published First for the Union: Life and Death in a Civil War Army Corps from Antietam to Gettysburg, in which Darin focuses on the 11 months of the First Corps’ most intense service. In the 1990s, he earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in political science. After nearly 17 years as a federal employee, Darin and his wife moved to northern New Hampshire, where he was a reporter and editor for weekly newspapers for more than four years. When not geeking out on the Civil War, Darin spends a great deal of time managing the 64-acre forested parcel he and his wife live on in Lancaster, NH.

Come join leading historians and Antietam Battlefield Guides as they discuss intriguing topics of the Maryland Campaign of 1862 and the Civil War during our Civil War Summer Lecture Series.

These outdoors programs will be held at the Jacob Rohrbach Inn on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m.  Even though those programs are outdoors, guests are encouraged to wear face coverings and to social distance as much as possible. To ensure adequate seating, please bring a chair.  In case of inclement weather, lectures will be held at the Sharpsburg Christ Reformed UCC Church at 117 Main Street.  For updates and a full schedule of presenters & topics check our Facebook page.