“People and Places at Antietam” – John Schildt
July 4, 2019 by jacobrohrbach
John Schildt
John Schildt hardly needs an introduction. He is well known for his many books relating the various aspects of the Maryland Campaign of 1862 and local history. Reverend Schildt graduated from Shepherd College, Wesley Theological Seminary and has studied at Western Maryland College, Gettysburg Seminary and West Virginia University.
Rev. Schildt was introduced to Civil War history by his great-grandmother who fed Union troops on the way to Gettysburg when she was a little girl. John has been a lecturer and guide for the Gettysburg College Civil War Institute, Bud Robertson’s “Campaigning with Lee”, the Chicago Civil War Round Table, and many other groups. He was the main speaker at the 125th anniversary of Antietam. Outside of Civil War history, John has led three educational excursions to Normandy and took part in the American and French commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the D-day landing in 1994. While leading explorations, he likes to make history come alive by sharing human interest stories about people and places. Having been a lifelong student of Antietam, John has written many books on the subject, including “September Echoes,” “Drums along the Antietam,” “Roads to Antietam,” and several others.
Rev. John Schildt will be our final speaker of the season on Wednesday, August 28th. John often talks about history being about ‘people’ and ‘places’. John will present his Summer Lecture Series talk – “People and Places at Antietam”. John will go from George Washington, to “the Horse Without A Tail”, to John Ticknor, Martin Eakle, Dr. William Child, Clara Barton and Axel Steele, to Dr. Dunn, Black Jack Logan, the Hoffman farm, Drs. Biggs and Shealy, the Grove family, JFK, Jimmy Carter, Patrick Roy, and Lincoln, as well as other people and places connected with the Maryland Campaign.
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:oo p.m. To ensure adequate seating, please bring a chair. In case of inclement weather, lectures will be held at the Sharpsburg Christ Reformed Church of Christ. Parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. For updates and a full schedule of presenters & topics check our Facebook page.
“The Tale Untwisted” – Alex Rossino
July 4, 2019 by jacobrohrbach
Dr. Alex Rossino
The discovery of Robert E. Lee’s Special Orders no. 191 outside of Frederick, Maryland on September 13, 1862 is one of the most important and hotly disputed events of the American Civil War. For more than 150 years historians have debated if George McClellan, commander of the Union Army of the Potomac, dawdled upon receiving a copy of the orders before advancing to challenge Lee’s forces at the Battle of South Mountain.
Alexander Rossino will discuss how ‘Little Mac’ moved with uncharacteristic energy to counter the Confederate threat and take advantage of Lee’s divided forces, striking a blow in the process that wrecked Lee’s plans and sent his army reeling back toward Virginia.
On Wednesday, August 21st Dr. Alex Rossino will put a final word on the debate over the fate and impact of the Lost Orders on the history of the 1862 Maryland Campaign during his talk – “The Tale Untwisted: George McClellan and the Discovery of Lee’s Lost Orders, September 13, 1862”.
Dr. Rossino earned his PhD in History at Syracuse University in 1999. He is the author of Hitler Strikes Poland: Blitzkrieg, Ideology, and Atrocity, a study of German policies against Polish Christians and Jews during the Nazi invasion of Poland in September 1939. He worked for 9 years as an historian at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum before moving to the private sector to provide market analysis for the government contracting community, work he continues to this day. Following a long hiatus from writing, Dr. Rossino moved to Western Maryland in 2013 and turned his studies to the American Civil War, a subject of interest to him since childhood. In 2017 he published Six Days in September: A Novel of Lee’s Army in Maryland, 1862 with Savas Beatie. The novel examines the history of the second half of the Confederate invasion of Maryland from a first-person perspective, combining history and fiction to help general readers better understand the importance of the 1862 Maryland Campaign to Robert E. Lee and his army. A sequel to the book giving the same treatment to McClellan’s army is due out in 2019. Dr. Rossino is also the author of two new articles on the Civil War in Maryland: one on the Confederate Army in Frederick and the other on George McClellan’s handling of Lee’s Lost Orders in September 1862, which he co-authored with Cartographer Gene Thorp. Last, but not least, he is the editor of Savas Beatie’s new Civil War Spotlight essay series, a service publishing historical essays on issues of importance to Civil War studies. His talk today is based on the inaugural offering in that series.
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:oo p.m. To ensure adequate seating, please bring a chair. In case of inclement weather, lectures will be held at the Sharpsburg Christ Reformed Church of Christ. Parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. For updates and a full schedule of presenters & topics check our Facebook page.
“In the Wake of Antietam: The Loudoun Valley Campaign of 1862” – Kevin Pawlak
July 4, 2019 by jacobrohrbach
Kevin Pawlak
On Wednesday, August 7th, Antietam Battlefield Guide, Kevin Pawlak will present his Summer Lecture Series talk – “In the Wake of Antietam: The Loudoun Valley Campaign of 1862”. Following the bloodiest single day in American history, September 17, 1862, and the conclusion of the Battle of Antietam, the Federal Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia rested and refitted on either side of the Potomac River. By late October 1862, urged on by President Abraham Lincoln and his recently announced Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, the Federal army crossed into Virginia once more, armed with a plan to capture Richmond and defeat the Confederacy.
The ensuing battles that erupted in the Loudoun Valley and beyond raged for two weeks and added several hundred casualties to the nation’s growing list of names. Confederate forces attempted to slow the advancing Federal army against the backdrop of the 1862 midterm elections. Several fights erupted in Loudoun and Fauquier counties from October 26-November 10, 1862. The campaign proved to be not as decisive as Lincoln hoped. It proved to be George McClellan’s last campaign as a field commander in the Civil War.
Kevin Pawlak is a Historic Site Manager for the Prince William County Historic Preservation Division and works as a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Antietam National National Battlefield. He graduated from Shepherd University in 2014, majoring in History with a concentration in Civil War and 19th Century America and minoring in Historic Preservation. Kevin previously worked at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. He is on the Board of Directors for the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association, the Save Historic Antietam Foundation, and the Friends of the Ball’s Bluff Battlefield. He is also a regular contributor to the Emerging Civil War online blog. Kevin is the author of Shepherdstown in the Civil War: One Vast Confederate Hospital and co-author of To Hazard All: A Guide to the Maryland Campaign, 1862.
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:oo p.m. To ensure adequate seating, please bring a chair. In case of inclement weather, lectures will be held at the Sharpsburg Christ Reformed Church of Christ. Parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. For updates and a full schedule of presenters & topics check our Facebook page.
“Following footprints and memory: Reexamining assumptions about the fight for the West Woods” – Jim Buchanan
June 7, 2019 by jacobrohrbach
Jim Buchanan
James Buchanan is a graduate of the University of Maryland, (College Park) with a M.A. History and Antioch University, with a M.A. Teaching. Jim was a Program Director, National Institute for Citizen Education in the Law and recently retired as a Sr. Education Specialist, Federal Judicial Center (U.S. Courts). Jim is a volunteer at the C&O Canal at Great Falls and has been volunteering at Antietam National Battlefield since 2007. Jim is a Licensed Battlefield Guide and is our resident expert on the West Woods (his blog: www.Walkingthewestwoods.blogspot.com).
On Wednesday, July 17th, Jim will present his Summer Lecture Series talk – “Following footprints and memory: Reexamining assumptions about the fight for the West Woods“. At just after 9 a.m. on September 17, 1862, the 15th Massachusetts Volunteers, 606 men of all ranks, met and engaged troops of the Confederate brigades of Paul Semmes, Jubal Early and William Barksdale in the West Woods. An hour later, less than half of the 15th Massachusetts would be left standing. Other regiments, both north and south, fared little better. When the West Woods struggle ended, four thousand casualties lay in the meadows, ridges and ravines of those woods. This presentation will use contemporary letters and diaries and post-battle reminiscences from both sides to better understand what happened in the woods that day. Drawing on an emerging body of new research this presentation will reexamine old assumptions about the battle for the West Woods.
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:oo p.m. To ensure adequate seating, please bring a chair. In case of inclement weather, lectures will be held at the Sharpsburg Christ Reformed Church of Christ. Parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. For updates and a full schedule of presenters & topics check our Facebook page.
“John Pope at Antietam: His influence on the Maryland Campaign and the Final Attack at Antietam” – Steve Stotelmyer
June 7, 2019 by jacobrohrbach
Steve Stotelmyer
Steven R. Stotelmyer, a lifetime student of the Maryland Campaign, is a native of Hagerstown, Maryland. After a stint in the U.S. Navy he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Frostburg State College and a Master of Arts from Hood College. Mr. Stotelmyer currently serves as a volunteer and tour guide at the Antietam National Battlefield. From time to time Mr. Stotelmyer has also served as a part-time volunteer and historical consultant for the South Mountain State Battlefield. In 1992 he published The Bivouacs of the Dead: The Story of Those Who Died at Antietam and South Mountain, Toomey Press, Baltimore, MD. With the recent publication of Too Useful To Sacrifice: Reconsidering George B. McClellan’s Generalship in the Maryland Campaign from South Mountain to Antietam, Savas Beatie LLC, New York, NY, Steven R. Stotelmyer provides a fresh examination and debunking of the negative stereotypes surrounding this capable commander during one of most crucial phases of the Civil War.
On Wednesday, July 31st, Steve will present his Summer Lecture Series talk – “John Pope at Antietam: His influence on the Maryland Campaign and the Final Attack at Antietam“. The Maryland Campaign and the Battle of Antietam did not occur in a vacuum. The campaign began within days, and Antietam less than 3 weeks after the disastrous Union defeat of Second Manassas on August 30, 1862. The Union commander of that battle, Maj. Gen. John Pope cast a large shadow over the events of early September 1862. This talk will explore some of the unknown and overlooked influences of John Pope at work from the beginning of the campaign to close of battle at Sharpsburg on September 17, 1862.
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:oo p.m. To ensure adequate seating, please bring a chair. In case of inclement weather, lectures will be held at the Sharpsburg Christ Reformed Church of Christ. Parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. For updates and a full schedule of presenters & topics check our Facebook page.
“Confederate artillery commanders at Antietam” – Jim Rosebrock
June 7, 2019 by jacobrohrbach
Jim Rosebrock
Jim Rosebrock is the former Chief of the Antietam Battlefield Guides. Jim currently serves as a volunteer and tour guide at the Antietam National Battlefield. Jim is a retired army officer and currently works for the Department of Justice. He is currently conducting research for a book that will tell the story of the regular artillery companies during the Civil War. Jim also discusses interesting topics about the Maryland Campaign on his blog South From the North Woods.
On Wednesday, July 24th, Jim will present his Summer Lecture Series talk – “Confederate artillery commanders at Antietam“. Stonewall Jackson, James Longstreet, John Bell Hood and A.P. Hill are well known names in the story of the Battle of Sharpsburg. However lesser known men are men like James Walton, Bushrod Frobel, Lindsay Shumaker and William Pogue. These are the gunners who commanded the Confederate artillery at Sharpsburg. They played a decisive role in preventing George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac from overwhelming the rebels and permitting Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia to live to fight another night. Learn about Lee’s artillerymen and the crucial role they played at the Battle of Sharpsburg.
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:oo p.m. To ensure adequate seating, please bring a chair. In case of inclement weather, lectures will be held at the Sharpsburg Christ Reformed Church of Christ. Parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. For updates and a full schedule of presenters & topics check our Facebook page.
“The Only Doubtful Ones: McClellan’s Least Favorite Corps During the Antietam Campaign” – Darin Wipperman
May 3, 2019 by jacobrohrbach
Darin Wipperman
First time speaker and returning guest of the Inn, Darin Wipperman will discuss, “The Only Doubtful Ones: McClellan’s Least Favorite Corps During the Antietam Campaign” on Wednesday, June 26th.
As the Army of the Potomac marched toward destiny in Maryland, George McClellan lacked confidence in the men of the First Corps. In a letter to his wife, the army commander referred to them as “the only doubtful ones” under his command. One reason the First Corps fell short of McClellan’s appreciation was his dislike of Irvin McDowell, the original commander of the corps. The stout fighting of the First Corps under Joe Hooker in Maryland began their reputation as an immortal Civil War infantry corps. McClellan was not a man to admit he could be wrong. Yet, this examination of McClellan’s writings before and after Antietam, placed in the context of the corps’ sacrifice during the campaign, will show how, in the end, he could recognize great soldiering.
One of Darin Wipperman’s most formative moments was receiving Bruce Catton’s Picture History of the Civil War as a present 35 years ago. He has studied, written, and self-published about the political struggles of the Antebellum decades and the war itself ever since. Growing up in Iowa, he earned degrees in Political Science from the University of Northern Iowa in the mid-1990s. A federal employee for nearly 17 years, Darin and his wife moved to northern New Hampshire in 2012, where he was a reporter and editor at New Hampshire weekly newspapers for more than four years. Enjoying early retirement, Darin is currently writing a manuscript entitled History Will Not Be Silent: Life and Death in a Union Infantry Corps. Part One of the book is “Defending Maryland,” about the First Corps in the crucial month of September 1862. Based on his research and writing, Darin’s presentation examines “The Only Doubtful Ones: McClellan’s Least Favorite Corps During the Antietam Campaign.”
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:oo p.m. To ensure adequate seating, please bring a chair. In case of inclement weather, lectures will be held at the Sharpsburg Christ Reformed Church of Christ. Parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. For updates and a full schedule of presenters & topics check our Facebook page.
“Images from Meade’s Division: The Pennsylvania Reserves at Antietam” – Joe Stahl
May 3, 2019 by jacobrohrbach
Joe Stahl
On Wednesday, June 19th, Antietam Battlefield Guide, Joseph W. Stahl will present his Summer Lecture Series talk “Images from BG George Meade’s 1st Corps Division”
BG Meade’s Division was reported to consist of 2607 officers and men in 13 veteran infantry regiments. These were the Pennsylvania Reserve Regiments. The division would report losses of 107 killed, 466 wounded and 2 missing for a total of 573 including three artillery batteries attached to the division. In this presentation you will be shown the faces and history of several soldiers, at least one from 10 of the 13 regiments in General Meade’s Division. A map will orient you to their location on the field. Each of these soldiers has a story and I will tell you a little of that story.
Joseph W. Stahl retired from the Institute for Defense Analyses where he authored or co-authored more that 50 reports on defense issues. Since his retirement he has become a volunteer and NPS Licensed Battlefield Guide at Antietam and Harpers Ferry. He grew up in St. Louis. He received BS and MS degrees from Missouri University of Science And Technology and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. He is a member of the Company of Military Historians, Save Historic Antietam Foundation (SHAF), Hagerstown Civil War Roundtable and is co-author of the first book on ID discs Identification Discs of Union Soldiers in the Civil War. His second book “Faces of Union Soldiers at Antietam will be published this summer. He has spoken to various Civil War groups including the Northern Virginia Relic Hunters, South Mountain Coin and Relic Club, Rappahannock, York, Chambersburg, and Hagerstown Round Tables, Chambersburg Civil War Tours, SHAF and the NPS Antietam. In addition Joe has authored more that two dozen articles about items in his collections for the Gettysburg Magazine, the Washington Times Civil War Page, Manuscripts, America’s Civil War, Military Collector & Historian: the Journal of the Company of Military Historians, the Civil War Historian and the Skirmish Line of the North-South Skirmish Association. Displays of items from of his collection have won awards at several Civil War shows. He has been a member of the North-South Skirmish Association for more than 25 years and has shot civil war type muskets, carbines and revolvers in both individual and team competitions.
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:oo p.m. To ensure adequate seating, please bring a chair. In case of inclement weather, lectures will be held at the Sharpsburg Christ Reformed Church of Christ. Parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. For updates and a full schedule of presenters & topics check our Facebook page.
“Sumner and French at Antietam”
July 24, 2018 by jacobrohrbach
Gary Rohrer at the Sunken Road
Civil War Summer Lecture Series
Gary Rohrer was born and raised in Washington County, MD where his family has lived for at least 225 years. His interests in the Civil War and passion for the 1862 Maryland Campaign go back more than 50 years to his days as a Boy Scout camping on the battlefield in the final attack area near Burnside Bridge and at Crampton’s Gap on South Mountain. There, he listened to the true stories of E. Russell Hicks, noted county historian. Gary also attended Antietam’s Centennial events as a young Boy Scout passing out programs for the last re-enactment held on the battlefield.
Gary’s professional career spanned 34 years in the public works arena as a registered professional engineer with extensive experience in the restoration and preservation of historic 19th century transportation structures such as wooden covered bridges, wrought iron truss structures, and stone arch bridges. He spent the last 20 years of his career in the roll of Washington County’s first Public Works Director. In that capacity, he revamped an ineffective preservation program for restoring and preserving many of the county’s 19th century stone arch bridges which are very much in tack and carrying modern traffic, today. Upon his retirement, he became involved as a Battlefield Ambassador while pursuing the National Park Certification for Battlefield Guide. In 2013, he became one of the first four guides ever certified by the NPS as a Battlefield Guide at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park for the 1862 Maryland Campaign. He has traveled to many of our country’s Civil War battlefields in the west and the south in an effort to further enhance his tours at Antietam. Gary has led hundreds of tours with clients ranging from the very young to the very seasoned students of the battle including retired officers of flag rank, college professors and their students.
Today, Gary is a member of the Washington County Historic District Commission and Save Historic Antietam Foundation (SHAF). He resides near Boonsboro, MD with his family. He is also a proud veteran of the U.S. Navy.
Gary’s presentation will center on a topic often debated by historians: the communications between II Corps Commander Edwin V. Sumner and the commander of his Third Division, Brigadier General William H. French. What caused French’s Division to attack the Sunken Road? Did his division arrive in the East Woods some 20 to 30 minutes after Major General John Sedgewick’s Second Division? Was he ordered to attack or was he drawn south across the Mumma and Roulette farms by Confederate fire emanating in that direction? Gary’s presentation will focus on a 2013 study conducted by historian Marion Vincent (Vince) Armstrong and published in Civil War History magazine.
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:oo p.m. To ensure adequate seating, please bring a chair. In case of inclement weather, lectures will be held at the Sharpsburg Christ Reformed Church of Christ. Parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. For updates and a full schedule of presenters & topics check our Facebook page.
“Zouaves – the First and the Bravest”
July 24, 2018 by jacobrohrbach
Dr. Tom Clemens
Civil War Summer Lecture Series
Dr. Tom Clemens holds a Doctorate in College Education-History from George Mason University, Professor Emeritus from Hagerstown Community College. He is a Tour guide for the Maryland Campaign for the past 30 years. Tom is the Editor of Ezra Carman’s Maryland Campaign of September 1862, 3 Vols. 2010, 2012, 2016. Author of numerous essays and Magazine articles, appeared in several documentary films as on-screen historian, including the orientation film in the NPS Visitor Center.
On Wednesday, August 22nd, Dr. Clemens will present his Summer Lecture Series talk – Zouaves – the First and the Bravest. This presentation will cover everything you ever wanted to know about Zouaves! Who were they, where did they come from, why did they wear those outlandish uniforms, and what role they played in the Civil War, etc. Tom will be attired in a zouave uniform, and will be happy to discuss the various parts of the uniform, and its usage. Special attention will be paid to prominent zouave regiments present at Antietam, the 5th, 9th & 10 New York volunteers.
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:oo p.m. To ensure adequate seating, please bring a chair. In case of inclement weather, lectures will be held at the Sharpsburg Christ Reformed Church of Christ. Parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. For updates and a full schedule of presenters & topics check our Facebook page.
“‘The Heaviest Blow Yet Given the Confederacy’: The Emancipation Proclamation Changes the Civil War”
July 10, 2018 by jacobrohrbach
Kevin Pawlak
Civil War Summer Lecture Series
Kevin Pawlak is the Director of Education for the Mosby Heritage Area Association and an Antietam Battlefield Guide. He graduated in 2014 from Shepherd University with a major in Civil War and 19th Century America and a minor in Historic Preservation. Kevin has worked at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and completed internships with the Papers of Abraham Lincoln project at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Illinois, as well as at the Missouri Civil War Museum. He currently sits on the Boards of Directors of the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association and the Save Historic Antietam Foundation.
Kevin wrote his first book, Shepherdstown in the Civil War: One Vast Confederate Hospital, which was released in August 2015. He also authored: “The Heaviest Blow Yet Given the Confederacy”: The Emancipation Proclamation Changes the Civil War”, a part of the Engaging the Civil War’s Turning Points of the American Civil War. Kevin is a regular contributor to the Emerging Civil War blog and co-authored a book in the Emerging Civil War series, To Hazard All: A Guide to the Maryland Campaign, 1862.
The Emancipation Proclamation is one of our country’s most misinterpreted documents. Often seen as a bland and blank document of Lincoln’s lacking the flair of his Gettysburg Address or his Second Inaugural Address, the Emancipation Proclamation in fact proved to be one of the Civil War’s major turning points from a diplomatic and military standpoint. It also upped the ante on the war, for as of the Proclamation’s issuance on January 1, 1863, there were only two possible outcomes of the Civil War: either two separate nations would emerge, one with slavery and the other without, or there would be one reunited country without the institution of slavery.
On Wednesday, August 15th, Kevin Pawlak will present his talk, “‘The Heaviest Blow Yet Given the Confederacy’: The Emancipation Proclamation Changes the Civil War”.
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:oo p.m. To ensure adequate seating, please bring a chair. In case of inclement weather, lectures will be held at the Sharpsburg Christ Reformed Church of Christ. Parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. For updates and a full schedule of presenters & topics check our Facebook page.
“The Last Army of the Republic: the Myth of the Unused Reserves at the Battle of Antietam.”
July 4, 2018 by jacobrohrbach
Steve Stotelmyer
Civil War Summer Lecture Series
Always interested in local history, especially South Mountain and Antietam, Mr. Stotelmyer was a founding member of the Central Maryland Heritage League in 1989. The league gained a modest amount of success in preserving some of the lands of the South Mountain Battlefield. From 1989 through 1994 Mr. Stotelmyer served as a volunteer at the Antietam National Battlefield. In 1992 he published The Bivouacs of the Dead: The Story of Those Who Died at Antietam and South Mountain, Toomey Press, Baltimore Maryland. From 2000 through 2005 Mr. Stotelmyer served as a part-time volunteer and historical consultant for the South Mountain State Battlefield. Steven currently enjoys being a National Park Service Certified Antietam and South Mountain Tour Guide.
It is another one of those familiar stories about Antietam that has been told so many times that it is accepted as fact. Allegedly, Gen. George B. McClellan stood idly near the end of the battle while thousands of reserve troops did nothing. In most versions, the reserve troops belonged to McClellan’s most trusted corps commander, Gen. Fitz-John Porter. For a brief moment McClellan seemed ready to commit these reserves and looked to Porter, his most trusted subordinate. Porter is said to have slowly shaken his head with disapproval and is purported to have said to. McClellan, “Remember, General! I command the last reserve of the last army of the Republic. In truth, this accusation against McClellan is a complete fabrication rooted in the intrigues of partisan politics rather than historical fact. Gen. Porter, was not only a hapless victim of the debacle at Second Manassas three weeks before, but also bears the responsibility for McClellan’s less than decisive victory at Antietam. The elephant in the room that remains unacknowledged is that Porter was unreasonably punished in both battles not for his military actions, but rather for his political affiliation and friendship with McClellan. It is my hope that this talk not only debunks the myth of the unused reserves, but also contributes to the redemption of Fitz-John Porter who was quite likely the most unjustly persecuted military figure in our nation’s history.
On Wednesday, August 1st, Steve will present his talk, “The Last Army of the Republic: the Myth of the Unused Reserves at the Battle of Antietam”.
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:oo p.m. To ensure adequate seating, please bring a chair. In case of inclement weather, lectures will be held at the Sharpsburg Christ Reformed Church of Christ. Parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. For updates and a full schedule of presenters & topics check our Facebook page.