That lament goes Something Like this. Young people are not interested in the civil war anymore. Civil war military history is on lifesupport. Nobody cares about the civil war after the sesquicentennial. Every time i hear that i have to politely push back. And the reason i do so in large part is because of the emerging civil war. It is a great honor and privilege for me to be here to support your work to support emerging civil war and all it has done in a remarkable space of five or six years. Truly incredible. I hope this weekend can be a real celebration of those efforts. First, a copy spine of marylands South Mountain. Sunday, september 14, 1862. Woefully outnumbered soldiers saw to stem the tide of a federal offensive. If successful it would defeat an already divided Confederate Army and curtailed and finish off robert e. Lees first invasion of the north. And three mountain passes almost unrivaled in its ferocity at , least in this point of the war, ensued. Breathless union and confederate troops struggled over difficult terrain and at close range. In many cases well after dusk. According to some veterans they aint muskets not at men but at flashes of enemy fire. In the years after the war, southern writers eagerly portrayed South Mountain as a sort of confederate thermopylae. Good fortune of visiting the battlefield in maryland, you can at least again to apprehend the analogy. The first question anyone who visits that field asks is how could anyone have battled these of these nearly vertical slopes . A correspondent for the cincinnati gazette combed the fields of South Mountain for weeks after the fight, marveled at the superior position held by the enemy. And predicted accurately that future visitors would be amazed to think how it is possible for our troops to dislodge the confederates from these strongholds. Perhaps no one embraced the thermopylae narrative with greater delight than Daniel Harvey hill the confederate commander held foxs and turners gaps for much of the day on september 14. Never one to be selfeffacing, he prepared the confederate account of South Mountain for the enormously popular battle in the civil war series published by sentry magazine in the 1880s. In that contribution he delightedly siezed for himself the role of leonidas. If the battle of South Mountain was fought to prevent mcclellan it was a failure, it was a failure on the part of the confederates. Lees fun to save trains in artillery, it was a confederate success. From whatever standpoint the battle must be of interest to the military reader. Showing the effect of a hallucination and enabling 9000 confederates to hold off 30,000 federals at bay for so many hours. Robbing victory of its fruits and inspiring victors with such caution that a simple ruse turned them back in their triumphal career. Harvey hill was hardly alone in his assessment of the battle among his old rebel comrades. Holding mcclellans army at a the confederates on south , mountain had salvaged lees offensive campaign. Then set up the slugfest that sharpsburg. And its a compass meant of predetermined objects and the skillful disposition of small numbers to oppose overwhelming odds, a confederate staff officer wrote, the battle of South Mountain is without parallels during the war. In the 12 volume military history of the confederacy, general allison capers was even more immodest. The battle was not merely a brilliant demonstration of valor , but the army of Northern Virginias best achievement of the war. It might be easy to dismiss these claims as the pretensions of aging veterans predisposed to , embroider their wartime exploits, if not for their remarkable disparity between their narration in the actual course of events. As it turned out after hard day of fighting the army of the potomac not only notched a tactical victory in each of the passes, but it did that rarest of things. On South Mountain it seized the Forward Momentum from robert e. Lee, who for the first time was ordered to issue a full call for retreat. And contrary to the often repeated claims of the confederates, the army of the potomac did so without numerical superiority for most of the day. They threaded divisions into the fight at intervals throughout the day and without a truly united front. The South Mountain entails two great defenses by the confederates. One in 1862, and a far more successful one after the war that i send it to you that continues to distort the way we think about the 1862 Maryland Campaign. The civil war was 17 months old when it arrived on South Mountain. A densely laurel chain of nice granite and limestone peaks that heat from the earth west of frederick, maryland. In the east loyal and patriotic , northerners spent many of the 17 months wringing their hands, and rationalizing defeat. The war quickly devolved into a familiar Holding Pattern of stalemate, and action and retreat. The summer of 1862 gave way to the colors of auto. Despair gateway to doubt. In the wake of George Mcclellans luckless campaign against richmond, with the rebels resurgent, rumors of corruption rampant, and president lincoln pleading with for 300,000 more. Northerners question is not merely get the work of the one, but if Union Victory and all the suffering and sacrifice was worth it after all. There are many northern war meetings in the summer and fall of 1862. Rather than inspiring than be troops, speakers found themselves reassuring doubting audiences about the wars necessity. , by the fall of making 62, civilians were deeply divided about the purpose of the war in the north. The participation of so many men and great violence. And bold new federal policies that were actively setting the table for emancipation. No one i submit to you understood the politics of this particular moment. Keenly than robert e. Lee who eagerly anticipated and look forward to democratic victories in the fall midterm elections. In early september, following a convincing victory over john pope at second manassas lee was ready to roll , the dice. He told Jefferson Davis this was the most perpetuas time since the commencement of the war. Andsh across the potomac move on the operational offensive. Lee reached the conclusion despite frank acknowledgment that his army was not properly equipped for an invasion. Liberally fortune resupply up north after all. Willaware the movement attend with much risk, he assured Jefferson Davis. I do not consider success impossible. We cannot afford to be idle. We must endeavor to harass if we cannot destroy them. Ironically enough, at the same moment that lee apprehended a northern crisis of confidence, not shake intuition that the confederate hourglass was running out of the stand. He believed he had a limited window in which to achieve southern independence. The melancholy shadow of the seven days, the federals were actively abandoning the conciliatory policies that guided them in the wars first year. He knew that it was only a short step from outright despair in the north to renew determination. We put everything on the table in september of 1862. Should the results of the expedition justify it, from his headquarters in leesburg virginia, i proposed enter , pennsylvania. Propose to enter pennsylvania. Had nomaintain lee delusions about traveling to the streets of pennsylvania philadelphia and i dont think scranton was on his itinerary, he did not need to maintain delusions. As long as his troops operated on northern soil, as long as they tapped into the northern resentment for the war and let support to the burgeoning notion that lincoln and the republicans could neither win the war or defend citizens back home, as long as he did that lee had already one. Robert e. Lee was fully aware that this invasion, if successful, would deliver him up to the congressional districts represented by the most vulnerable republican incumbents in those 1862 races. Among them the district of pennsylvania are presented by Edward Mcpherson whose tenant , farm on Chambersburg Pike would host the armys the following summer given Edward Mcpherson had been one of the earliest and most outspoken of advocates of immediate emancipation. He would lose his race for reelection in the fall of 1862. From the view of wartime politics, lee had everything to gain and nothing to lose. At minimum he could relieve wartorn virginia. He could feed his hungry threadbare army. Lee then believed this to be the opportunity to spur north. A conclusion that seemed more logical when his counterpart would once again be george for George Mcclellan. Sure, woulde were afford them plenty of valuable time but only tepidly poking and prodding his way towards the invading confederate columns. And only after he was absolutely certain that washington, d. C. And baltimore were secure. After all, lee had driven him into a sulking selfimposed exile following the seven days and those believed the officious general was always annexed by the illusion he was greatly outnumbered posed a threat that was neither grave nor immediate. It would be his greatest miscalculation of his campaign. On september 4, 1862, the lead elements of the army of Northern Virginia splashed across the potomacs at white antiques for. And cheeks fords. In the space of 72 hours they were into frederick. It was at the headquarters he established south of frederick on september 9, this was the first snag in his plans. The rebel commander had anticipated as soon as he entered maryland the garrisons at martinsburg and Harpers Ferry, virginia with old. Harsh, the dean of Maryland Campaign scholars has noted, this was a reasonable assumption given that lees invasion would separate 14,000 garrison federal soldiers from the balance of the union army and in coil around washington. Mining the orders of henry halleck, they refused to budge. Lee was forced to modify his plans. He could not continue the northern gambit, the pennsylvania gambit without first dislodging those garrisons. So robert e. Lee issued special orders 191, which stretched his army across a wide hunt in the hills of western maryland. He ordered six of nine divisions. In addition to the stonewall division. He ordered up those six divisions to move on the two federal garrisons. In the space of 48 hours, capture the enemy there, scoop up any troops that might run away in retreat. Revisvision helds Hills Division and divisions under John Bel Edwards and david jones would advance, telling the reserve artillery, the supply lichens, the trains as far north as billings pro. Boones borough. Awaittreets troops would and reunite with the commands to be dispatched out the Harpers Ferry. According to lees ambitious energetic timetable, this rendezvous would occur on the morning of friday, september 12. And then once reassembled the Confederate Forces would continue their northward thrust. Still days ahead they believed of a finery George Mcclellan. Floundering George Mcclellan. The chief objective of the campaign then was not the reduction of Harpers Ferry, as it is sometimes portrayed in the literature. After all, we believe Harpers Ferry and martinsburg with folded out the pulling of a single trigger. Campaigntive of the and the objective of special order 191 was to preserve supply lines and keep the possibility of an extended campaign north of the potomac. The rebel set out on september 10 from the very beginning they felt willfully by schedule. Those men would fall even further behind when the approach to Harpers Ferry failed to occasion a quick federal retreat we anticipated that we anticipated in the order 191. The obedient troops stood their ground. None of this would have mattered except for the fact that George Mcclellan was in at this very moment and aggressive pursuit. Yes, your steering is just fine. I didnt just use aggressive pursuit in the same sentence as George Mcclellan. Having secured washington, mcclellan pushed into the old mine state on september 7. His snaking columns converged on frederick on september 12, a mere two days behind robert e. Lee and the confederates. The citizens of frederick who had sneered at the proclamation of the people of maryland lees , whistle overture to those men who allegedly possessed to lofty a spirit to present to abraham lincoln. The men collectively exhaled. Bluecoatedof the troops. The young napoleon. Little mac, he would not exhale. And he wouldnt rest upon his laurels. As joseph harsh first pointed out. Out forn ordered pleasant to drive further west to a fully developed confederate position. In advance of the discovery of special orders 191. Mcclellan was on the move. It was the next day, saturday, september 13 that became fabled but only in the history of the campaign but also in the larger narrative of the war itself. That was today for three soldiers from the 27 indiana volunteer infantry discovered that straight copy of special order 191 that is been addressed to hill wound around three cigars. A coincidence to remarkable for fiction allowed for the quick authentication of those orders. But the trauma of that story and the memorable boast of George Mcclellan notwithstanding, with these paper i will with bobby in a growing number of historians believe the discovery of the document really did little to material of change materially change the course of the campaign. It offered no estimates of enemy strengths, only the vaguest information about their dispositions. In a larger sense any notion that mcclellan swiftly changed course after discovery of this document really faces is a compliment in getting the army of the potomac up to speed and into maryland and ready to go. In a remarkably short period of time after their defeat at second manassas. This was something even robert e. Lee was willing to concede. He did so in a clumsily worded report that Jefferson Davis on september 13. He said George Mcclellan had advanced more rapidly than was convenient. [laughter] more rapidly than was convenient, indeed. George mcclellan was poised and ready to search through South Mountain gap. If he got through the gaps, he would defeat lee in detail. The evening of september 13 is often portrayed as a date that is important for the federal side of things. Really, i think that is more important for the confederate side of things. Evening of september 13, cognizant that frederick is teaming with federal soldiers, cognizant that the union army had come up with unexpected energy. Those of the words of walter taylor, lees aid. Lee got to work. S to hisd out plea subordinates and Harpers Ferry. Get that work done. Bring networking Harpers Ferry to a close. Then he ordered up a reluctant james longstreet. Come back down to a position north of boones borough, maryland, behind the beaver creek a position which the next , day comes to the aid of dh hill who was holding turners gap. Should a federal offense of be launched, which was still a foregone conclusion in lees mind. It was becoming a foregone conclusion for Daniel Harvey hill who had the loneliest task of all these operations. His task of holding turners pass in South Mountain was made even lonelier by the almost criminal neglect of jeb stewart. When a civilian informant supplied the confederate cavalry chief the news that mcclellan was in possession of the lost orders, or what stewart assumed to be lost orders. Stewart quickly determined that little mac would invest all his energy and release of Harpers Ferry and only two brigades a federal troops would press towards turners gap. He assured Daniel Harvey hill dont worry about it. He felt confident parking a single infantry brigade. The fifth virginia cavalry. Before scurrying away into the night. I dont like jeb stuart. [laughter] cook appeared into the valley below, the georgian immediately apprehended stuarts gross miscalculation. That only twosion brigades of federal infantry were forcing their way towards turners gap beggars exhalation. He had seen enough on the ground in the last few days with cavalry skirmishes, operations run frederick, to understand this was more than just two brigades. But here they were. Is singletch garlands North Carolina brigade to the mountain and then would come up to the passes the next morning to make a personal examination of the mountain. That would prompt hill to some of the rest of his brigades. For extending as far as his eye could see this morning. Lines of blue. Ready to punch through those gaps. Rutherford hayes accurately summarized the strategic picture in a letter to his uncle that evening. Enemy will be the a most terrific thing, defeat israel and to them, a retreat without a battle is a serious injury to them. He instinctively Daniel Harvey hill and robert e. Lee knew this. The engagement both hayes and hill anticipated would come the next day. September 14. Shortly after 6 00 on the of september 14, the ninth core order to provide infantry support for the cavalry operations began ascending the mountain. Snaking up the old national road. Coxlong into his march, detected a familiar face. At little crossroads. The familiar face was colonel augustus moore. Of then born commander 20th ohio volunteers that had been seized and bagged as a confederate prisoner just a couple of days out of frederick. Now he was exchanged. This was a period when the cartel was still in operation. Exchanged, making his way back to the federal lines and moores asks cox, where you headed . He replied his troops were heading up the mountain. And the colonel simply blurts out this year he eery admonition. Be careful. He quickly scribbles off a missive to commander jeffrey reno, committed of the ninth corps. And spurred back along in each of the commanders. His word reached over the rugged mountain. He was convinced he was about to conduct one of the most offensive stands of the war. Defense of stands of the work. And he would, although not in cox great numbers that anticipated. Veers his troops to the left, about a mile south of turners gap. That pass was held by samuel garland. He commended the understrength brigade of North Carolina. Garland park is ,hreadbare brigade behind a low stone fence that ran along the rugged spine of the mountain. Through knots of brambles and binds. A hungry, jaded, weatherbeaten, battle worn set, conceited captain turner of the 23rd North Carolina. His regiment scarcely more than two months removed from the devastating advance into the teeth of federal artillery, last movement of the last 7 days. Now these north carolinians awaited the impending onslaught. Gaps between the regiments inviting dread. In plain view as turner remembered it. Ohioans in the lead of the division ascended the mountain, drove into rebel skirmishers, it shook out into a loose line of battle and charge. Boys, colonel, hayes shouted. Give the sons of bitches hell. Ohioans did their best. They poured raking fire into the rebel line, dodging canister in case shot. The deadly work of a battery which had lumbered further up the mountain. Early in the fight, a federal slug slams into the hip of samuel garland and he crumpled to the ground, mortally wounded. Mccrae dunklin kirkland of the fifth North Carolina takes command of garlands brigade and attempts to brace them, demoralized as they were by the loss of their beloved commander. For some time it was a fierce melee, handtohand jacob coxe recalled. Bayonet wounds, never a familiar injury during the civil war, became unusually prevalent. For at least an hour the desperate fighting continued, fighting of a variety of both sides would never witnessed during the war. The federals became so desperate that at one point they l pged up twin reprisals. Arrott rifles that at least double shot of castor at more than 50 yards right into the north carolinians. Still they held. Only after a stubborn fight to the north carolinians break for the reader in a frenzied retreat, leaving behind scores of prisoners in the hands of the enemy. I felt all the embarrassment the situation was calculated to inspire, nick ray remembered. It was at this point that general coxe paused. Phone losses have been trifling, and it seems wise to contract our lives a little so we might have some reserve and hold the crest we fairly one, until reinforcements could arrive. The struggle with the north carolinians had left his men breathless and a little bit surprised. There are limits circling that long streets troops were in your support, in almost certainly did the initial alarm sound by colonel more of the National Pike continued to distress coxe and recommend caution. Finally a soldier from the 21st massachusetts reported on the morning of september 13, stories of a large forces of rebels holding the line at South Mountain were circling in the federal camps. Coxe is often criticized for this pause. I think there are a number of reasons recommending why he was going to wait. The desperate confederate defense is one reason he wait. When he failed to appreciate was the desperate situation that Daniel Harvey hill was truly an. Single garlands line utterly wrecked, confederate reinforcements could not get up the mountain, longstreet making his way up the mountain. The general staring at his own death. Hill summit of two pieces of artillery, top of the old Mountain House attorneys gap. And a line of dismounted staff officers, couriers, teamsters and crooks to give the appearance of battery support. I do not remember ever experiencing the feeling of greater loneliness, he insisted. It seemed as though we were deserted by all the world, and the rest of mankind. The rebel ruse works. The battle would not work back to life for two more hours, presuming resuming only once. General Orlando Wilcox and his knife the vision of the mountains. The confederates helped to prepare an afternoon counterattack. Hill threaded together some 4000 men from four separate confederate brigades. It simply was not to be. Willingslonel seventh michigan, only two weeks into the service, entered the fray. And again very quickly the exposed flank of the 15th and 51st georgia, would tell the left of Brigadier General thomas draytons line. His regained help the left of the entire confederate line up at foxs gap. The michiganders withheld from troops from three separate federal divisions, made very short order of triton draytons command. The 51st georgia suffered 50 casualties. The third South Carolina battalion was nearly wiped from the muster rolls of history, losses approaching 77 . Nor would it get better for the confederates. Right behind wilcox is sam sturgis new in letters and pennsylvanians. Behind him isaac roffmans command. They were ready to pitch into gb andersons North Carolina regiments who had been hung out to drive a roswell never pulled the trigger. The only Silver Lining for Daniel Harvey hill was the Late Afternoon arrival of Brigadier General John Bell Hood vision. And a true signal of the desperate situation that lee was facing in South Mountain, he suspended the arrest. That he was placed then and now ordered him to lead his men with bayonets into foxs gap. Hands andoops linked andersons men stormed with what was an attempt to reverse the days course of events. They did inflict one notable casualty. It was about this time that jesse lee, the corps commander, was riding along his lines, rallying his troops with his magnetic personality. Expression, one of his troopsremarked. Virginia expression that seemed genialire the expression that seemed to inspire. That is what he was giving his troops that evening when the sharpshooters claimed his life. Command that not in body, i will be with them in spirit. And sniping after his death would continue along the lines after dark. Both sides were truly believed that the fight for foxs gap was over. A mile to the north that turners gap, another drama had been unfolding that afternoon. Throughout the morning with the federal 68 on forcing foxs gap, there had been no activity on the National Pike or steep slope that commanded that roe defended by Brigadier General robert rhodes. But in the midafternoon hours, that would change. At the direction of the Wing Commander burnside, general Joseph Hooker shook out his 10,000 men into a line of battle, forming his right flank of three brigades. They would make a seemingly impossible advance up the mountain. In advance that would uncouple an advance that would third alabama, 26 alabama. Mustering fewer than 1500 it was adss men handtohand fight. Again and again, we were told to surrender. They flouted those orders and took up new positions no fewer than seven times. But it was not enough. Even with the aid led by a stubborn brigade of south carolinians and the command of colonel peters stevens, it wasnt enough to overcome that pennsylvania momentum. In the fight, rhodes would lose over a third of his command. Operations,those John Porter Hatch moved up and confronted a dusty, exhausted, reinforcements. The regiment was very much exhausted when it went into the fight, major george cabal wrote. Good andess, did effective fighting. James and joe walker carolinians resisted the federals with everything they had. Forming into an accused salient punching to the federal lines. Like rhodess men they were unable to stem the tide. The generals had suffered casualties ascending the mountain. And while it wreak havoc separating the regiments of the lead brigade. Those confederates would soon be making their way with alabamians, leaving their dead behind. Georgians,nly stretching across the National Pike, engaged in a tough fight with immense mincing to be renown as the iron brigade and placed atop the mountain as darkness fell. Half a dozen miles away, the third and final drama of the South Mountain fight was underway. On the morning of september 14, Major General William Franklin six core plotted their way towards crampton gap, sometimes referred to as the back door to Harpers Ferry. They set out in the morning at 6 00 a. M. , but with a sense of caution, when not have his troops wrestling into attack formations until the early evening hours. It was unfortunate because they outnumbered the confederates assigned to defend 10 to one. Despite the earlier warnings, set up by jeb stuart, creeping towards hamptons pass. A thin ribbon of the less than 1000 georgians, intrigue and infantrymengians, were defending deposition. They filed behind the stone fence. Even though they braced for the worst, they underestimated the sheer force and the destructive power of the federal attack that had been organized by colonel joseph bartlett. Commander from hand to come in new york. Indeed, many of the confederates marveled in their postwar accounts openly, honestly about the array of enemy troops opposed to them who easily folded up the confederate flanks and send them clamor he back up the mountain. Mountain, the onslaught continued. Rebels did everything they could to hold off the inevitable, engaging and handtohand fights , with the very men they had overrun years before. Brigade. Ersey they took more than 80 casualties. Legion,he great cops they did the same thing on the 16 georgia as new yorkers in pennsylvanias closed on the confederate flank. The gray and the butter nuts scrambled one by one, running for their lives. Nearly 900 confederates killed, wounded, missing, or captured. The losses on the confederate side mounted amounted to 40 . Wasbattle of South Mountain finally over. Engaged nearly 50,000 men and inflicted some 5000 casualties. 2700 of them confederate. In a Gloomy Council of war help that evening at the headquarters, robert e. Lee looked a haggard look, conceded that his campaign was over. The day has gone against us, he would announce. His army will go by way of transfer, and cross the river. It is necessary for you to abandon your position tonight. Lee determined after this fight that he was leaving maryland, not until the next day when he confirmed the news that rumorsf that harvest erry would indeed fall that he would depart to await George Mcclellan next move. Only with hindsight did the standard South Mountain seemed bold and precious. And operation conducted to stave off George Mcclellans release from harvest feryy. Reversed like a bloody and obstructed lees options, exposing his overconfidence, and forled impending disaster the exposed flank. While altogether unable to agree about its strategic significance, soldiers of both marveled at the unparalleled intensity, and fearful slaughter their words of the engagement atop South Mountain. So desperate for those north carolinians in the fight and 1867, fight in 1867. Wasre a single man defeated, he was banged on a tree. Neither an increment or the united efforts of all was called forth. For three or four hours, the struggle was severe echoed a weary ohio when. Every sort of ground was disputed on both sides. 45tham martin gable of the pennsylvania surprised he survived unscathed, despite for rebel bullets that tour through , insisted the South Mountain was the hardest fight there ever was. Up to this day, this was the most continuous musketry fire they ever heard. It rolled from right to left with irresistible theory and cannot be well described. But it will be remembered by all who were engaged there. Bolton and several other soldiers from the 51st pennsylvania grasped that they used metallic cartridges. The copper being verythin. Deep intoot penetrate the flash. Once the cartridge wounded private hugh brown and two dozen places. The human debris littering the battlefield testifying in its gruesome this, the struggles and intensity. The ground was covered with enemy dead and wounded reported harvey white. Hum of ulysses s. Grant. The harvey gap, savage spectacle. Time in manyfirst Union Soldiers that slept on a battlefield, on their arms. This was the first time they had inspect theity to dead. It made for a macabre fascination. James boris recalled his regiment marched over the fields they after the battle and found the dead in heaps. Some of the boys had stood around when the men fell beside them had to turn their heads and shut their eyes. It was sickening. Gable from the 45th pennsylvania who went on to labor in a makeshift Army Hospital in middletown, maryland, offered powerful descriptions of the overwhelming stench. Described the small lane where men were charged on the gray backs. They were lying to and three feet nearly shot in the head. The ground was literally covered in rebels. I suppose there were 300 line there that were dead in a great many more not dead. Closelythe battle so and so savagely fox . Fought. Ely . From her elevated position, we had a full view of the movement. Slowly drawing near and near to the dark, blue line. Echoed, this hill conclusion, the marching columns extended back as far as the eye could see in the distance. I have never seen such a tremendous army, and i did not see one like it afterwards. One was in full view on the mountain range. Rage think we can overlook or the desire to exact things that two have elicit attention from civil war historians in explaining the savagery at southbound. Savagery at South Mountain. Never did men drop so quickly at South Mountain. Going on to confess that rage carried us through the fight. Something similar animated the midwesterners of the iron brigade during their battle on the National Pike. The fight was particularly hot. Federal troops not only saw their enemies behind that stone fence, but they burned them. Helllack cats, we gave you and will run. Never mind you, johnny, wisconsin soldier retorted. Pike,of the national colonel phelps brigade was informed that the man who killed their kernel at manassas were right before them. Let us charge and event his death the discharge and avenge his death. He and theders new jersey brigade remembered manassas. Atop south mount, the determination reflected the larger abandonment of conciliation. All of this lines us to that concluding question winds us to that concluding question. Was South Mountain a confederate monopoly . It was true that the rebels conducted a ferocious defense for a crucial 24 hours. And this delay prevented from punching through those passes, rushing to the defense of Harpers Ferry and in sneering the confederates from a trap they could not escape. Nonetheless, the strategic victory the confederate claim by celebrating their defense of South Mountain conveniently overlooked the extent to which their campaign north of the potomac had already unraveled. Something manifested by those brigades that sought to link answer one another throughout the day on september the 14th. George mcclellans pursuit of insured that the real object of the invasion all along was to stage a campaign north of the potomac and to ensure that was no longer within reach. It insured the best they could do was to stand and fight at shares fell to stand up to fight. Stand and fight at sharpsburg is what lee would do. It was a calculation born of greater urgency, born of his keen intuition as the world was changing and a band of conciliar ration. And the the lesson ultimate significance of South Mountain. The battle that caught soldiers on both sides. About the war and what was it becoming . Last year, one enlisted man wrote less than two weeks after South Mountain, our military operations were characterized by unaccountable aptitude. There were only four battles of importance. Contrary, on the there have been a rapid succession of battles, which we believe is not equal in history. The federals, there would be more setbacks. And to the rebels, many more opportunities. But as they looked back, all of them together, they sensed that something had changed in those mountains is. Reservesrner of the made this evident in his accounting of the battle. Consciousness that we had to buy hard fighting beaten the enemy and driven him from strong positions. Filled me to the overflowing and gave me the confidence that we would finally win, and this country would be safe. The importance to the National Cause of the victory at South Mountain won by courage from an enemy strongly posted and elated with recent successes. And only would difficulty be estimated now, echoed a soldier from the 35th massachusetts. It was our first important advantage after a series of disastrous battles. The effect in restoring to the army, confidence and its powers, and encouraging a decision when in theple was visible spirit in the disposition of the men and tone of the newspapers and letters from home. End, perhaps this is why both union and confederate troops grew so defensive about the battle and its legacy. Perhaps this is why federal men twoonsistently remember decisive battles in maryland and why president Andrew Johnson review adorned with the name of the great union victories, included a placard, probably in blaze and with the name South Mountain. An it if passes on unassuming september sabbath with an audit blaze of incredulity, marvel, and horror, with the stakes higher than they had ever been before, the armies op South Mountain thank you so much. [applause] brian, tell me about this little book. For folks who dont know, brian has this great book, unholy sabbath the battle of South Mountain. He is going to do a series coming up in the year as well. Fantastic stuff. Questions . Questions . All right. Please remember to introduce yourself and tell us where you are from. I am paul from allen, texas. The question is, how much, if any of the success the federals had came from the fact that they were fighting indians in minnesota . Brian a lot of it has to do with that. This was George Mcclellans army , and the return of george gave them quite a bit of confidence, i believe. And indeed, when George Mcclellan, six weeks after you can see fact, the gloom return in their letters and diaries. Even those who were upset with the way that George Mcclellan had divvied those weeks in october of 1862, even though it were made to express that, they were still regretting that George Mcclellan was gone. We dont take mcclellan seriously. This campaign is one example of that. The history has been dominated from the confederate perspective, i think. We dont taken seriously, and we need to taken seriously because he represents probably the of fought in the civil war north. They should be a limited war fought in a limited way. It should be a limited war fought in a limited way. Pats not somebody we should around as, you know, the brunt of our jokes. Mcclellan represents a broad stream of conservative thought in the north that is deeply skeptical of this war. Mcclellan walks into a bar George Mcclellan walks into a bar. [laughter] ever, was it ever reported to him that his battle plan had been down . [indiscernible] brian this is a matter of some debate in the literature. I dont think it has been resolved yet. Some of the other Maryland Campaign scholars in the audience can weigh on this as well. Assumption andis his masterworks on the campaign is that when jeb stuart kind of figures out from that informant that mcclellan has some kind of important paperwork, jeb stuart pieces this together that this must be special orders 191, and thatd convey to lee stewart has his plans. He thinks that lee does it now. It goes back and forth on that question. It is a matter of some debate. Although i dont know, again, if you look at what lee is doing on the 13th, he is really unconvinced that there is to be a massive attempt at mcclellan will move with any sort of aggressiveness. He did move, i dont think it would have made such a difference. Wight. [indiscernible] brian yeah. Good question. I think a number of things at up here. For one, i think it is an opportunity for him to stick it to abraham lincoln, and say, you know, you should not have embarrassed me the way that you did earlier in the summer. Forink things are different him when he is operating in a loyal state when he does not have to be concerned about mcclellan is always concerned about treatment of an policy toward seven civilians. Here, he is operating in a loyal state. He is doing something he has never done before, which is dispatched the rebels from maryland and protect washington and baltimore. That is a very Different Task than what he had been doing say in virginia. Of course, this is consistent with his other great performances in western virginia where he is defending the unionists. , for me at least and there are other there has been a lot of recent work on mcclellan. There are other thoughts out there, but those are my two hypotheses about them. Time for one last question . All right. Over here in the far corner. Brian, i am going to ask you while im walking, but for folks who visit the south nonbattlefield, what is your favorite part about being on the final about being on the battlefield . Brian despite a lot of the development, i get the sense when i go back to foxs gap and walk along a new trail that goes back to the North Carolina monument with the original stone wall, you can feel as though these events happened yesterday. Rie sense. An ee when i first started visiting that battlefield, there was nothing. Now there are trails. It is really quite something. If you have not been, i recommend you go up there and spend a day. Final question. Daniel harvey. Blame on Daniel Harvey hill at this particular battle for the lack of success there . Was that the beginning of the friction . The failure is not really panned on hill pinned on hill. It would be reflected on roswell ripley, who is supposed to be in Tactical Command up there. I have not read it yet, but there is a new rehabilitation on roswell ripley. Deflected a lot of that ought to ripley. But there is not a lot of blame to go around because they successfully pivot the narrative saying it was not a loss but a great strategic defense. I mean they were the ones who had done that turning a defeat into a victory. All right. [applause] interested in American History tv . Visit our website at www. Cspan. Org history. You can view our tv schedule, preview upcoming programs, and watch college lectures, museum tours, films, and more. American history tv at cspan. Org history. Cspan, were history unfold daily. Created as aan was Public Service by americas Cable Companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. Coming up next on American History tv, british house of lords member michael dobbs, creator of house of cards, and author of four novels about winston churchill, gives the keynote address at the International Churchill conference in new york city. This is about 40 minutes. Ask that weike to have as a guest speaker tonight, and i would like to ask the very beautiful talented and brilliant lisa to come up tonight, if you would. Lisa is a fantastic journalist
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