All donations do help the museum. We are nonprofit, so we do rely on memberships and donations to bring you programs. Also, consider being a member. We have information at the house. So, the structure you are sitting in was built around 1844. That is when the house was built. Farmers lived and worked here prior to the battle of antietam. The union army took over their property. This structure was a Field Hospital where hundreds of Wounded Soldiers were treated by surgeons in the days and weeks following the battle. With us, Daniel Vermilya to discuss his new book. I will have to read from this because i could not memorize all this. Dan is a civil war historian and the author of several books including the battle of kennesaw mountainand james a. Garfield and the civil war. He previously worked as a park ranger at Antietam National battlefield and he currently works at the Eisenhower NationalHistoric Site in gettysburg, pennsylvania. Before i hand it over to dan, cspan is here today. We will have a question and answer session. Please wait for a member of cspan to ask the question. We will also have a book signing in the house following the question and answer session. You can buy a copy of dans book. If you have a copy, he will sign it there. All right. Here is dan. [applause] mr. Vermilya thank you very much. Thank you, rachel. Thank you to you folks for coming out on this beautiful saturday in western maryland. Thank you to the cspan folks for coming up and being your today. Its really a treat for me to be here with all of you. As rachel said, i currently work at the Eisenhower NationalHistoric Site in gettysburg. That is my day job. However, years ago i used to work at antietam battlefield. Its nice to be back in familiar environment and surroundings and a place i love very much and see familiar faces here as well. It is great to be here today to talk about my book on the battle of antietam. It came out last year as part of the emerging civil war series. The idea of the series is these books are providing introductions, perhaps a gateway to these stories of the american civil war. For all of the books that have been written on antietam, there are not many great books that point to an introduction to the battle and thats what i hope to provide with this volume here not just an introduction to the battle, but a fresh look to antietam. A new look at antietam. A battle and a name so many are familiar with, but we may not understand it all that well. We may not understand its complexity. We may not understand its full weight and importance in the story of our country. That is what we will do, take a look at that field of blood, take a new look. And if you are one hoping to dive deeper into the history of antietam, hopefully this will help. I would like to start with a quotation from robert kennedy, a soldier in the ohio 23rd volunteer infantry. When a lotantietam of ohio monuments were being dedicated. 1903. In i, myself, am from ohio, originally. Typically in my books i quote a lot of ohioans. I want to tell everybody that upfront. I love featuring the boys from my buckeye state. Kennedys quote is a beautiful one because it helps introduce us to this story of antietam. Upon this field of antietam was brought one of the most desperate battles of the word the rebellion, upon which the outcome hung the destinies of many humans beings. You can make a case for it and that it dramatically changed not only the course of these civil war, but American History is itself. To dive deeper into this, we need to begin in july of 1862. In washington, d. C. , president Abraham Lincoln holds a meeting telling his cabinet members that he has decided it is time to issue an emancipation proclamation, freeing slaves. He was open to their input as to how they would issue this document. The measure was discussed somewhat and it was secretary of state William Seward who advised president lincoln to wait for a victory before issuing this document so he would be issuing it from a position of strength, not a position of desperation. Lincoln took that advice and decided to wait. That will provide a lot of the background, a lot of drama for this upcoming campaign. With lincoln having decided to wait to issue the proclamation, that victory did not come right away. By august of 1862, the war was on the doorstep of washington, d. C. Itself, with robert ely and the Confederate Army of virginia fighting and winning the second battle of manassas, one of the finest battles of the civil war. As august turned to september with this proclamation still awaiting the eyes of millions, leah realized that for he and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and opportunity had presented itself. In Early September, lee would famously note it was the most propitious time to move north of the Potomac River and bring his Confederate Army into the state of maryland. This whole campaign is being driven by robert e lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. With lee and his army fresh off of victory and momentum on their side, yes, they were tired. Pushing north of the union soil, they have many things they hope to accomplish in the state of maryland. If i have to sum it up in one potentially war winning victory over union forces on union soil. Greatest traits is a sense of timing. The longer the war goes on, the greater the north has a chance of victory. Coming into maryland has advantages for lee and his army, but overall he is hoping to defeat union forces on union soil. In a moment when the north has suffered several setbacks. What about the other commander in this campaign . It is fitting we will talk a little bit more about George Mcclellan in our talk today, with mcclellan spending the night in the house. In Early September with confederate momentum on their side, it is the exact opposite for the union army of the potomac, which in a september of 1862 did not really exist especially as constituted here , at antietam. With the union forces in washington in total disarray, president lincoln was looking for a commander who could revive this army and do it very quickly. Despite the wishes of many in his cabinet and many officers, lincoln turned to mcclellan to reorganize this army, to give him a Second Chance at command, George Mcclellan having attempted to seize richmond earlier that summer in an unsuccessful peninsula campaign. Mcclellan is getting a Second Chance. But before he can confront lee in the field in maryland, he has to build an army he can use in the field. If these two armies are opposing vehicles, robert e lee has a pickup truck that has some miles on the tires and is a little worse for wear but he knows it , will run. And George Mcclellan is a beaten up car, the foot is up, steam coming out of the engine, and it is up on cinderblocks. The first thing you have to do is get a car that is capable of moving. Build something out of this disassembled mess and washington, d. C. Mcclellan referred to this week as the crisis of our fate. Confederate forces moving north, mcclellan is rebuilding his army, picking up the shattered pieces of several different forces and what we have here is mcclellan in the center, some of his army remnants from the peninsula campaign. Some of his army will be constituted of the remnants of john popes army and the second is built out of divisions commanded by this general here, ambriz burnside. This general, jacob cox, and this general down here, isaac stevens. This is a brandnew amalgamation of the army of the potomac in 1862 and this is the army that would carry through and fight a famous battle. It was really built in Early September at the outset of this campaign and there are a lot of myths about George Mcclellan as a commander. His is a name that is met with scorn and derision by many, especially historians. We label him slow moving. A great organizer, but not a great field general. Lets look at the army he built. The weedstoo far into on this subject, but it is important to understand the tools mcclellan is operating with this campaign. Compare these two armies at the onset of the campaign. For the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, about 60 of the confederate soldiers at antietam had fought and three or more major battles. This is a veteran about force. It does not look like the union army is very close and that statistic. Lets go to the bottom. No combat experience. At least 20 of the Union Soldiers would fight in this campaign had never been in battle before. You can say that almost every single confederate soldier had been in one or more major engagement. What about command experience . These two armies had differing levels of committing experience. In the Confederate Army, significantly more experience among the highranking officers. Simply put if you are an officer , leading a brigade, a division, or a wing, which we will call army corps for the purposes of comparison, odds are you have led that unit or a unit of that size in battle before. In combat in the american civil war, a lot of decisions that drive the ebb and flow of battle are made of the brigade command level. Three out of every four confederate per day commanders at antietam had led a brigade in combat before. You can say that for less than 30 of Union Brigade commanders. What does this all mean . What am i getting at . I am saying when these armies are moving into the state of maryland, they are two very different forces. Two very different forces. They are each going to have issues during the campaign. Each army will lose thousands of men to straggling on the roads of maryland. They are going to lose men to battles before antietam. This is not an easy campaign for either force and sometimes suggest theended to union army was too big to fail or a force that was so strong, so well the together that any other general besides mcclellan could have ended the war here. Thats not necessarily the case, as we will see and talk about further. By the second week of both september, armies are in the field and advancing into maryland. There is frederick on a map. The union army catching up with them by september 12, september 13. Federal forces are entering into frederick, maryland. They are finding the confederates moved west. As lee came into maryland, he had a problem at Harpers Ferry. At the confluence of the shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. There was a large Union Garrison there. With Harpers Ferry at the northern end of the shenandoah valley, lee could not have a Confederate Army operating north in maryland with the union force sitting right behind him. That was kind of a problem. So lee decided he would divvy up his forces, split them across maryland to try to get rid of the Union Garrison there and he did that with what is known as special orders 191. Union forces arrived in frederick september 12, september 14. The come across a copy of the orders on september 13. How many people have heard about these before . The lost orders. A great many of you have. Typically this is described as the intelligence coup of the war and mcclellan has this High Definition picture of where the Confederate Forces are and knows exactly how to smash the Confederate Army. One of the reasons it is known as that is if you read mcclellans own writings, he says, aha, i have the rebel plans. I can beat them in detail. Orders has with special 191, the claim that this is the intelligence find of the war, that is not exactly what they really were. At the reality of these orders known as the lost orders first of all, it was not a rarity that a copy of enemy marching orders would fall into your hands during the american civil war. This is not the only time in the campaign that marching orders for one army would fall into the other armies hands. Hasntially what mcclellan is a copy of lees marching orders from one day earlier, which indicated they were expired, or at least out of date, the operation to remove union forces from Harpers Ferry should have been wrapped up. They said nothing of confederate troops strength, the orders were no longer 100 accurate. Different confederate commands had adjusted their marching routes. Essentially, rather than a High Definition picture, it gives mcclellan a blurry portrait, telling him that the confederates are divided. With these orders in mind, mcclellan takes about seven hours to do some reconnaissance. Many formulate the battle plan for the next day. That leads to the battle of south mountain, where mcclellan attacked part of lees army. South mountain was an important battle during the campaign. It was a turning point in this campaign. There is a great book on that battle but a good friend of mine. I would encourage you to check that out if you want to learn more about it. On september 14, union forces attacked several mountain gaps trying to push these boutinrates back off the to push west of the mountain and , it results in a Union Victory. By the evening of september 14, lees army is divided and lee thinks, i have to head back into virginia. I cant necessarily keep my army divided here in maryland. So on the morning of september 15, 1862, confederates in the army of Northern Virginia come marching down the Boones Borough pike, but they go a little past the pry farm. The copastor antietam creek and set up in sharpsburg. Lee, before he withdraws to virginia, he was to wait and hear what happened to the Confederate Forces at Harpers Ferry. It is there that he hears from his trusted subordinate Stonewall Jackson that the union forces at Harpers Ferry have surrendered. It tells lee, you know what . The campaign is not over yet. I can stay in maryland. I can reunite my army and i can fight the battle i came here looking to fight. So on september 15, in the fields around sharpsburg, maryland, this is where we are right now. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia begins to set up on these ridges, on these hills, on this high ground so lee can reunite his force and fight the union army in battle. Is this a risk for robert e. Lee . Absolutely. He is a risk taker. It is a key characteristic of who he was as a commander. He is fighting with his back to a major river. This is a risk for him. However, he does not want to abandon this campaign entirely just yet. If he can reunite his army and fight a battle in maryland, that is the goal he came here for. He is going to give it a try. For lee, what i think we will find as we talk more about the battle of antietam, when we talk about his west battles of the war, typically we talk about chancellorsville or second leessas, but i would argue makes some big mistakes. On september 17, i would argue that lee has one of his finest days as a tactical commander. As lee and his forces are gathering and reuniting outside of sharpsburg, union forces as well are gathering on the eastern side of antietam creek. Union forces begin arriving on the eastern side of the creek later on the day on september 15 and they begin setting up on the fields around us. Near antietam creek itself. Questions emerge as to why did not the union army attack . Morning, as often is the case this time of year, i heavy fog had come off the creek, making it impossible to see ridges outside of sharpsburg. If you are mcclellan looking out to the fields, it is hard to formulate a battle plan when you cannot see where the enemy is. On september 16, mcclellan will formulate his plan and the battle will soon begin. As for the battle of antietam itself, the typical narrative of antietam is it is a battle fought in three separate phases. Have you folks are that before . Three separate phases . I want you to erase that from your mind. It was not fought in three separate phases. It was a battle fought in two phases. There was a northern phase and a southern phase to the battle. Afternoon of september 16, 1862, from these fields around us, union forces began to move into place. The federal army corps crossed first into antietam creek. Later that night, the 12th army corps would cross over into antietam creek and the battle would begin with attacks and to the left flank of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. If these are two boxers, the union army is opening the battle with right wing jabs. That is how this battle will begin. Mcclellan wants to begin the battle by testing lees left, knowing all the while, mcclellan wants to launch a left hook into the right flank. While these attacks are underway with the confederates diverging their attention northward, mcclellan wants to send an attack across on the southern end of the field hoping a hopefully weekend confederate right flank. It is a battle fought in two phases. Everything north of the turnpike, the cornfield, the sunken road or bloody lynn, that is all the northern phase of the battle. Everything south of the turnpike is the southern phase of the battle. I