Harper's Ferry and Antietam

Yesterday, 23 April, we visited Harper's Ferry and the Antietam Civil-War battlefield. The weather was cooperative and we had a wonderful day. The drive through the Shenandoah Mountains from Warrenton to Harper's Ferry in West Virginia was spectacular with low clouds hovering over the misty emerald-green hills and patches of forest. We made a short stop at Millwood, a charming little village on a creek with a picturesque mill.

Harper's Ferry is a delightful historic town situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, and now part of the National Park system. The setting is (for here) mountainous and the natural setting is as impressive as the village itself. The town was an important industrial-revolution site because of the ample water power available for mills of various sorts. It was also an essential railroad and canal stop. During the civil war Harper's Ferry was the site of abolitionist John Brown's failed 1859 attempt at liberating slaves and seizing arms. Though a failure, the attempt drew the attention of the nation to the moral issue of slavery and edged the country even closer to civil war.

The 12-hour Battle of Antietam, in Maryland, is probably best known for the scale of its carnage: 23,000 casualties. Here General Lee made his first incursion into the north in an attempt to draw the Army of the Potomac away from Washington D.C. just a few miles to the south. Reluctant Union General McClellan, at Lincoln's insistence, led the battle and fought the Confederate forces to a draw. The draw, however, was ultimately a game changer because Lee withdrew from the north, Union momentum (after a string of previous defeats) increased, and France and England decided against recognition of the Confederate States, all of which changed the direction of the war. The pity is that McClellan was such a noodle: if he had pursued Lee as Lincoln directed, the war would have been significantly shorter, but, alas, McClellan was a reluctant noodle!

The mill at Millwood

The confluence of the Shenandoah and the Potomac

Lock #33 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (now
obviously dry) beside the Shenandoah River

Harper's Ferry

Buildings on Shenandoah Street

Houses perched above High Street

The sites and smells along High Street reminded me of the Lake
District in England, and the slate construction
added to the impression

The gang in front of Saint Peter's Catholic Church

Monkeys at St. John's Episcopal Church ruins
on the cliffs above Harper's Ferry

The view of the Potomac water passage from the rock where
Thomas Jefferson enjoyed the most "stupendous" view in America --
Anna wryly said he had obviously never been west

Lunch on the High Street

Antietam National Battle Field

The Sunken Road or Bloody Lane
(photo by Courtney)

The Hastings on the Bloody Lane Trail

Dying Easter eggs

This was a great day out. The evening was filled with pulled pork, homemade wheat rolls, slaw, and collard greens, followed by lots of egg dying. Thanks to Anna and Rob for more great management.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.