January 24, 2014

**Antietam Friday**

Here’s one of my favorite Antietam photos (okay, I probably say that every week :-)) I like it because there isn’t one main focus point; instead, the eye wanders where it will, picking out things that weren’t immediately apparent. I immediately started searching for recognizable places and things in a sort of Civil War treasure hunt. The most obvious is the Maryland State Memorial located at center right. It’s a beaut. This monument was rather revolutionary for its time because it memorialized not only the Union Civil War dead from Maryland but also the Confederate dead. (This was a real Cain-and-Abel state during the war).

At far center left is the Antietam National Battlefield visitor center. To its left is the tall, impressive New York State Memorial. Over 650 New Yorkers lost their lives at Antietam, and that’s just the dead. There were many wounded and missing as well. Now, for the not-so-obvious photo features . . . see the fence running parallel to the Maryland memorial? It borders Smoketown Road. The modern road visible at the bottom of the photo is Dunker Church Road, also known as MD 65. If you click for a larger view, you can see two interesting things to the direct right of the Maryland State Memorial: A large pole with a sadly limp flag upon it, and a cluster of artillery pieces. These cannon represent the various pieces used in the Civil War and constitute one of many interpretive sites at Antietam.

**HONORED TODAY**

PVT. GEORGE HAYDEN

Co. B, 1^ST Maryland Battalion, CSA

Born June 23, 1842 --- Died September 23, 1863

In today’s post I mentioned how Marylanders fought in both the Union and the Confederate army. Unfortunately for Pvt. Hayden, his allegiances became unclear at his death. Someone came to the conclusion that he was a Union soldier and his burial at Camp Letterman reflected that mistaken identity. Later it was discovered that he had fought with the 1^ST Maryland Battalion, Steuart’s Brigade, at Gettysburg. Pvt. Hayden died of the affects of amputation and of exhaustion and is currently buried at Christ Church in Chaptico, Maryland.


(c) 2013-2014 Skies of Blue and Gray