South Mountain Battle & Harpers Ferry: Prelude to Antietam | American Civil War | Special Order 191
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- Опубліковано 18 січ 2021
- The Battle of South Mountain and the siege of Harpers Ferry are the opening phase of Robert E. Lee's Maryland campaign in September, 1862 during the Civil War.
Lee had defeated the Army of the Potomac at the Penninsula near Richmond in July and then followed up with a victory at Second Manassas / Bull Run in August. In September, Lee cross the Potomac.
McClellan and the Union Army follow from Washington to Frederick, Maryland. There McClellan discovers Lee's Special Orders 191: Lee's secret plans.
Lee had divided his Confederate army. Longstreet headed north to Boonsboro then to Hagerstown, Maryland. But Jackson and other elements headed west to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
McClellan follows, sending the main army toward Boonsboro and Franklin's corps toward Harpers Ferry. The Battle of South Mountain (September 14, 1862) follows on the long crest of the Appalachian Mountains near Boonsboro.
Thomas Stonewall Jackson and the rebels are able to capture Harpers Ferry on September 15. Lee reorganizes the army in Sharpsburg, Maryland, near Antietam Creek.
Thanks for watching!
Film by Jeffrey Meyer, Research Librarian, Iowa
Images from Library of Congress and National Archives
Satellite images from Google Maps and Microsoft Bing Maps
Music: "Veracruz" by Quincas Moreira
Fantastic! Love the maps. Lov the absence of music. Worth watching again & sharig
Thanks for the kind feedback!
I really appreciate your channel. Men like you don’t exist anymore it seems. Men that value history. Would love some history book recommendations
For Civil War history, I have enjoyed Shelby Foote's "Civil War." It's very long, but it reads like great literature. For colonial times, I like Deetz' "In Small Things Forgotten," which comes at the subject from an archaeological perspective. You can't go wrong with David McCollough, who has many good books on various parts of American history. I also like Mann's "1491" about Native America.
My family is from the Valley, and I have lived in D.C. area all my life. I have never heard Loudoun or Potomac pronounced the way you do. Other than that, a good video. Harper's Ferry was always a paradox for whomever held it. The Armory was there because of water power. But this put it at the bottom of an indefensible bowl. Everyone wanted it, no one could hold it.
I grew up in Pittsburgh, and we pronounce all kinds of things strange. Thanks for watching!
My dad and I flew into BWI years ago (from Minneapolis) and he pointed South Mountain etc out from the plane -- everything makes more sense when you actually see the lay of the land!
For instance, I always had trouble making sense of accounts if Antietam as a kid since to me a "cornfield" is a more or less flat, treeless 160 acre quarter section and almost any "creek" can be leaped over or waded through with pants rolled up.
@@JeffreytheLibrarian My great, great, grandfather was with Stonewall all through the valley campaign. 13th Virginia. He was captured when the sunken road defense collapsed. Spent almost two years at Point Lookout prison camp. McClellan should have crushed Lee's army at Antietam. I've always had a soft spot for John Bell Hood, and Texas. If not for the Texas Brigades counterattack in the corn, I might not be here.
The pronunciations I hear in these history videos drive me crazy, it’s like these guys jumped it knowing next to nothing about the subject matter and were like, “I can make a UA-cam video about that,” at the same time I admire how cocksure they are and they get the job done but it does drive me crazy when you can tell by the way they pronounce things that they are anything but experts on this stuff which happens all the time not just in this guy’s videos and he’s not even a particularly bad offender
EXCELLENT presentation of the Battles! Decades ago, a few of my fellow Reenacting friends and I traversed South Mountain over each of the gaps and ended up in Harpers Ferry. It was an incredible jaunt for us over a weekend.
It's beautiful country there in the mountains. Thank you for watching!
The maps, the pace of your voice, and the condensed story are really prime for UA-cam content. Nice stuff!
Thank you!
I want to give a MASSIVE SHOUT OUT and commemorate with adoration for the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 27th, and 33rd Virginia Infantry regiments and the Rockbridge Artillery Battery... Will always the Immortally remembered for there Dauntless Intrepid and Valorous Deeds in the Field... Proving they were prepared to Engage and Endure Suffering Harm and Injury while Brandishing Courage under conditions where Belligerences were Waging War with Extreme Violence....😊❤️💯🙏
"belligerences"? Not sure where that comes from (as a lifelong Southern Virginian)
McClellan knew Lee's Army was divided at least two days before he got Special Orders 191. He had reports of Longstreet going north, while at the same time he was getting reports of Jackson going south. But he didn't know how many troops were going in which direction. Special Orders 191 didn't completely clarify the situation, but it brought it into better focus for him. Special Orders gave no hints as to the size of each contingent. As well, when McClellan got the orders, they were three to four days old. Obsolete. As well, events on the ground contradicted what the orders said, as the Confederates did not follow the orders completely, but took liberties and deviated from the exact orders as stated.
Simply put, the orders clarified the situation for McClellan in some ways, but didn't in other ways, and finally confused the situation in other ways. The importance of the orders is vastly over-rated and many historians have come to the conclusion that finding those orders didn't help McClellan much at all.
Very good VERY WELL SAID !!!!
Hate to give the benevolent tyrant any credit, but he did state that "Little Mac" has the "slows."
They never saw anything eyeball ta eyeball, even with McClellan standing on a chair.
@@carywest9256 Lincoln was the master of the quip. But he knew nothing about running an army.
Huzzah! Outstanding presentation! I live at the base of S. Mtn. at Fox's Gap and belong to the organization that manages and maintains the battlefield at Fox's Gap as well as the Dahlgren Chapel at Turner's gap. Thank you for making this clear, concise, and understandable video of the entire Battle of South Mountain. I hope you continue to make similar videos for other Civil War battles (may I suggest the Battle of Monocacy, which took place in Frederick, MD in 1864---the "battle that saved Washington.")
Yes, I am working on a big Civil War video now. I hope to have it out in a few weeks. Western Maryland is beautiful. I grew up going to Deep Creek in the summers.
Would you know how many markers there are at Fox's Gap for Hood's Texas Brigade?
The reason Lee sent Jackson to take Harper's Ferry, was out of necessity. He could not allow a large Union force to be in his rear, while he was operating in Maryland or Pennsylvania (his real goal). He could not allow that large Union force to cut off his supply route. He had originally thought that if he moved north of that Union force, it would evacuate. When it did not evacuate, it left Lee in a bind. He had to remove the threat to his rear. That's why he sent Jackson to take Harper's Ferry.
It's generally acknowledged that the Confederates could not win this war by military means. However, with a few breaks, the Confederate Army could have gotten so close to Washington that the Union would've sued for peace.
@潘卓Pan_Cho Burnside was the only Union general at Sharpsburg who achieved his part of the battle plan. Had his afternoon attack been properly supported by Porter's Corps a decisive breakthrough might have been achieved. Burnside in fact did get a division behind Lee's right flank that helped in driving off the defenders at the bridge. Burnside had no orders to take the ford at Shepherdstown. Each of Burnside's divisions had two brigades, so holding the ford would have been difficult. AP Hill crossed the ford with 5 brigades and would have been able to hold it against any of Burnside's divisions.
@@davidweum Getting close to DC? How close? Investing the city? Lee had no siege train and lacked sufficient troops to invest DC. The DC defenses fully manned by the AoP would be impregnable to any attack. Lincoln would have never sued for peace, not when the war was being won in the west.
@@davidweum ...Lincoln was not going to allow that to happen ... the Union was just too strong
@@jonathansloane702 too bad he achieved his objective six hours late.
This is really well done. My son and I just walked the AT thru Maryland and that goes thru all the gaps on South Mountain. I wished we saw this before we went. I knew and shared some the history as we hiked thru, but not anywhere near this detail.
Thank you for putting this together.
I have a friend that lives in Brownsville right at the old Brownsville Pass. I recall he found a belt buckle in his back yard marked “NYV”. Very historic (but little known about) area!
That's neat. That part of PA is so beautiful in the forests and mountains.
Great video! Awesome in fact!!!
Jeffrey, you and Mark Felton are the best on YT, imho.
Thank you very, much. That means a lot to me.
Great video. TY for posting.
Thank you for watching!
Another great show. Thanks.
Thank you, friend!
i am astonished. this is far better than the american battlefield trust. you have a gift sir. best battle description ever. very in-depth. can you do more of these?
Thank you! Yes, I will continue to make more Civil War maps. My pacing is about one every six weeks or so. I just got one out the other day on Little Round Top. Thanks for watching!
@@JeffreytheLibrarian this is random but I'm playing a civil war game and I just beat Antietam. Your video helped me a lot. What I did was take Nicodemus hill first, avoided the 🌽 field completely, took dunker church from the west by going behind west woods(flanking all rebels camped in the cornfield), and I didn't make frontal assaults on sunken road (I flanked the trench from two sides at once.)
By avoiding the mistakes the union made, I had two Corp safely inside Sharpsburg by the time ap hill arrived. 😂 All thanks to your battle explanation!
Actually, there are historians that wonder why McClellan didn't do exactly what you simulated, which is to knock out Nicodemus Hill and silence the rebels guns there.
@@JeffreytheLibrarian I bet Burnside at Fredericksburg also gives you a headache =)
@@JeffreytheLibrarian Is the Little Round Top video out for July 2nd. anniversary date?
Texas kinfolk went up and fortunately were able to make it out alive. Let me tell ya, men on both sides had grit to withstand all the metal flying through the air.
Most of these modern day of so-called patriotic Americans would soil their drawers to have to be subjected as men of the 19th. century warfare.
Well done! Wonderful work!
Thank you!
Great maps and descriptions, what really put these efforts into daunting perspective is seeing the old photos of the land, and considering what it was like to hike/walk 25 miles, with all your battle gear, arrive and fight for your life, then describe it eloquently in your journal.
I also enjoyed your film on the struggle for the forks of the Ohio river, the Ohio co. etc. I'm reading David McCullough's 'Pioneers'. Those that settled the town of Marietta and saw the Ohio Ordinance come into being. I'd love to see more of your work in this area. Thanks!
Thank you so much! I have read the Pioneers book too. I think it would be neat to show the spread of pioneer settlements through the midwest.
Your videos are fascinating. I really appreciate the topographic detail you provide in your presentation. BTW Loudoun is pronounced loud-un and Potomac is pronounced pahtohmick by the locals, for what that's worth..
Yes, I do remember the "Low-dun" from visiting once, and I will use that in the future. I know Potomac is pronounced "Po-to-mick", but I really have to try hard for it to come out like that. Thanks for watching!
Thank you
I’m glad I found your work. I just subscribed. Thank you.
Thanks for watching!
Nice summary. I am a volunteer at Antietam and live in Pittsburgh where you grew up.
Excellent. Keep the memory alive at Antietam! I have spent many wonderful summer days in Maryland. Go Pens!
Well done. Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
Enjoyed this video very much, and agree w/ another comment here, appreciate the maps that put the locations in perspective.
Thank you!
Thank you so much again. Each of these presentations I find profoundly enlightening after decades of deep interest. I am also very aware that it is not the maps alone but the way the data is presented verbally. I have been 😊very pleased with UA-cam’s ACW content I think this among the very best
Thank you!
Very good series....maps.....thanks again.
Thank you!
Great video explaining the battle.
One of my ancestors enlisted in the 9th Vermont Infantry. He was captured (in his own words in a letter to a friend) "during that disgraceful surrender at Harpers Ferry, Sep 15th, 1862".
He was discharged for disability.
He recovered (from consumption) and re-enlisted Oct 15, 1863 in Company F of the Vermont Infantry. He was killed May 12, 1864 in the battle of the Wilderness at Spotsylvania
I've hiked Maryland Heights at Harpers Ferry many times. It's no joke! I couldn't fathom making that journey in full kit in the middle of summer! it's incredibly steep and rocky!
Love our Jackson
I've been a Civil War buff all my life and your videos are by far the best explanation of the battles I have encountered. I particularly like this one because I've hiked the App. Trail in this area which goes from Harpers Ferry and up through the 3 gaps on South Mountain. Your videos on the Gettysburg battle are also great.
my GG grandfather was wounded and then captured ...as a member Southern defenders at Camption's Gap... that allowed him to survive the civil war
My PA cavalry ancestor was also captured. Much better than the fates of others.
Good job! More maps, roads, rivers, topo please.
Thanks! I will have more coming. I appreciate the nice comments.
I've come to learn and believe Order 191 was a ruse by Lee to entice Mac not to go the way of HF, as Mac likely was intending, but a plan to ensure Lee's retreat route to the Shenandoah Valley for rest, food, etc. for his tired, worn out army. Lee needed to secure HF. Jackson's order to go to HF was verbal, not in the Order, so Mac didn't figure him to be there. No way was Lee going to fight Mac in the open, he didn't have the numbers for a long battle line - Sharpsburg was the perfect spot for that.
Others have also commented that the orders mask Stonewall's objective.
That is Joe Ryan's thesis.
Joe nailed it - spot on.
Good video
Thank you!
I would bet I could learn advanced mathematics if this guy was the professor. Man he has a way and a tone for learning
Thank you!
8:41 is this the same Reno that would later get his crap pushed in by my cousins at the battle of the "greasy grass"??
AKA "Custer's last stand" ???
.
little shell band of the Chippewa tribe!!! lets go!!!
also.... is that the same "miles".....that was in greasy grass?
if so... i wonder if the "ex-confed / ex-union" bit played a part in the defeat at greasy.......
.
custer was an idiot with too big of an ego..... but still.... IIRC, Reno was the smart one, and stayed on a hill and watched everyone get their shit pushed in
and Reno core was the only ones to SORTA escape
I think it's a different guy. Reno was killed at South Mountain.
Amazing, the narrator shows you the actual route the Order tells McClellan Jackson is to travel on, and then suddenly he has Jackson moving on to Harper's Ferry, instead of continuing the route specified in the order. Ah, the wonder of myth in history. Once established, it takes generations to root it out and replace with the reality.
Actually, Lee's written orders may have purposely misrepresented Jackson's actions, as Jackson was to separate and move against Harper's Ferry.
@@JeffreytheLibrarian No shit Sherlock
Appreciate that you actually quote Special Orders 191 rather than tell us what you think it says. Jackson's orders do not direct him to capture Harpers Ferry but to merely intercept those trying to escape. McLaws is the force ordered to capture Harpers Ferry. The unanswered question is who ordered Jackson to capture Harpers Ferry when he was not ordered to that place? Before McClellan read the lost order he was moving his main body to Harpers Ferry to rescue the garrison. After reading it he was induced to move his main body through the South Mountain gaps to Boonesboro. This allowed Jackson to complete the capture of Harpers Ferry on the 15th. Special Orders 191 is written in such a way as to obscure Jackson's true assignment, the capture of Harpers Ferry, and give the appearance that by September 14th he would be marching back to Boonesboro. The orders, as written, make little sense unless they were intended to be read by McClellan.
Much appreciated. Yes, the plans do not reveal Jackson's plan. Jackson and Lee were perfecting their grand surprise tactics.
@@JeffreytheLibrarian The surprise only works if the lost order was a ruse de guerre.
The photo with the caption Frederick, MD shows the Barbara Fritchie house on West Parrick Street along Carroll Creek
And who pray tell was Barbara Fritchie?
@@carywest9256 Read the poem by John Greenleaf Whittier. "Shoot if you must this old gray head, but spare your country's flag she said......"
She flew the US flag as the rebels marched through Frederick and challenged rebels to shoot her. Stonewall Jackson said "who touches a hair on yon gray head, dies like a dog! March on!"
OT there are hundreds of road signs in Maryland advertising Barbara Fritchie candies. Never had them and don't know if they're any good.
0:23 did anyone hold him to that? 🤣 i gotta stick for little Mack. Were both Penn alum Go Quakers! 🤣
super explantion.
Thank you!
please consider doing more civil war videos.
I am working on another one, and I hope to have it out in a few weeks.
@@JeffreytheLibrarian Awesome!
Well presented & explained. "Lost" order 191 remains a subject of active debate. It is usually, I believe, attributed to D. H. Hill (delivered or undelivered). Lee generally didn't issue non-battlefield orders to divisional commanders, explaining its oversight. It would have been necessitated by the same command/courts martial shake-up that detached McLaws (who "might be the only general in the Confederacy who never heard of Harper's Ferry") to Jackson.
Looking for info on my G.G. Grandfather's unit Co. D 8th Al infantry.
Stalin would have known what to do with Miles. So many of the Confederacy's best generals wore blue.
Every you say "Po-toe-Mac" I want to charge your line. ^.^
That's just the way it comes out. I know it's wrong. I have to really, really try to say it the way it's not spelled.
@@JeffreytheLibrarian You make up for it every time you say "refused the flank" (I don't know any other content creator that uses appropriate jargon) I enjoy your content!
Seem like the whole “if practicable” thing wasn’t one off.
There is another reason for Lee's invasion. His hope would be Lincoln would be voted out of office and the Democrats would sue for peace. Grant was always fighting a war of attrition and given the material and ability to replace casualties it was a winning strategy. Time and time again Lee lost men he couldn't replace by seizing the initiative and waging offensives: A losing strategy.
Nice presentation. FYI, Middletown is pronounced “middle town.”
I manage to mispronounce a town in every video! Thanks for the correction.
@@JeffreytheLibrarian Hey, like those yankees of NYC say "don't worry 'bout it."
Visit Boston where American English is butchered every hour.
@@JeffreytheLibrarian Seems to me you're trying to be as accurate as possible, so hope it helps a little. It occurs to me that I'm giving the current pronunciation, and it could well have been different in 1862. Regardless, I appreciate the effort you're making for these videos. :)
For what its worth its pronounced LOW-DON heights, like Loudon County
Loudon Heights is pronounced Laudon.
Thanks!
The river is pronounced Pah-TOE-mick. The Loudon in Loudon Heights is pronounced Lau-dn.
Yes, I grew up in PA and pronounced "Potomac" correctly. However, I spent ten years in the Midwest, and now vowels are hard. I've heard different things for "Loudon Heights." Some have said it's supposed to be "low-down". I don't know how to say it right.
Loudon is pronounced like the word "loud" plus "un." Loud-un.
Good information but voice borders on unexciting.
I sometimes sound sleepy. I have two toddlers.
im not sure if its pronounced "potato-mac"......
.
in montana ive always heard it as "pa-toe-mick"
You're probably right. I blame an early childhood in the Great Lakes. Long, long vowels... can't help it.
Yes, Im a native to the area. It is pronounced Pa-toe-Mick
@@JeffreytheLibrarian I used to live in Minnesota...don't cha know ya bet cha
puh
·tow·muhk potomac its native american
The strange coincidence is that "potomos" is Greek for "river." Thanks for watching!
pa-toe-mac?
Sounds correct to me :)
@@JeffreytheLibrarian No disrespect, just poking fun at ur accent..:). Seriously, Great videos!! very well done. Big fan!!
Anyone other than McClelland would destroyed Lees' army. G-grandfather served w/ 8th Va on S. Mountain.
I think we can all probably name a few Union generals who could have really made this a total disaster. McClellan was slow and cautious, but he was not careless.
@@JeffreytheLibrarian Didn't imply McClelland was careless. If fact, I think he was too cautious. Perhaps not at South Mtn actions, but the battle at Antietam, acknowledging the high casualties, could've left Lee with no army to speak of. And yes, I do accept there were Union Gnls who could've done worse.
Loudoun Heights is pronounced "Lowdon Heights." And Potomac River is pronounced "Putomic River."
Thanks, Joseph. My funny pronunciation is derived from Great Lakes on top of Pittsburghese on top of Upper Plains Midwest. The Potomac River derives its name from Algonquian, so all of us English speakers are probably mispronouncing it. Funny coincidence is that "potomos" is Greek for "river." Thanks for watching!
I would say the pronunciation is more like: "Loud - Don" vs. LowDon. And Potomac is "Po - Tow - Mick". Although some say Mick and others say Mack.
@@Alby_VA Agree, the first syllable in "Loudon" is pronounced "Loud".
Living in Frederick, I agree with the pronunciation corrections below. And not to pile on, but it's MiddleTOWN, not MiddleTON. But otherwise, well done. I have spent time at these sites and can see the problems both for the attack and defense. It's not easy fighting in mountainous terrain. The old Mountain House at the crest of Turner's Gap, where DHHill made his headquarters, is still there and is now an Inn and restaurant. You can still see some bullet scars on parts of the stone.
Some other local "South Mountain" area trivia. Today, there's a really good vineyard and winery just north of Crampton's Gap in Rohersville (MD) called Big Cork. Munford's cavalry, which defended Crampton's Gap, left their horses in Rohersville when defending the pass and retreated there when the federals punched their way through the gap. The town of Burkittsville on the eastern side of Crampton's Gap was the featured town and filming location for the cult horror film "The Blair Witch Project." Today, Crampton's Gap is a Maryland State Park called Gapland and the Appalachian Trail passes through it along the crest of South Mountain.
The South was poor and starving and like the Japanese they fought for food.
The North had many advantages, including the breadbasket of the Midwest.
The pronunciation of Potomac is aweful to hear.
It's sort of my trademark to mispronounce something in each video.
Learn how to pronounce “Loudoun.”
A close reading of Special Order 191 shows that Jackson was not ordered to go to Harpers Ferry. McClaws was assigned the principal task of reducing Harpers Ferry by siezing Maryland Heights. The problem for the Confederates is that while Maryland and Loudon Heights command the town of Harpers Ferry, artillery from those positions cannot reach Bolivar Heights, which was the military position occupied by the Unioon forces defending Harpers Ferry, and thus artillery firing from those positions will not force a decision. McClellan's goal was to get to Harpers Ferry and relieve the garrison. Once he read SO191, McClellan understood that Jackson's force would be back in the Middleton Valley and on his right flank if McClellan proceeded through Crampton's Gap to Harpers Ferry. So McClellan decided to force the more northerly gaps with his main body sending only a corps to force Crampton's Gap. This decision cost McClellan a day that Jackson used to reduce Harpers Ferry. Finding Lee's special order caused McClellan to alter his plan in a way that benefitted Lee. My question is, who ordered Jackson to Harpers Ferry? His written orders did not direct him to Harpers Ferry but to retun to the army.