Two, actually. Two big anniversaries, although several worlds apart.
Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of the departure of one J. Hendrix, one of the best ever. Regardless of what slant you may take on music in general, Jimi rules us all. After all this time, I still can only respectfully hack my way through his stuff, and can still ponder ” Are You Experienced” with shock and awe. If I had a Strat plugged into 3 100-watt Marshall heads I might find my way into the neighborhood, but even then that would be akin to letting me do some touch-up work on the Sistine Chapel. Not that good of an idea. There’s an awful lot of inferior Hendrix material out in the world, and even through that, the genius always manages to shine through. All Hail Jimi. Really.
The second; today marks the 148th anniversary of the battle of Antietam in 1862. Or call it Sharpsburg, if you are of a somewhat rebellious slant. Still stands as the largest single-day casualty total in US history ( 3600 dead; 26,000 overall ). It was a marginal Union victory, and more importantly, prevented General Lee from foraging his army at the expense of a Union state during the harvest season. That really hurt.
Antietam was such a big battle that it can only be studied by section and time of day. The Cornfield, East Woods, West Woods, the Sunken Road, Burnside’s Bridge, Dunker Church, Otto Farm… each one is an amazing microcosm of what humans can do under stress if they really believe in what is at stake. Phenomenal bravery. Any normal person would just run and run. ” You want us to what? Are you out of your #@!%^# mind?”
On a personal note, I actually had two forefathers on the field that day. I suspect that many people could make the same claim, but I’ve gone to the trouble of researching it, so I will impart my findings to …you. You’re not actually a captive reader; you would have already x- ed out of this if you were that bored.
On my dad’s side…James Coyne with the 2nd RI Infantry. They were held in reserve for the entire day, and were not put in at all. George McClellan did not commit his reserves when he should have; historians have been arguing over it ever since. He still managed a default win anyway, but that was more circumstantial than anything else. He lucked out. But James, having just seen his first actual combat a few days earlier at South Mountain, had to spend the entire day waiting for a call that never came. Close enough to hear countless cannon and musket volleys, and watch whole companies breaking out of line and running, only to be shot at by their own line officers. ( Another fine tradition we got from the British- this is why the Redcoats were so efficient; they were much more afraid of their own sergeants than the enemy. What was in front of them ( Colonial Militia?…phht) was a lot easier to deal with than their own NCOs, who would gleefully kill them for “turning their coats”.)
Anyway… I’m sure that James’ experiences on that day more or less led to his bolting from camp as soon as he could manage it in December. Miserable yellow slime-ball that he was, but he was half of the team that got my miserable yellow slime-ball ass onto the planet, so…c’est la vie.
On my mom’s side… a somewhat better read. Patrick McDermott was with the 4th RI Infantry, and they were positioned by the Otto Farm late in the day. They were totally green, and were likely absolutely terrified. They, and the equally green 16th CT, were tasked with crossing a large open expanse that led directly into the center of Sharpsburg. They would have set out in line of battle, meaning a long thin line that is only two ranks deep; great for delivering musket volleys and bayonets, but very slow-moving overall; but ala the British Redcoats again, very intimidating. One did not want to find oneself in front of a bayonet line if one could arrange to get the hell out of Dodge.
And now, things get a bit fuzzy. ( We history guys love this crap.)
On the other side of the open expanse waited the 1st South Carolina. Accounts generally agree that the Union forces were repulsed, and that the Confederates gained control of the Otto Farm area. The interesting bit is that those unit’s regimental histories offer two totally different versions of how that came about.
According to the 4th RI, the despicable rebels waved a Federal flag in the smoky distance to draw them into an ambush, and it worked; they didn’t spot the deception until it was too late to back up. In the ensuing fight, RI lost their regimental colors to the enemy. Nonetheless, they gave a good account of themselves, and withdrew from the field in good order ( meaning they did not run, and did not ‘ turn their coats’. So they lost, but honor was still intact.)
According to South Carolina… they met the yankees head-on, beat their asses well beyond an inch of their lives, took their flag, and chased the remnants off the field like frantic schoolgirls. They did wave a flag at them; it was their flag, because they had just captured it.
Mind you, these are fully documented accounts, regimental histories available from several sources, and in the reference sections of local libraries. They just have a few small inconsistencies…
Someone is lying through their regimental teeth.
I just love American history. So full of holes that you can drive trucks through, and yet we are so totally comfortable with it. Of course someone’s lying- how else could everyone look good for future generations?
At any rate, both my guys survived the battle, and now my miserable yellow slime-ball ass is here to cast dispersions on my ancestors. Hell, if I had been at Antietam, I probably would have been shot for crying hysterically. ” Shot for Excessive Annoyance”, as it would read in the regimental history.
RCoyne
