title: author: publisher: isbn10 | asin: print isbn13: ebook isbn13: language: subject publication date: lcc: ddc: subject: Page iii Too Afraid to Cry Maryland Civilians in the Antietam Campaign Kathleen A. Ernst Page iv Copyright© 1999 by Stackpole Books Published by STACKPOLE BOOKS 5067 Ritter Road Mechanicsburg PA 17055 http://www.stackpolebooks.com All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Stackpole Books, 5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania 17055. Acknowledgment is made for permission to quote from the following copyrighted works: Three Years with Company K, by Austin Stearns, ed. Arthur A. Kent (Cranbury, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1976), used by permission of Associated University Presses; I Rode with Stonewall, by Henry Kyd Douglas, ed. Fletcher M. Green (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1940), used by permission of the publisher; The Diary of Jacob Engelbrecht, ed. William R. Quynn (Frederick, Md.: The Historical Society of Frederick County, Inc., 1976), used by permission of the publisher; History of the Brethren in Maryland, by J. Maurice Henry (Elgin, Ill.: Brethren Publishing House, 1936), used by permission of the publisher; Medical Recollections of the Army of the Potomac; and Memoir of Jonathan Letterman, M.D. by Jonathan Letterman, M.D., (reprint ed. Knoxville: Bohemian Brigade Publishers, 1994), used by permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 FIRST EDITION Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ernst, Kathleen, 1959 Too afraid to cry: Maryland civilians in the Antietam Campaign/ Kathleen A. Ernst: foreword by Ted Alexander.1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8117-1602-3 1. Maryland Campaign, 1862. 2. MarylandHistoryCivil War, 1861- 1865Socila aspects. 3. United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861- 1865Social aspects. 4. Sharps- burg Region (Md.)History, Military- Sharpsburg RegionHistory19th century. I. Title. E474.61.E76 1999 973.7'336dc21 99-36994 CIP Page v For my husband, partner, and companion, Scott. Page vii Contents Foreword ix by Ted Alexander Preface xiii Acknowledgments xv Chapter 1: "This Conflict of Opinions and Sympathies" 1 Chapter 2: "In a Small Commotion" 28 Chapter 3: "What a Terrible Feeling This Is" 56 Chapter 4: "I'll Die First" 87 Chapter 5: "It Was an Awful Time" 111 Chapter 6: "Too Afraid to Cry" 130 Chapter 7: "A Smell of Death in the Air" 155 Chapter 8: "Broken Hearts Can't Be Photographed" 189 Chapter 9: "Deliver Us From This Terrible War" 203 Chapter 10: "When That Time Comes, All Hearts and 225 Hands Will Unite" Notes 242 Selected Bibliography 272 Index 288 Page ix Foreword Western Maryland, particularly the counties of Washington and Frederick, was a hotbed of turmoil during the Civil War. Indeed, along with Pennsylvania's neighboring Cumberland Valley and Adams County, of which Gettysburg is the county seat, this was an area that from 1861 to 1865 saw more sustained military activity than any other region north of the Potomac. Esteemed Civil War historian Dennis Frye has likened life in Harpers Ferry at that time to living on the Arab-Israeli border in the late twentieth century. He might just as well have been talking about that thin strip of western Maryland bordered by Pennsylvania on the north and Virginia and West Virginia on the south. Through this corridor passed approximately three-quarters of a million Union and Confederate soldiers. Of this number, most were from the armies that traversed the region in three major campaigns, the Maryland campaign of 1862, the Gettysburg campaign of 1863, and Jubal Early's raid of 1864. In addition, thousands of Union soldiers were garrisoned in the areaat Frederick, at Hagerstown, and at lesser populated towns and villages and in smaller detachments at key points along the Potomac and Mason-Dixon line. To be sure, a less measurable portion of the troop numbers can be attributed to the hundreds of small unit-mounted incursions led by commanders such as Jeb Stuart and John McCausland or partisan leaders such as John S. Mosby and Harry Gilmor. While these latter movements may have been brief, sometimes shorter than a day, their impact could be long lasting. The battles of Antietam and Monocacy lasted one day. Gettysburg was a three-day round of carnage. Yet for the civilians living in the wake of these man-made disasters, the effects of these battles lasted for weeks, months, and even years. A case in point is the community of Sharpsburg, Maryland. Although much has been written about the bloody day of fighting along Page x Antietam Creek, most people do not realize that this was the first organized community in the United States to suffer widespread damage from both combat and the sheer presence of two opposing armies. A wide body of anecdotal evidence from both soldiers and civilians, via letters, diaries, and postwar reminiscences, leads us to believe that nearly every house in the town of Sharpsburg was damaged in some way by stray artillery rounds as well as small-arms fire. Further, a number of buildings caught fire and were destroyed, and some of the town's churches had to be rebuilt because of structural damage. Besides the immediate impact of combat, the residue of military activity also left its mark during the period following the battle of Antietam. The presence of more than 120,000 Rebels and Yankees along with some 50,000 horses and mules generated tons of wastea tremendous health hazard in and of itself. The threat of disease was further exacerbated by thousands of dead men and animals rotting in the warm September sun, and many more wounded left to care for in field hospitals. Evidence shows that scores of citizens got sick, and many of them died. Combat and disease were not the only threats posed by a large battle. Economic devastation loomed as an all-too-real possibility. At Sharpsburg soldiers from both sides raided farms and homes, carrying off valuables, destroying property, and confiscating livestock and crops as provender of the armies. In some cases refugees who fled the Sharpsburg area prior to the battle returned to find themselves in economic ruina scenario that was repeated hundreds of times throughout this corridor of war. This, then, is the story of Antietam and beyond, looking through the prism of war as it affected the civilian population. Despite the compelling story of a citizenry's efforts to cope with the