Jack L Kunkel

Showdown at Antietam A Battlefield Tour of America's Bloodiest Day (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

• Over 40 Full-size Battlefield Maps
• Nearly 200 Photos of Participants and Battlefield
• Google Map Coordinates for All Tour Stops
• Then & Now Photos of Battlefield Locations

The Antietam is a large creek that runs about a mile east and south of the small hamlet of Sharpsburg, Maryland. Despite its attractive name, Antietam was a man-made disaster, its name signifying horror to the participants and to generations of their families. Some 6,400 Americans were killed or mortally wounded on that day, which is more than those killed in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War and all the Indian wars, combined. At a time when the American population was a fraction of what it is today, the deaths at Antietam were more than twice the number killed at the World Trade Center, and four times the number killed on D-Day. Then of course there were the wounded and maimed. About 15,000 of them. Many would later die of their wounds, not counted as killed on the field. And an exceptional percentage of these wounded would go under the knife of the surgeons, aptly named "saw-bones," on the kitchen table of a local farmer's house, and then laid in some filthy straw in a dank barn, to either live or die. For those that lived, usually teenagers, they could look forward to spending the remainder of their lives hobbling around on a crude wooden crutch, or minus an arm or two, no longer capable of doing a man's work of that time. And particularly for the Southerners, don't count too much on any government assistance after the war.

While this battlefield tour must by necessity focus on the "big picture" - the generals, the map arrows, the movements of divisions, brigades and regiments, etc. - I do from time to time try to include insights from the privates and corporals in the maelstrom, so that we don't forget that on the ground, down at the regiment, company and individual level, Antietam was not just lines on a map; it was a brutal fight between flesh and blood men who believed so completely in their cause that they were quite willing to kill or be killed to settle their differences. And it wasn't all that long ago, you know. Sharpsburg's still there; the Antietam's still there; most of the same roads are still there; and thanks to the Park Service most of the houses and farms are still there. It's just a question of walking around the battlefield and remembering what actually happened there.

In many ways, for me at least, Antietam was just the day before yesterday. And that's pretty much the way I wrote this book.

Jack Kunkel

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Jack L Kunkel
• Erscheinungstermin: 28. Januar 2012
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9798201455088
• Artikelnr.: 62141629

Autorenporträt

I'm the author of five books on the Civil War battles, three of them on the battle of Gettysburg, one on Shiloh and one on Antietam. I try not to simply write "history books;" rather I tell stories - true ones - that are hopefully entertaining as well as informing, while sticking absolutely true to the facts to the best of my knowledge.

Although I love military history, I consider myself more of a presenter than a historian, meaning that, rather than unearthing new facts, I concentrate more on presenting the facts, while taking full advantage of modern technology when possible. For example, in studying battles, it's always frustrated me to encounter thick books loaded with text, but which contain only a few obscure maps. In contrast, most of my books are loaded with photos, maps, and illustrations, often with links to on-line Google maps and/or YouTube battlefield videos.

Although Americans were once justifiably proud of the fact that the nation was able to knit itself back together after such a terrible civil war, today we once again live in divisive times unseen since that war, and writers and teachers are expected to choose sides and deliver politically-correct homilies, depending on which way the political winds are blowing at the moment. I don't do that. My only agenda is the truth. As far as I'm concerned, the Civil War participants on both sides were Americans, products of their time and environment, and quite prepared to die for what they believed in. And I honor all of them equally.

And so, as an author, I just tell what happened and let readers sort out the heroes and villains to suit themselves.

As always, I hope you enjoy reading my books as much as I did writing them!

Jack Kunkel