Jan 2

Jan 2 Introduction

Welcome to A Cool Take On... The Maryland Campaign! This website is a companion to the podcast of the same name. Here we will post show notes, asides, and contributor content. The goal of the project is an ongoing study of the many facets of the Maryland Campaign during the American Civil War. From minutiae to monumental moments we will explore the pivotal weeks of autumn 1862 that encompassed the campaign.

My name is Troy Cool and I invite you to join me as I continue my study of what I consider the most pivotal period of that national crisis. After lifelong interest in the war my focus has narrowed to the events surrounding the Battle of Antietam. Narrowed is an odd way of putting it though. I believe September of 1862 is the watershed moment of the Civil War, if not all of American History. That phrase can be overused and every event can be manipulated to fit the definition. However here’s my reasons to describe these few weeks as such. There were so many things happening in those busy days of September. The United States saw the largest surrender of its troops up until the time of Corrigedor and Bataan in World War II. The bloodiest day in American history occurs during this campaign at Antietam. Both Armies are forged in the caldron of the fighting around Sharpsburg. The Army of Northern Virginia takes shape and General Lee will purge his army of many high ranking officers, solidifying the army he will lead through the war until Appomattox . The Army of the Potomac comes into its own and and stops the long summer of the Confederacy’s ascendance. Our nation has never been closer to dissolution than during Sept 1862. International decisions would be made based on the outcome of the campaign. The political will to fight the war was in question as mid term elections were just around the corner. The choice of how the war would be fought gets solidified and the war aims are redefined with the Emancipation Proclamation. The federal government is brought well in hand by the Republican Party and that party will drive it’s aims and the United States direction through the war.

As everyone who has done any level of research knows, once you pull on a thread the immense web ensnares you. The stories go everywhere. We want to stay focused but not myopic. For that reason this project will not follow any chronological order. We will jump in and follow where the research and our interests take us. I will make sure that the subject is relevant to Antietam. It may be obscure but there will be a reason for it being here. We’ll look a bit before and for a while after this campaign to gain an understanding of the events and see what happens to those involved.

I’m afraid you’ll need to be at least casually familiar with the history of the Maryland Campaign, and the events that lead up to September. When I give a tour at Antietam I really cut to the chase and begin with…. And on the third day God said let there be dry land…”. And then I let things flow from there. When I’m pressed for time I go back to the founding of America. Like I said I see it as a watershed moment. A wise man once said- “If you are going to read about history read one book and you’ll know what happened. Read two and you’ll just get confused”. For our purposes, I have to recommend the Time Life series and its volume, “The Bloodiest Day”. It gives a concise and thorough handling of the situation and personalities. It’s a quick read and let’s you follow any discussion I see coming in the near future. When we dig deeper we’ll have learned enough to stay afloat.

Let’s talk about our approach to the Maryland campaign. Actually let’s start with the name. The name of this podcast is a bit misleading. All battles and campaigns have to be defined and labeled, I understand that. When I started to study the Civil War, this campaign was known as the Antietam Campaign or Sharpsburg Campaign, and now is being widely accepted as The Maryland Campaign, it keeps both opinions happy and let’s the arguing be about something more important than the name. Maryland was the stepping stone not the goal Lee set when he began crossing his troops over the Potomac River. It only became the Maryland campaign because that’s all the farther the Confederates got in their plan. On Sept 13th no one wrote home, no one wrote any report saying they were on the Maryland campaign fighting their way to Sharpsburg to engage in the bloodiest battle of the war. This is the philosophy I hope to follow: let’s not jump to conclusions because we think we know this story and how it all happened and how it’s going to end and why.

This project is a hobby. That said I am aiming at having new podcast out every couple of weeks. I have no idea what I am getting myself into and will be learning about podcasting and broadcasting as I go along. I could wait until I had everything lined up but hey then you all would accuse me of being McClellan. That’s an unfair judgement in my opinion but this is the introduction we’ll save those arguments for another day.

OK-I’ve covered what we are going to talk about, how often, and how we are going to talk about the Maryland Campaign. I guess this counts as an introduction. Except the part about me. I don’t really have much to say and hope the podcast speaks for itself. I don’t consider myself an expert but I know several and like to think I can hold my own when discussing this bit of history. The point of this is for us to learn more about the Maryland campaign. Both you and me. Thanks for your interest and I look forward to hearing from you.

I would like to thank Mr.s Peter Emerick, Sam Cathey, Randy Davis, who have all supplied music for the podcast. You can find Peter Emerick’s music at CD Baby. Look for “Finer than Frog Hair” by the Cane Break Minstrels.