Customer Reviews

Antietam: The Soldiers' Battle

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4 star:		(8)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Priest has written a meticulous journal of America's bloodiest day of war from as seen from the eyes of those who earned that title for the Battle of Anteitam.

This book portrays the Civil War in all of its horror. Glory is left on the parade ground as those who witnessed and received the anonymous carnage of the cannon, grape and cannister, as well as the more intimate destruction of the infantry ball, tell of their experiences in minute by minute accounts from around the battlefield. The compellation and writing is so good that the fear and horror of those waiting in the ranks to charge or receive the attention of their enemies dominates the book.

For anyone looking to read of what it was "like" in Civil War battle, this book is about the best.

I would recommend that the reader first take a standard account of the battle, such as Sears' "Landscape Turned Red." Priest does not attempt to portray strategy, the situation that led both armies to Anteitam or the macinations of much of anyone above the rank of Colonel. Not a criticism, since he is not attempting to cover the whole battle, but it may leave the uninitiated at a loss to understand why men are engaged in places like the East Woods, Bloody Lane or Lower Bridge.

The American Civil War was unprecedented in the sustained ferocity and magnitude of casualties endured over a four-year period. Even in the ACW, Antietam earned unique respect. At reunions after the war, even old veterans of Gettysburg bowed in deference to the veterans of Antietam. Killed and wounded in one day at Antietam totaled more than all those killed in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War and Spanish American War combined. Statistics alone do not even begin to tell the story - the violence, the horror, the effect on the participants and the nation's collective psyche. Priest's great book helps us to understand, on a more personal level, the events that transpired on the rolling farmland between Antietam Creek and the town of Sharpsburg on September 17, 1862. As the two great armies prepared for conflict, gradually collecting on opposite sides of the meandering creek, from South Mountain, Boonsboro, Harper's Ferry and Sheperdstown, and then the red day itself dawns, Priest leads us on using the words of the participants. The soldiers who fought, unfortunate souls who descended for what must have seemed an eternity into a nightmare realm, newspaper correspondents, civilians caught in the fray, nurses, all give testament to the human carnage. The book is at times as dis-jointed as McClellan's attack, but this is not a standard historical treatment nor is it approachable subject matter. The opposing armies advanced and retreated so many times through Miller's cornfield, leaving dead and dying behind with every attack and counter-attack, that afterwards no man could say for sure "how many?" When we visit Antietam Battlefield now and try to understand the conduct of the battle, we have Priest's great work to help us try to understand what it must have been like to be there, on that red day. This book is a rare combination of first rate historical research and a creative, intelligent presentation approach. A model for future like efforts.

I "fought" (and won :) the battle of Antietam in junior high as part of my American history class so this battle has always been particularly interesting to me. It is a shame that it is usually lost among some of the more famous battles of the Civil War (like nearby Gettysburg) in most histories becase it wasn't stratigically important. It was the bloodiest single day of the war and this book brings home the true horror of battle and the incredible heroism of the combatants in a very well researched, hour by hour account of the fighting. This book is put together from the individual accounts of the soldiers on the ground placed into the framework of the overall battle. In reading this book I was constantly amazed at the bravery and stamina exhibited by the farmboys and shop clerks on both sides throughout the course of the battle. This isn't a casual read. The author is long on detail and lets the accounts of the soldiers provide the drama. Oh, and if you are ever out in western Maryland go see the battlefield (and take this book). There is no development out there and the area isn't much changed from 150 years ago. If you see it after reading this book I can guarentee that you will get chills up your spine looking out over the cornfield and realizing that you could walk its length by only stepping on the bodies of the fallen.

In "Antietam: The Soldiers' Battle," author John Michael Priest tells the story of the American Civil War's bloodiest day using a compilation of eyewitness accounts. The book also includes no less than 72 sketch maps of the battle. Between the plentiful maps and the chronologically-arranged accounts, the reader can easily follow the ebb and flow of the battle.

The book contains surprises, such as a mention of Gen. Robert E. Lee harassing Confederate stragglers, the soldiers' nearly universal dislike of shelling and occasional acts of cowardice or outrageous bravery. It's astonishing how close together opposing units were when they fired at one another. The author claims that Confederate defenders of the Bloody Lane fired at Max Weber's Union brigade at a range of 60 feet!

My favorite vignette concerns the half-crazed Swedish commander of the 20th New York Regiment, Col. Von Vegesack. When a Maine colonel helpfully suggested that the 20th's colors be lowered because they were drawing too much Rebel fire, Vegesack ranted, "Let them wave. They are our glory."

While many historians write about Antietam in broad strokes, this book gets into the details. For example, every student of the battle knows that Gen. John Sedgwick's Union division got ambushed and cut to pieces in the West Woods. Priest's book shows exactly how this disaster unfolded and where each unit was positioned. Most historians criticize the clumsy commitment of Col. William Irwin's VI Corps Union brigade. Yet, this unit -- which included the 20th NY -- defeated a Confederate thrust that threatened to retake Bloody Lane.

It's easy for armchair strategists to say that the Union commanders should have done this or the Rebel commanders should have done that. But, the general impression from reading this book is how difficult it must have been to impose any sort of control on a large battle like Antietam. This book should serve as a handy and useful reference for students of the battle.

I can't say enough good things about this book. Prior to visiting the Antietam battlefield, I read Sear's Landscape Turned Red to get an overview. But then after seeing the battlefield I was eager to read more. Priest's book was just what I wanted. It is a compilation of first person accounts that puts you right in the middle of the action. You'll feel the shells and bullets flying all around. I've now read this book at least ten times, learning and understanding more with each read. I've also recently revisited the battlefield to help me put everything together.

Terrific book. Unique in its approach of using first person accounts to describe in detail one of the most horrific fights of the ACW. Priest puts you in the thick of the action. Contains numerous great maps as well.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys military history, and consider it one of the best written on the Civil War.

This book is a "must read" for the serious Civil War buff interested in Antietam. Priest gives you the battle from the perspective of those who fought it, in the actual chronology of the battle.
The many maps are some of the most detailed I have ever seen of the battlefield - you can locate within a few feet where a particular company stood
at a particular time. In addition, Priest simply tells what happened - again, in great detail. He thankfully does not editorialize or moralize (unlike Sears in "Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam"). This book ranks up there with "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War" by Johnson and Buel as one of the truly great, unbiased works about Antietam.
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Priest has also written a book on the few days preceeding Antietam, called, "Before Antietam: The Battle for South Mountain" - another gem!

I agree with a previous reviewer that Priest's book works best with a general Antietam book like Sears's. My approach to understanding Antietam was to (1) read Sears's Landscape Turned Red; (2) visit the battlefield (this is key to understanding the numerous references in Priest's book to "Mumma's swale," "the high ground 600 yards south of the Dunker Church," etc.--with a mental picture everything fits together better); (3) buy a topographic battlefield map, such as the one by Trailhead Graphics (for sale at the Battlefield's Visitor Center); and (4) read this book. My only criticism of the maps is the lack of a small-scale "finder" map that shows the battlefield and the area around Sharpsburg. As for the author's large-scale "handdrawn" maps, I found them very useful, and they are placed well, usually never more than a page or two from the action they refer to (I read the original 1992 edition, so I'm not sure if the maps are placed as well in this 1994 edition from a different publisher). As for the text, it's wonderful: well edited and even well indexed. The emphasis on the more "minor" actions on September 17, 1862 that a more general book would breeze over or ignore because of space limitations is appreciated.

I enjoyed this author's other book 'Before Antietam: The Battle of South Mountain' so much that I had to read this book as well and I was not disappointed. I found it hard to compare this book with Stephen Sear's book 'Landscape turned Red' as I enjoyed that book just as much if not more. The two authors present this battle in their own way and I would not say one book was better than the other, I'd leave that to the individual to decide. This is a still a well researched and well written book, the narrative flowed along gracefully with numerous maps to assist the reader in locating each action and the flow of the battle. The only criticism which I found in this book as well as his other was the standard of his maps, I think they could have been better. Other than that this is a great book of a terrible battle, buy it and enjoy!

John Michael Priest " Antietam: The Soldier's Battle" is like deja vu. The Minnie balls are fast and thick and the double canister cut down your men. Of the 226 men you led into the cornfield (1st Texas) that warm day of 17th of Sept 1862, only 40 men came out.

This book reads just like you were there. AWESOME and highly reccomended. The research is impressive and for those looking for who shot whom up on one of the most bloodiest days of the war, this book is it.

My research was also in to try to identify what battery fired the U.S. 12lb Sperical Shot recovered at Sharpsburg Pike near the prison at Antietam that I own.