Shepherdstown Battlefield National Park Service Special Resource Study/Boundary Study/Environmental Assessment U.S. Department of the Interior Newsletter 2 Dear Interested Party, Thank you for taking the time to learn about and comment on this study. You may provide your thoughts at the public meeting The National Park Service is beginning the public review or online at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/SHBA. phase of a special resource study and boundary study of Shepherdstown Battlefield, located near the town of We look forward to hearing from you! Shepherdstown, West Virginia. In 2009, Congress passed legislation directing the National Park Service to evaluate the Sincerely, national significance of the battlefield and its potential for inclusion in the national park system. The legislation directing the Department of the Interior to undertake this study also directed the National Park Service to evaluate the suitability Lisa Mendelson-Ielmini and feasibility of including the study area within the boundary Acting Regional Director, National Capital Region of either Harpers Ferry National Historical Park or Antietam National Park Service National Battlefield. This special resources study has taken place in coordination with Antietam National Battlefield, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park over the last two years. Please join us for public meetings to be held on September 9 and 11, 2014. Locations and times can be found inside the newsletter. At the meeting, Civil War historian Thomas McGrath (North Country Community College, The College of Essex, and Franklin) will present his research on the events that occurred during the two-day battle at Shepherdstown and the impact of the battle on U.S. history. The National Park Service study team will explain the study outcomes, answer your questions, and gather your comments about the study findings, the proposed boundary adjustment, and other issues related to the study. Comments received during this public review period will be forwarded, along with the study, to the Secretary of the Interior. The Secretary of the Interior will then make a recommendation to Congress based on the study’s findings and the public comments. The adjustment of the boundary of either Harpers Ferry National Historical Park or Antietam National Battlefield would require an act of Congress. 1 On the afternoon of September 19, 1862, elements of the Union INTRODUCTION Fifth Corps crossed the river at Boteler’s Ford, capturing 4 of 44 artillery pieces before returning to the northern banks Shepherdstown Battlefield has been a focus of public interest of the Potomac River at dusk. A panicked Pendleton fled the for several years. One of the most recent publications on battlefield, not having fully assessed the situation. Pendleton Shepherdstown Battlefield is Shepherdstown: Last Clash of reported to Lee that his artillery had been captured by the the Antietam Campaign, September 19-20, 1862, by Thomas Federals. Following this report, Lee quickly changed his plans McGrath (2008). In 2010, the American Battlefield Protection and prepared for battle, sending A. P. Hill’s division, which Program of the National Park Service, in their Update to the included the brigades of Pender, Gregg, Thomas, Archer, Lane, Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s and Brockenbrough, to counter the Federals at Boteler’s Ford, Civil War Battlefields, State of West Virginia, identified while withdrawing the remainder of his Confederate forces Shepherdstown Battlefield as a site needing additional farther south into the Shenandoah Valley. protection. Also, nonprofit organizations (independent of the National Park Service) have been working to preserve the On September 20, Federal forces under the command of Maj. lands associated with the battle for the last decade. In 2009, Charles Lovell were taken by surprise by a large contingent legislation championed by the late Senator Robert Byrd (Public of Confederate troops taking positions on both sides of Law 111-11, Title VII, Subtitle C, Section 7205) was passed Charlestown Road (Trough Road) and preparing to march by the U.S. Congress directing the Department of the Interior north toward Boteler’s Ford. As Federal forces pulled back to undertake this special resource study. This study evaluates toward the river and Confederate troops advanced, skirmishes the importance of the battle to U.S. history in addition to the broke out as soldiers on both sides moved into positions suitability and feasibility of adjusting the boundary of either readying for battle. As fighting erupted, Federal artillery on Harpers Ferry National Historical Park or Antietam National the north side of the Potomac River opened fire. The forces of Battlefield to include the Shepherdstown Battlefield. Union Colonel James Barnes, which had spread out along River Road and the knolls along the south side of the river, retreated HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF across Boteler’s Ford. THE ATTLE OF HEPHERDSTOWN B S In the midst of the chaos, the green 118th Pennsylvania (Corn Exchange Regiment) found itself isolated and outflanked. When shots rang out at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, Besides having only been in the service for three weeks, the sectional tensions boiled over, drawing America into Civil men were armed with rifles that malfunctioned. The results War. As the battle lines were drawn between North and South, were sadly predictable. The Pennsylvanians panicked and the border states witnessed some of the worst fighting of the made a rush for the river. Some fell from the bluffs above the war and saw significant loss of American lives. Confederate river. Others sought refuge in the nearby cement mill and kilns. General Robert E. Lee’s 1862 Maryland Campaign became a Soon blue-coated bodies floated on the river as men of the defining moment of the American Civil War and the history 118th were shot while attempting to get back to the Maryland of the nation. Considered the bloodiest one-day battle in shore. The battle lasted less than an hour and the Confederates American history, the Battle of Antietam proved to be a tactical withdrew to escape the wrath of Union artillery fire from draw for both sides, yet a strategic victory for the Union. across the river. With more than 675 casualties, the Battle of Following the Battle of Antietam, Confederate forces began Shepherdstown was the bloodiest battle in what became the their withdrawal across the Potomac River into Virginia. This State of West Virginia. It was also the last major action of the hasty withdrawal on September 18, 1862, would also set in Maryland Campaign. Lee’s failure in Maryland gave President motion the final conflict of the Maryland Campaign—the Abraham Lincoln the impetus to issue the “Preliminary Battle of Shepherdstown. Emancipation Proclamation” on September 22, 1862, just two Approximately 1.5 miles downstream from Shepherdstown, days after the Battle of Shepherdstown. Boteler’s Ford (also known as Blackford’s / Shepherdstown / Pack Horse Ford) served as the primary crossing point of the Potomac River for the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. As Lee’s forces moved back into Virginia after the Battle of Antietam, he appointed Brig. Gen. William Nelson Pendleton to protect this vital river crossing with 44 cannons placed in artillery positions on the bluffs above the south side of the river. Federal forces set up significantly more artillery positions on the northern banks of the river on the Maryland bluffs and took advantage of the then-drained Chesapeake and Ohio Canal to use as a trench for sharpshooters. Both sides exchanged artillery fire, but it was not until the movement of Federal soldiers into Virginia on September 19, 1862, and the capture of Confederate artillery that the skirmish erupted into a bloody battle. 2 0 1,000 2,000 µ 500 Feet Shepherdstown EWELL To 0 1,000 2,000 µ C 500 har lesto wn Rd (T r River Potomac o u g h ä R Trimble ä d ä ä ä ) ä ää ä Feet Early Shepherdstown To Hays C harl esto ä wn ä Rd ä (Tr ä o Charlestown Rd (Trough Rd) u g h A.P. HILL A.P. R d ) ä ä ä ä ä ä ä Archer ä ä Archer ä [ [ Pender ä Barnes ä A.P. HILL A.P. [ [ Lane ä [ [ ä PORTER Brockenbrough ä [ [ [[[[ Lane Gregg F Potomac River Potomac [ [ e ä d U.S. ä 17th ä e [ [ ä [[ ä [[ r ä ä 1st SC a ä Brockenbrough Rifles ä l [ [ Gregg [ U.S. 6th I Thomas n 1st and 1st f [ [ a [[[[ n ä 118th t ä Barnes [ [ r ä PA ä ä y ä Lovell ä ä U.S. 10th P i ä Thomas n [ ä and 2nd e ä Charlestown Rd (Trough Rd) C River Rd River Skirmishers ä n an ä R [ ä d Thomas a ä PORTER t a ä e t ä l l e [ ä r s 3 Map Battle n a ää ä F k ää e e d ä R e 3 u ä n r ä a ä l River Rd River I n f a n t r ä y ä Barnes i ä n ä ä C ä R a ä a n tt a le l s 1 Map Battle n a äää k ää e Ru n 0 1,000 2,000 µ 500 Feet EWELL Shepherdstown To Ch arl esto wn Rd (T ro u g h R ä d Trimble Potomac River Potomac ä ) ä ä ä ää ä Early Archer 25th NY Hays ää 13th ä NY ä Charlestown Rd (Trough Rd) Lane [ [ Barnes ä 118th PA ä Brockenbrough Pender ä [ ä [ 22nd MA ä A.P. HILL A.P. ä PORTER MI ä 1st ä MA 18th F ME 2nd e d ä Stockton e ä r ä a ä l Gregg I n l l f L o e v a n t r ä y W ä i ä Thomas n a ä r ä r C e ä n R a ä a n tt a l l e 2 Map Battle s n a ä River Rd River ää k ää e Ru n WHAT IS A SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY? SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY CRITERIA The National Park Service was created to conserve unimpaired ( NPS MANAGEMENT POLICIES 2006, SECTION 1.3): outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational resources.