What to Read: The Civil War & the Maryland Campaign
September 1862 was a particularly brutal month for both sides during the Civil War. General Lee had moved his army from Northern Virginia into Maryland, where they were met head on by General McClellan's troops; refreshed and ready. Three of the bloodiest battles–South Mountain, Antietam, and Shepherdstown–made up the bulk of the Maryland Campaign, happening one right after the other.
Ezra A. Carman, a member of the 13th New Jersey Infantry fighting under McClellan's command, detailed the battles in his journal entries. He had hoped to create “a good map of the Antietam battle and a full account of the action.”
Then in 1894, Carman was appointed “Historical Expert” by the Antietam Battlefield Board and tasked with the immense job of recording the memories and stories from veterans who took part in the Campaign. What emerged was an 1,800-page manuscript detailing those crucial battles. It was comprehensive, to say the least. Carman also included statistics on casualities, and wrote about McClellan's controversial manuevers and his tense relationship with Abraham Lincoln.
This edition, annotated and edited by Dr. Thomas G. Clemens, has been divided into three parts:
Volume III: The Battle of Shepherdstown and the End of the Campaign
With the addition of Clemens's extensive knowledge and hindsight, The Maryland Campaign becomes a fascinating piece. It's a must-read.
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