19. Fort Stanwix National Monument, New York

               Welcome back to our blog on the National Park Service.  For our latest post, we will be traveling to upstate New York to visit the site of an important crossroads of early American history, Fort Stanwix National Monument.

Entrance Sign, with the fort in the background

BACKGROUND:

               Prior to European settlement, the small stretch of land between the Mohawk River and Wood Creek in upstate New York was an important link for Indian Tribes known as the Oneida Carrying Place, where tribes used the portage between rivers to transport goods from the Atlantic coast to Lake Ontario.  This highway was also the northern gap in the Appalachian Mountains, and the location’s strategic significance was not lost on European powers as they expanded their territories westward.

The Monument visitor center, with a replica American Indian canoe of the type used to transport goods to the portage known as the Oneida Carrying Place

               During the French and Indian War, several British forts at the Oneida Carrying Place were destroyed by the French.  In order to maintain a hold on the portage, British General John Stanwix ordered the construction of a new replacement fort.  The fort was named Stanwix in his honor and held the gap between the rivers until the end of the war.  Following the French and Indian War, the famed Indian Agent William Johnson, negotiated a treaty at the fort with Iroquois Confederacy which ceded land to British colonists in present day West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee (something the Iroquois had no authority to do). 

               With the beginning of the American War of Independence, American forces once again saw the need to fortify the Oneida Carrying Place.  American General Phillip Schuyler seized the abandoned fort and immediately set about repairing it.  The renamed Fort Schuyler would play a vital role during the campaigns of 1777.

Exterior view of the fort, partially obscured by the earthen ramparts

               Determined to finally crush the American rebellion, the British devised a strategy to cut off New England, the hotbed of the American Independence movement, from the other States and take the new United States apart piece by piece.  A three-pronged attacked was envisioned to take control of the Hudson River.  One British army would march north from the occupied New York City, a second marching south from Lake Champlain, and a third marching east down the Mohawk Valley from Lake Ontario, all converging at Albany.

               The British plan fell apart before it started.  The southern force, rather than marching north, sailed from New York to capture the American capital of Philadelphia.  While the British succeeded in capturing the city, the detour would instead lead to an inevitable American victory.  The force from Lake Ontario would be the next to fail.  Upon reaching Fort Schuyler, the British commander, Barry St. Leger, decided to besiege the fort rather than bypass it and leave the sizable garrison in his rear.  As the Americans hunkered down, a militia force was dispatched to lift the siege.  The American militia was ambushed near the fort by a mixed force of British Loyalists and Indian allies.  The following Battle of Oriskany was devastating as hundreds of militiamen fell fighting their Loyalist families and neighbors, while the Iroquois Confederacy was torn apart as British and American allied tribes fought each other.  Though St. Leger’s force beat off the force sent to relieve the fort, the siege was making no progress, and with more American reinforcements approaching, he lifted the siege and retreated.  This left only one British force marching to take Albany.  The northern force would be stopped north of Albany and destroyed at the pivotal battle of Saratoga, giving the Americans the upper hand in the War of Independence.

 

Gallery in the visitor center displaying artifacts from participants in the siege of Fort Schuyler and Battle of Oriskany

THE MONUMENT:

               Fort Stanwix National Monument as is as seen today, was constructed by the city of Rome, New York and the National Park Service.  The fort is accurate to its appearance during the American War of Independence when it was known as Fort Schuyler.  The modern fort lies on a large plot of land at the center of Rome, New York, and is in the shape of a square with four diamond shaped bastions at each corner.  The fort is constructed entirely of earthen ramparts and wood, with its interior buildings furnished with reproduction items.  The visitor center is a short distance from the fort and contains exhibits with items from people associated with events at Fort Stanwix and Oriskany, as well as several short films.

 

Interior of the fort as seen from the southeast bastion

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Fort Stanwix National Monument is easily accessible, located at the center of the town of Rome, New York.  There are no parking lots at the visitor center, though street parking is ample.  The fort is open from 9am to 5pm from April through October, closing at 4pm in November, and closed from December through March, though the visitor center is open in the winter months.  Tours of the fort are self-guided, though Ranger led tours are available twice daily.  It is recommended to view all the exhibits in the visitor center before going on a Ranger led tour.  Reenactors are a common sight and visitors are advised to check the fort’s schedule for upcoming reenactor events.  For those interested in the Battle of Oriskany, the battlefield is a short drive away and is now a New York State Park.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

A replica of an encampment in the fort's ditch

Interior of the fort

A group of reenactors practice artillery drills

The storeroom under the southwest bastion that served as a hospital during the siege

Interior of one of the fort's barracks

The interior of the Suttler's store

A view looking along the line of barracks from the Suttler's Store to the north wall.

18. Antietam National Battlefield, Maryland

               Hello and welcome back to our blog.  In this installment, we will be visiting the location of the single bloodiest day in U.S. history, Antietam National Battlefield.

 

Entrance Sign

BACKGROUND:

               In the late summer of 1862, the Confederacy seemed to have the upper hand in the Civil War following a string of Union defeats in Virginia.  Confederate General Robert E. Lee decided to press his advantage and stage an incursion into the North.  Meanwhile in Washington D.C., President Lincoln was desperate for a win.  A decree, the Emancipation Proclamation which would free the slaves of all States in rebellion and whose announcement would clearly define the goals of the war, lay languishing on his desk.  The Proclamation would be useless unless the Union could prove it could defeat the Confederates.

               In September, Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia crossed the Potomac river into Maryland.  The Union Army, under the command of George B. McClellan, who had been humiliated in combat by Lee around Richmond fired from command of the army by Lincoln once before already, raced to meet them.  The two armies engaged just outside the small town of Sharpsburg along the banks of the Antietam Creek.

               With the Confederates deployed on the western side of the creek, it was up to the Union to attack and drive the Confederates back into southern territory.  On the morning of September 17^th, Union forces assaulted the Confederate line north of Sharpsburg.  The first attack struck the left of the Confederate line.  Fighting raged across several wooded areas and a cornfield.  For hours both sides attacked and counterattacked, and by the end of the day, the cornfield, like so many of the men who charged across it, had been completely cut down.

The cornfield today, with a monument to the Vermont contingent of the 2nd U.S. Sharpshooter Regiment in the foreground.

               McClellan then shifted his attack against the center of the Confederate line.  Here however, the Confederates lay in wait along a sunken road which formed a makeshift trench where they could take cover from enemy fire.  Wave after wave of Union troops attacked the road, including the new “Irish Brigade,” but all were repulsed with mounting casualties until at last the road was flanked by a Union unit and suddenly it became a deathtrap for the Confederates.  The road was taken at great cost, and was known thereafter as “Bloody Lane.”

"Bloody Lane" as seen from a 1920s Army observation tower.  The sunken lane lies between the two fences, and Union forces attacked from the right of the photo.

               The battle now entered its third phase with the Union attack now shifting once again to the right of the Confederate line.  Here Union troops had not crossed Antietam Creek yet, and found their way across a single narrow bridge blocked by Confederates on the bluff above it.  The Union commander of the troops attacking in this sector, Ambrose Burnside (namesake of term “sideburns”) stubbornly kept sending his men across the narrow bridge despite the creek only being knee deep.  Union troops were needlessly slaughtered, though they eventually took the bridge.  Burnside then attacked up the bluff and threw the Confederates back.  It looked as though Lee and his army might be on the verge of destruction when suddenly, fresh Confederate reinforcements who had marched twenty miles from Harpers Ferry crashed into the Union advance.

Burnside Bridge as seen from the Confederate position atop the bluff.

               The day ended in a tactical stalemate, but Lee withdrew into Virginia ending his invasion of the North.  Lincoln used his withdrawal as enough of a victory to justify issuing the Emancipation Proclamation.  Antietam had however become the bloodiest day in American history, with more Americans killed than either Pearl Harbor, D-Day, or 9/11, and more casualties than the entirety of the country’s previous conflict, the Mexican War, alone.  The high casualty total was a mitigating factor in Lincoln firing McClellan (again), and replacing him with Ambrose Burnside, who would lead the Army of the Potomac to disaster in December at the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Map of Antietam National Battlefield.  The areas shaded in green are the lands preserved by the National Park Service.  The colored arrows represent the different attacks staged during the fighting.  The red highlights stand for important battlefield locations (Dunker Church, Bloody Lane, and Burnside Bridge).

THE BATTLEFIELD:

               Antietam National Battlefield preserves tracts of land over which the battle of Antietam was fought in 1862.  The area around Antietam is still very rural, despite being relatively close to the District of Columbia metro area.  The town of Sharpsburg is still small and few houses encroach on the battlefield.  The land is virtually in the same condition as it was in 1862.  Many memorials to both sides dot the park, but the battlefield is not saturated with them, unlike Gettysburg.

               The visitor center is located near the center of the battlefield, across the road from the Dunker Church, a chapel made famous from a photo of Confederate artillerymen lying dead in front of it.  The visitor center includes a gallery with artifacts from the battle, a short film, a gift shop, and an observation deck.

Cannon placed in the positions they would have occupied during the battle at the center of the Confederate line with the famous Dunker Church in the background.

               To the North is the famous cornfield, now fully regrown and managed every year as part of the battlefield.  Toward the center of the battlefield, past the Dunker Church and the visitor center is “Bloody Lane,” now no longer an actual road.  At the end of the lane is a stone observation tower built by the army in the 1920s when they were performing training exercises in the area, which provides a superb view of the surrounding terrain.  Farther to the south is Burnside Bridge, closed to road traffic but still intact after over one hundred and fifty years, and Antietam National Cemetery, where many of the dead from the battle are interred.  Separated from the main portion of the battlefield is the Pry House, which served as Union headquarters during the battle.  The house is on a hill above Antietam Creek, two miles distant from the visitor center, and the northern and center sections of the battlefield can be seen from it.  The house now contains a museum on Civil War medical practices.

 

The Pry House, which served as Union Headquarters

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Antietam National Battlefield is located roughly twenty to twenty-five minutes south of Hagerstown, Maryland, and about an hour and a half drive from Washington D.C.  It is recommended to come in warmer months in order to view the battlefield as closely as it would have appeared in 1862.  The brochure map includes a driving tour around the battlefield that includes the landscape’s most famous landmarks.  Most park facilities are handicapped accessible, with the notable exception of the observation tower.  The battlefield and visitor center are open year-round with major holiday exceptions from 9am to 5pm, and a small fee is required for entry to the park.  Ranger programs are scheduled regularly and reenactor groups are a common sight.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

The bell of the Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Antietam on display outside the visitor center.

The Maryland Monument near the Dunker Church and visitor center.  Maryland, a slave state that remained loyal to Union, tragically had native sons fighting for both sides.

The distant view of the battlefield from the Pry House.  The white speck at the center of the photo is the visitor center two miles away.

Artifacts from both Union and Confederate participants on display in the visitor center.

A group of Confederate reenactors conducts an artillery demonstration near the Maryland Monument.

17. John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site, Massachusetts

               Welcome back to our blog!  In this post, we will be visiting another location associated with a President, John F. Kennedy National Historic Site.

 

Entrance sign

BACKGROUND:

               In 1914, newlyweds Joseph and Rose Kennedy purchased a house in the Boston suburb of Brookline.  The two were members of prominent local political families, Joseph’s father a member of the Massachusetts Legislature, Rose’s father the mayor of Boston.  The two would found a political dynasty, with Joseph determined that one of his sons become the first Catholic President of the United States.  The son that would fulfill his ambitions, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was born in 1917 at their house in Brookline.

Exterior of the Kennedy house

               Many years later, after having risen to wealth and political success, Rose Kennedy would return to their first home in Brookline with a mission.  After the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, his mother set about purchasing the home he was born in and restoring it to its original appearance at the time of his birth.  After completing the project, she donated the house to the National Park Service.

 

The second floor bedroom where President Kennedy was born

THE SITE:

               John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site is located at 83 Beals Street in Brookline, Massachusetts.  The site consists solely of the house where the Kennedys lived from 1914 to 1920, and is the third smallest NPS unit in the country.  The interior of the house was restored by Mrs. Rose Kennedy at her personal expense and from her own memories in the 1960s.  The ground floor and second floor are the restored sections of the house while there is a small visitor center in the basement.

 

The dining room of the Kennedy house.  Many of them items in this room were still in possession of the family and donated by the President's mother.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site is located within a residential area of Brookline, Massachusetts.  As such, there is no parking lot and visitors will need to park on the street.  The house is open from 9:30am-5:00pm in the summer, by appointment only in the winter.  Guided tours of the house run every half hour.  There is also a cell phone tour.  The site is not handicapped accessible.  Passport stamps and a short film are located in the basement visitor center.  The park brochure also includes a walking tour of sites related to the Kennedy family in the neighborhood.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

A memorial on the front lawn marking the house as the birthplace of President Kennedy

The house's parlor, restored by Mrs. Rose Kennedy, the President's mother

Mrs. Rose Kennedy's office on the second floor