Inecom Entertainment Company presents 'Lincoln and Lee at Antietam' narrated by Ronald F. Maxwelll.


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Chapter List


Image of soldiers firing cannon 1. Prelude - The aftermath of battle is explored through the eyes of Minnie Bedinger, who lives across the Potomac River in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. On the infamous day of September 17, 1862, she contends with a continuous and overwhelming stream of human misery; recalling an ever present sense of anguish, pity and hatred.
Image of monument 2. The Bloodiest Day - September 17, 1862 remains the bloodiest day in all of American history. Nearly twice as many Americans died in a single day at Antietam than had fallen in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War and the Spanish-American War combined. In striking comparison, American losses on the bloodiest day of World War II, D-Day, were a quarter of those at Antietam.
Image of mountains 3. Opening Credits - Set to an original score entitled Wounded Fields by composer Steve Heitzeg, the intensity of battle and the subsequent wounded left on the field dissolves away to the countryside of the Antietam battlefield as it is seen today.
Image of encampment 4. Summer of 62 - The second summer of the American Civil War proves to be much bloodier than the first. The Union Army, after being defeated at the gates of Richmond, Virginia, retreats back down the Virginia Peninsula. The Federals are chased by a 55-year-old Confederate general in command less than thirty days - Robert E. Lee.

Image of President Lincoln 5. Lincoln in the Telegraph Office - Without informing his cabinet, President Abraham Lincoln begins writing his first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation in a quiet corner of the war department's telegraph office. When he is not hard at his task, his head is in his hands listening to the distressing news coming from the front. All is seen through the eyes of Thomas Eckert, chief of the telegraph office.

Image of soldiers firing cannon 6. Chantilly Cannons - The final summer clash of the two armies occurs at Chantilly, Virginia during a thunderstorm. The cannon fire mixing with the lightning creates a surreal scene. In the midst of the upheaval, Union General Philip Kearny rides the undefined battle lines straight into Confederate forces. Refusing to surrender, he is instantly killed and is mourned by a friend at the scene - Confederate General A.P. Hill.

Image of soldiers resting 7. Men are Sick of War - In the aftermath of Chantilly, the men in the Union ranks reach their lowest point of morale. Washington Roebling, future builder of the Brooklyn Bridge, details the feelings of his fellow comrades in arms.  
Image of George McClellan 8. George McClellan Introduction - Chosen by Lincoln to restore order and shore up morale, George B. McClellan is once again put in charge of the eastern Union Armies. Disliked by most fellow commanders, he is revered by his men, for they know he is "their protector." McClellan's caution almost costs him the battle of Antietam and ultimately causes his removal from the Union army.

Image of General McClellan and President Lincoln 9. McClellan Takes Command - Against the wishes of most of his cabinet and most of the Republican Party, Lincoln restores McClellan to command, to head off the Confederate invasion of the North. Lincoln knows McClellan's faults but also knows that the men will only fight for McClellan.

Image of Robert E. Lee 10. Robert E. Lee Introduction - Robert E. Lee, the fifth child born to Revolutionary War commander "Light Horse Harry," is a man respected on both sides of the war. Antietam is the first major battle where his military brilliance stands out. His army is outgunned and outmanned but he retreats from the field on his own timetable.  
Image of Robert E. Lee 11. Lee Resigns - Ending a relationship that spanned a decade with his superior, General Winfield Scott, Lee resigns from the United States Army in April of 1861. He states that he never again desires to draw his sword except in the defense of his native state, Virginia.  
Image of map 12. Invasion of the North Begins - Writing a letter to Confederate President Jefferson Davis on September 3, 1862 and not waiting for a reply, Lee and 40,000 Confederate soldiers cross the Potomac at White's Ford on September 4, 1862. Lee's columns stretch for more than ten miles in an imposing show of military might.  
Image of General McClellan 13. McClellan Arrives in Frederick - Hot on Lee's heels is General George McClellan and his Army of the Potomac. McClellan is greeted in Frederick as a hero. Men, women and children of the town, unsympathetic to the southern cause, turn out in vast numbers to cheer the Army onto victory.  
Image of soldiers 14. Residents React - Reporting to a Baltimore newspaper, a resident of Frederick describes the stench of the Confederate Army long before she sees it. The resident has never seen such a mass of filthy men - the roughest creatures she ever saw. Their features, hair and clothing are matted with dirt and filth.  
Image of newspaper 15. Lee's Maryland Proclamation - Lee's Maryland Proclamation is a direct result of the cold reception his army receives. His proclamation encourages Marylanders to rise up against the Federals by stating that all opinions are respected and no harm will come to civilians.

Image of Union soldiers 16. Order No. 191 - One of the eight copies of Lee's Maryland Battle Plan - Order 191 - is left behind in the grassy fields of Frederick. It falls into Union hands when it is discovered by three Union soldiers of the 27th Indiana Regiment.
Image of Robert E. Lee and his Generals 17. Lee's Maryland Battle Plan - In a meeting with his senior generals, Lee outlines his invasion plans; splitting his army into two task forces with five elements. Stonewall Jackson is sent to Harpers Ferry to capture the garrison and James Longstreet is sent northwest to Boonsboro to prepare for an even further move north.  
Image of soldiers on horseback 18. The First Engagements - After McClellan receives Lee's invasion plans he sends forward Union forces of the 1st, 6th and 9th Corps to the South Mountain gaps to try and catch Lee. Battle commences causing Lee to lose a quarter of his men. The grave situation forces Lee to order a retreat back across the Potomac to a little town called Sharpsburg.

Image of artillery battery firing cannons 19. The Ball Had Begun - In the overcast dawn sky, two hundred and fifty Confederate guns erupt in unison upon unsuspecting Union forces. Screams and moans fill the air as the searing iron gouges tremendous holes in the ranks. In a measure of understatement, a soldier from the 124th Pennsylvania Regiment comments, "The Ball had Begun."  
Image of cornfield 20. Hooker and the Cornfield - General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker, commander of the 1st Corp, decides to move his 8600 men out from under the rain of artillery fire and into battle. A white building one mile to his south is his target. The white building is the Dunker Church, ironically owned by a German peace-loving sect.  
Image of fallen soldier 21. Battle of the Cornfield - Although many Civil War battles were fought in and around cornfields, the 30-acre piece of ground on which the Battle of Antietam was fought is simply referred to as "The Cornfield." So many men die on this battlefield that soldiers from both sides comment afterward that a man could walk across the field without ever touching the ground.  
Image of marker 22. The Highest Ranking General - In the confusion of battle, 59-year-old Union General, Joseph Mansfield, gets turned around and tries to halt the 10th Maine from firing upon its own men. The soldiers of the 10th Maine loudly disagree and point to Confederates rising out of the woods. When a Confederate bullet hits Mansfield in the chest, he becomes the highest ranking general to die during the Battle at Antietam.

Image of General McClellan 23. McClellan's vs. Lees Strategy - McClellan, confused by conflicting dispatches coming from the front, refuses to send reinforcements. His command style is described as a highly defensive offense. From his perch at the Pry House, he is frozen with indecision as the battle becomes larger and unpredictable.

Image of road 24. Battle of Bloody Lane - Prelude - The battle rolls into a second front in an open, sloping field, which provides no cover for advancing troops. The Confederates huddle in a sunken wagon road intersecting the field which serves as a natural defensive trench. Men are mowed down, and the bodies begin to pile up in the sunken lane. History has remembered this sunken road as "Bloody Lane."  
Image of battle 25. Bloody Lane Begins - The battle is highlighted by the reminiscences of General John B. Gordon, who bravely survives five wounds in the "Bloody Lane." He details his plans to lead into the advancing Federals, but also steps back, before the clash of troops, to admire the magnificent display of martial beauty. He comments that it will be such a pity to spoil this pageant with his Confederate bullets.  
Image of Clara Barton 26. Clara Barton - Named, "the angel of the battlefield," this brave woman, who is neither a nurse nor has any surgical skill, arrives at the battlefield with six wagon loads of supplies including bandages, lanterns and cornmeal to feed the wounded Federal Troops. Antietam is her first time at the front, and it establishes her legacy as a leader and a healer who is determined to help the men in battle.

Image of mountains 27. A Grim September Day - At the halfway mark in the battle, McClellan gains ground, but the toll in human life is almost incomprehensible. In the previous seven hours of fighting, 18,500 men from both North and South were dead, wounded or missing on the field. In the remaining seven hours, 5,000 more men fall in combat.

Image of narrator Ronald F. Maxwell 28. Stonewall Jackson - Director of both Gettysburg and Gods and Generals and narrator for Lincoln and Lee at Antietam - The Cost of Freedom, Ronald F. Maxwell describes a scene in which Stonewall Jackson stoically eats peaches at the close of the Antietam battle even though he is surrounded by destruction and misery.

Image of Ambrose Burnside 29. Ambrose Burnside Bows - The most ill-fated commander in the entire Army of the Potomac leaves a controversial legacy chiseled into a limestone bridge. The blood of his men spills over it and baptizes it as "Burnside's Bridge."  
Image of bridge 30. Burnside Bridge Battle - The intense battle is brought to life in a chilling and realistic battle reenactment of the fighting at Burnside Bridge. Filmed less than a mile downstream from the actual Bridge, this rare battle reenactment closely recreates the battle.

Image of Robert E. Lee 31. Lee's Report - In his letter to President Jefferson Davis after the Maryland campaign, Robert E. Lee describes the valor of his men and the hardships they endured. His anger at their loss is vivid in his own writing about the Confederate loss at Antietam.

Image of A.P. Hill and his men 32. Up Came Hill - Sometimes referred to as Lee's forgotten general, Ambrose Powell Hill drives his men seventeen miles in seven hours, sometimes at the point of the sword, to join the battle. Lee, however, never did forget this general. Legend has it that Lee calls out from his deathbed, "Tell A.P. Hill, he must come up!"

Image of mountains 33. Emancipation - The Battle of Antietam forever alters the course of the Civil War and American history. No longer was it a war to reform a Union that struggled to survive; rather it took on a greater nobler purpose - it became a struggle to set men free. With Lee's retreat south, Lincoln proclaims emancipation the Monday after the battle.  
Image of men 34. Hallowed Ground - The Battle of Antietam is an epic struggle that left thousands of dead and wounded men on the field, but it was not the last campaign of the Civil War. Battles including Gettysburg and Fredericksburg were still to come and many more men would be left dead and dying on the field.

Image of photographer Mathew Brady 35. Mathew Brady - As a result of the work of Mathew Brady, for the first time, Americans would view images of death on the battlefield. A writer for the New York Times details the feelings of ordinary citizens who have the war vividly brought to their doorsteps.  
Image of luminaries 36. Cost of Freedom - In an annual tribute to fallen soldiers, the Antietam Battlefield Illumination is captured at dusk. Twenty-three thousand candles flicker in the darkness of an empty battlefield serving as a reminder of the human loss.  
Image of luminary and cannon 37. Closing Credits - The closing theme, Wounded Fields by Steve Heitzeg, unfolds over photographic images of the Antietam Battlefield Illumination. These rare images of the Illumination, never before seen by the public, conclude the story of the Battle of Antietam and serve as a vivid reminder of the human cost of war.
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