The Terminator of Antietam at THE BLOODY LANE | History Traveler Episode 251 

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I got to visit Antietam a few years ago. Midweek, no one around. A crisp fall morning, with some fog wafting gently, everything damp and soft. I walked the fields and trails with interest, and then I found myself upon Bloody Lane. I'd seen the images of that day, and they came to me, true and immediately. I was astounded by the overwhelming feeling of sadness, horror, and loss in that ditch. It was like I could feel every soul lost on that field within myself. It was all I could do to not weep openly. I could not stay longer.

“It is well that war is so terrible-we would grow too fond of it!” Robert E. Lee

My great great grandpa served in the 7th West Virginia of French's Division at Antietam. He was one of three ancestors that participated in the battle, two Union and one Confederate. He was initially reported as KIA at Bloody Lane but was actually alive and well and served with the regiment all the way to Appomattox.

I hope you understood what you do for people with these videos. Not only are they super educational but you take us to places a lot of us don’t have time/money to go to. I can totally relax and allow you to take me back in time and for that I can’t thank you enough . Thank you

I'm a direct descendant of John B. Gordon, and share the last name. Loved this video. Thanks for giving my ancestor the respect he deserves!

Watching your videos is like being immersed in a good book, it took me a second to emerge into present day. Fascinating work, thank you

I’ve read about the sunken road in many soldier memoir’s ….really cool to see it! And the story of General Gordon? WOW! Hopefully he was thanking God for the rest of his life!

Completely crazy about John B Gordon getting hit that many times and still survives the war. I love how they still put up those old-style rail fence lines along the sunken road. Really gives an authentic feel

we visited there in 2002 while I was finishing the US Army War College. I had parked the car and began walking down into the sunken road when I realized I was alone. My wife was standing next to the road refusing to move. I walked back and asked what was wrong. "What happened here" she asked. I pulled out my history book and showed her pictures of the carnage of this battle site. She said "I smell blood and death. Blood and death." So we got in the car and drove back to the visitors center. Antietam was a massive battle, and the Bloody Lane is arguably the hardest part of it. Thank you for this video.

John Gordon was a stone cold badass!....love your fantastic videos....👍

That story is awesome. What a tough man. Gordon is really one to rember.

The History Underground channel is top notch.

I remember in high school history was my absolutely favorite class to take. The thing I love about your videos is you explain very well and it's more in depth than what you would get in a book. You actually go to the sites where history was made.

General John B Gordon was absolutely tough as a titanium plate. Horribly wounded at bloody lane but survived .What a great general..

I can't believe someone in that day and age could survive that many wounds. Not just because of the volume of injuries, but because of how dirty the tools and everything used to treat the wounded. There weren't any sterile hospitals on the battlefields. Im just amazed. Thanks for keeping history alive on this channel. I'm from Pennsylvania, and Ive only been to Gettysburg. I'm definitely hoping to visit Antietam some day.

After finding one of your videos a few months ago, I jumped in and have just caught up on all 250 of them( as well as all the American Artifacts) I want to thank you deeply and sincerely for what you are doing, JD. These videos have taught me so much that I never learned in school. Walking around the actual spots where history happened brings a whole new level of, well, realness to it all and gets me emotional. It’s so important we don’t forget history or the immense sacrifices so many have made. I love your level of humbleness, excitement and reverence for these places and the history that still lives there, not to mention the humor you add when appropriate. Once again, thank you so much, can’t wait for more! 🙏🏻

Being a history and civil war nut I think the research you do is amazing. I am learning a lot about the Civil War.

I visited Antietam years ago. Of all the Civil War battlefields I have seen, it was the most beautiful. A relatively small area that can be toured in a day if you are familiar with the history. The rangers were very helpful in explaining the battle. The heavy casualties for this day, approximately 25,000, were the result of the large number of men in a compact battleground with a large amount of artillery firing continuously from both sides. A real hellscape.

Unbelievable what the men on both sides put themselves through. Such heros.

As a youngster I had the pleasure of metal detecting the farm of Mr. Miller the owner of the Roulette farm. My Father was a very good friend of Mr.Miller and we were given exclusive permission to detect the farm. In the mid to late 1970's we detected there. I know every inch of that farm. I was about 12 when we started. Mr Miller told us about a area in front of the tower, that when he would plow a certain section he could feel a hollow section in the field. He told my father and older brothers while I was standing right there about his thoughts of soldiers being buried there. We all decided not to detect that area, we didn't want to disturb any graves. It was a conscious and ethical decision not to dig or disturb any soldiers remains if there. In later years after we stopped detecting as much because I was pursuing a baseball career, my brother was diagnosed with brain cancer and my father had a heart attack and double bypass surgery. A person from Ohio detected that area and dug up those graves. There are articles describing the find from that person and the park service. Mr Miller and my family knew there were graves there but we had morals and standards not to disturb a man or men's gravesites. I also know some facts about the barn that Mr Miller told and showed us. To this day I really don't know if these facts are known about by anyone else. These facts are real and amazing and i hold them dear to my heart and can be proven. I have every artifact that we found documented, I can remember by heart where most of these artifacts were found. We spent countless hours and hard work doing what we loved. I took special pride in the collection and I was in charge of cleaning and documenting each find from each hunt at the age of 12 till we stopped detecting. There are many great memories of those times with my father and brothers in those fields of the Roulette farm. My oldest brother took many photographs of the farm and of us detecting and of some of our finds. We have some amazing photographs from the 70's. There are lots more facts I could tell but not enough time to do so on here. From one history lover to another. God Bless and Take Care!

Hey.... You are my favorite facilitator of civil war places and battles. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to telling the story. Yours truly, John Shackelford. Columbia Tn. south of Franklin Tn. Sons of the Confederacy !!!

Y'all are really, really good at presenting complex events in an understandable and empathetic way.

Thank you for telling this story. I now have an idea of what my ggggrandfather went though in the 26th Alabama. What an amazing story.

Very informative thank you

The Antietam terminator, my gosh, and to survive that! Thanks so much for making me feel like I was there myself!👍

I've read quite a bit about Gordon, and the fact that he was grievously wounded over and over in combat, yet survived the war and lived on for nearly 40 years after the war. He wasn't just unlucky, he was aggressive and audacious in command, leading from the front. Modern historians tend to pan the famous stories about Gordon's interactions with Francis Barlow and Joshua Chamberlain, but none of the three ever refuted them. All 3 men were wounded severely in different battles and lived to tell of it.

I remember climbing that tower and looking on the Battlefield. Goose bumps moment it was so cool.

I was in the movie about the Battle of Antietam that's shown in the visitors center. I'm the Confederate soldier who is shooting the Union soldier on the cover of the movie. It's narrated by James Earl Jones. We filmed on the actual battlefield park.

I am always humbled to learn something new about the Civil War. I had ancestors who fought on both sides, and I inherited some of their letters to family, which describe their day lives and some of their experiences on the battlefield. Thank you for your in-depth videos.

Having visited lots of historical sites, the feeling of standing in a place & only being separated from the event by time, can be profoundly moving & surreal. A place just exists for all of these years afterwards, peaceful & unchanging. Without historical knowledge & the memorials, you wouldn't realise such terrible events happened there. Just another country lane...

Next best thing to being there is watching one of your videos. In my mind I could see and hear the slaughter of battle. To stay and fight must have taken such remarkable courage over preservation of one's life. Always a very special feeling to walk in the very footsteps of those who made the history we are studying. Peace be to their spirits.

Nice presentation. I visited this site a few years ago. My wife and I were the only ones there. I climbed the tower and walked the lane imagining what it’d be like fighting hand to hand. Truly amazing part of our history.

It's absolutely tragic that such a beautiful place had a deadly battle.

“One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one.” ― Agatha Christie

JD you’re so lucky! To travel to all these places, the battle grounds of the WWI and WWII, this has been one of my biggest dreams, to see places from the war, where the men and women put their lives on the line for us. Another great video! I can’t wait for the new video today!

I loved this. Antietam is my home, I grew up in Dargan, just 15 minutes away. I’ve been waiting to see you do Antietam. Thank you

Thank you for this series. I have been to other battlefields many times but I found Antietam to be an exceptionally beautiful battlefield in terms of terrain and foliage when I was there. A fitting place to remember the sacrifices made by all of our forefathers.

A spectacular presentation. I can see why the US Army would bring us to these battle parks for training. I have to get back there to walk it again. The bloody lane was a classic reverse slope defense.

Wow ,John B.Gordon really was a hero .

Excellent video. Antietam was one of my favorite battlefield visits.

Thank you for your efforts. Despite the abject insanity of the war, the courage and determination of the individuals involved is very stirring and well worth remembering.

Good reporting. I'm glad you show maps they really help. Thank you

Your thoughts and perspectives and info are very informative. You get close, and go to the spots and speak about what happened there specifically. Thank you. Even having been to the Antietam battlefield, you showed me places I didn’t go. I now know things I didn’t. That’s huge. Shows me I’ve got some more learning to do. Places again I need to go. As you’ve shown me, and others certainly. I will show someone else. My children. That’s the important thing. Informing correctly for generations coming to know the truth. To not forget. Even the music hits home. I appreciate you and what you do bud. Thanks again. Joshua Boykin member SCV David O. Dodd camp #619 Deo Vindice

Love your videos man! Thank you!

Absolutely love these Civil War videos, you present such a tragic period of American history so well.

George Anderson is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, NC. Great video!

My Great Great Great grandfather Private Richard Pierce of Co B 27th North Carolina Infantry Regiment fought at Bloody Lane at Sharpsburg

Thanks for the info. Antietam a great place to visit and close to Gettysburg. Wild flowers on the battlefield of Antietam were some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Beauty and carnage, all mixed into one. God Bless our soldiers.

JD after watching you Civil War vid's I really want to go to Gettysburg again, and also Antietam now thanks to you. My first stop will be the Gettysburg Museum.....

Loving the Civil War Series! I love learning even more and you bringing History Alive! Partnering up with Vlogging through History, priceless, shows you both care about History and a great way to present it! Thank you for introducing me to VTH! Enjoy his presentations of History as well! Thank you JD for all you do! Appreciate you!

Thank you for this narrated tour. This is a place I'd like to go visit someday.

Thanks for this Antietam series! Great stuff and very informative. Just this past year I started reading more about General Gordon. What a life he led. Started in law school, went in the mining business. Elected captain of the raccoon roughs with no military experience. He has to be one of the most over looked generals of the war. I think(?)he went to PA before Gettysburg and was instrumental in capturing the city of York and on to Wrightsville where the Union burned down the bridge over the Susquehanna. I’m making my way through his memoirs now. Great read

Another fascinating video, JD. I’ve learned more from these videos than I ever did in history textbooks. Thanks so much! 👍

My wife's great, great grandfather fought with company H, 132nd PA. They were part of French's Brigade of 2nd corp. Their monument is the one you see in front of the "clump of trees" seen from the observation tower. (The soldier cradling the stars and stripes as along the sunken road). He survived Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and the siege of Petersburg, and is buried here in the little town of Catawissa, PA.

And just think that Gordon ended up being arguably Lee's best Corps commander by the end of the war. He was also the general that led the remaining rebels to surrender their arms at Appomattox. Surrendering to Chamberlain there, where as they were marching up to dress their lines and stack arms Chamberlain called his troops to present arms to the rebels in a show of respect and Gordon barked out present arms back. Both sides showing respect to the other at the end of over 4 years of murdering each other. The amount of respect and iron the men of that was had was truly unbelievable.

Visited Antietam many times. On my first visit to Bloody Lane, I walked down and into the western center of the Lane. I could sense men dying in the Lane, and reaching up and touching my feet and legs as I was walking East toward the tower. Never experienced that again despite the times I've visited there. So powerful it was almost real.

I almost missed this one. I'm glad I clicked save right away when I saw it posted for the first time. Iv been I'll the last few days and I was smart, I automatically gave it a thumbs up in support of your channel and I saved it to watch later. And then I was I'll again all yesterday. I'm glad I did a Smart, I always enjoy your uploads

JD..... yet another fantastic vlog. The Civil War is my favorite historic event to research. I have researched the battle at Shiloh. At that site is a Sunken Road mentioned also. Thank you for taking your viewers on this historic trek

great job you can tell you have done your job on getting great information I really like the way you let the information speak for itself and you don't choose sides this was father against son and brother against brother Semper Fi USMC retired

Thank You for sharing knowledge with US , you’re viewers. I along with so many others, Learn a lot from you’re videos . 🙌

As always thank you for not only giving a history lesson of where you're at but for posting yet one more excellent video of the Civil War. It's been years since I've been to Antietam and watching your video I got a whole new perspective of this battle and the feeling like I could actually see the fighting which took place and the carnage which took place afterwards. Keep up your excellent work of keeping Civil War history alive for all to see and learn.

Thank you. I was there last week and now it makes so much more sense.

Great view from that observation tower 👌 what a slaughter house bloody lane was.

Can’t get enough of your presentation. Outstanding work…. Always. Thank you.

I'd never heard of John B. Gordon until I happened to go to the college he established in Barnesville, GA in the late '70s. He's been my "favorite" CSA general ever since. Only he and Dan Sickles rose to corps command without having a West Point education.

God bless dixie and there heroes , stand with your ancestors ,

Excellent as always, My great -great grandfather with the 130th PA fought at the Bloody Lane.

When we honor our war dead regardless of what war it is or who fought in it, we should try to remember that each of those men are human beings not a collective enemy. The loss is a human one. Reasons for the battle remain, the honor and the loss of the human Carnage should not be forgotten. Neither should it be carried into the future to take future generations. Isaiah says come let us reason together.. that is pound our swords into plowshares and make war no more.

Very good. I hope others will value your material and see the sacrifices that have shaped our land and people.

So many heros at Sharpsburg. The Georgia and South Carolina boys across from the bridge. Hood's brigade All the brave men who fought there. And above all John B Gordon and the boys from Alabama.

Once again another very well done video. Keep it up!!

Man your videos are great almost everybody's forgotten about that war 👍👍👍

Great story love it. I would love to visit those battle field one day especially this one. A Swede who used to live in good ol USA in Utah

I was at Sharpsburg in the early summer of 1994. My grandmother took me to quite a few battlefields that summer. I walked the sunken road. It dawns on my less young mind now that the excitement and "action" is much outweighed by how much respect I have for both sides (having traced my family's roots) & the eye for the ground has grown. Heavy place.

I haven't made it to Antietam yet. I've been to Shiloh quite a few times, Appomattox Courthouse once, Gettysburg once, and a few different sites in Louisiana and Texas. Shiloh seemed to be the most reverent to me. I'm looking forward to watching this video

Great job. That was awesome. You bring the weight of the event every time.

Another great Video. Great how you split up the Battle of Antietam. The Confederates got wiped out in two places to give the North a needed major victory. Thanks.

I guess a lot of us could never understand the carnage that happened there in full but Gordon's 5 wounds including in the face should tell you something.

Thanks for sharing the Sunken Road battle. I always enjoy your perspective on your videos.

Hi - i live in sydney and will never more than likely visit the sites - but watching your videos and channel makes feel like i am there - keep up the good work

Man, that's insane Never a disappointment. Time always well spent. Thank you much appreciated

Thank you, these are among the most enjoyable and informative narratives that I have seen regarding the American Civil War. I'm looking forward to watching more of them.

My GGGrandfather fought in Longstreet’s command. He was in Company K 3rd SC. He became a preacher and died in 1924. He named one son after Longstreet and one after Anderson.

It's sad that my birthday is on such an historical sight. I'll be 70 on September 17th 2023. I also share my birthday with the ratification/signing of Our Constitution. I'm always amazed when I find historical events that have happened on the same day as my birthday. Guess that should have been a warning of my love of history & Democrate & Democracy mind set & Patriotisum. Thank you JD for this video.

Excellent narrative…

You go to all of the best parts of the best battles. Love thinking of a battle and seeing you have a film on it already. Keep up the good work fellas. well researched and ample geographical explanations throughout. Huzzah

Man I'm so glad I found this historical channel. Love history ❤

Great video I was there this past July and walked the bloddy lane it is a most intriguing place to visit and think of what took place there.I will be going back next spring they should have the visitors center open and the grounds around it finished by then.Thank you for making these videos.

I just love your videos. They are always very informative, extremely interesting, and at times funny. Please continue your awesome work. So glad I subscribed to your videos. 😊

Israel Richardson is an interesting fellow to study. Known unofficially as 'Greasy Dick' Richardson he was a first-rate combat commander. I think Antietam would have turned out drastically different had Richardson and Barlow not gone down wounded at nearly the same time because both of them were rallying and reforming their commands for the final push after piercing the Confederate line.

So informative ....bringing history to life. Well done

Spent some time here as a kid. Amazing place wild story

Excellent.

Thank you for all your videos.🙏

Once again a GREAT video. This is by far the most interesting of any videos I have ever seen. Keep them coming as me and my son are history buffs👏👏👏

JD, you make it all so interesting, so personal, indeed so human. Thanks for another good 1! I'm learning so much!

The sunken road is beautiful country somewhat reminiscent of the countryside where I live in the U.K. How sad that such a peaceful place was the scene of such horror and bloodshed.

Of all the battlefields I had the opportunity to walk, this lane is the most illuminating as to why certain choices were made and also in imparting a 'feeling'. For real, walking the sunken road you can feel how oppressive it must have been once that flank was turned, a real sensation of being trapped with no good fallback location. But as to why there and not the crest of the hill, that is also clear as if you walk up to where the union line of advance crests you would be in direct fire from the entire union line of artillery and by this point most union forces had better equipment than the CSA in general, so a reverse slope defense protects you from artillery and puts the enemy right at closer range.

Another great video and thank you for your channel that’s gives us the opportunity to see these battlefields and the stories that go along with them. Your Gettysburg series is what inspired me to finally go to visit Gettysburg and I have the feeling this series will have me heading to Antietam in the near future !!! 🇺🇸