Lower Dauphin School District



“…owing to the confusion and excitement attending to the Battle of Antietam…”

Antietam Family Artifacts Lecture

Maryland & the Civil War Conference

Carroll Community College

24 March 2012

Slide 1: Title

Today I will talk about the several generations of family history that revolve around the Battle of Antietam

These experiences had a profound impact on all involved including myself

I do not believe I would here making this presentation if my ancestors had different experiences

Many who share a passion for the history and artifacts of the American Civil War (or, if you prefer, the War Between the States or the War of the Rebellion) easily recall the person, event place or artifact that launched a lifelong interest.

Slide 2: Antietam-South Mountain Centennial Banner

For me it was attending the Antietam Centennial in September 1962

Schedule of Events:

31 August: Citizen’s Recognition Day

8:00 pm: Presentation of the Maids of Antietam and South Mountain and their courts

8:30 pm: Spectacular “Hills of Glory” Premier: 16 episode pageant

1-14 September: Daily Community events

Highlights:

1 September: Hagerstown Bicentennial Day

Pennsylvania rededicated their monuments at Antietam

2 September: Dunker Church Dedication Day

Reconstructed church dedicated

Rededication of New York Monument

7 September: Harpers Ferry Day

Dedication of the new Visitor’s Center at Antietam

Presentation of 800 acres of Maryland Heights to the NPS

9 September: Clara Barton Day

Dedication of the Clara Barton Memorial on Mansfield Ave.

15 September: Grand Reenactment at Antietam (Battle at Bloody Lane)

Schedule of Grand Reenactment:

Phase A: Cannonades around Dunker Church

Phase B: Rodes and Anderson move into position in the lane

Phase C: French’s Division advances from behind the Roulette Buildings

Phase D: Richardson’s Division

Phase E: Caldwell and Wright

Phase F: Martin Eakle, Civilian distributes food and water to Graham’s Battery and removes two wounded men in his buggy

Some interesting facts about the reenactment:

8 parking areas for 1,500 cars each created

2 tons of artillery charges

180,000 musket charges, wrapped and knotted

$15,000 for the ammunition

15 mess kitchens accommodating 100 men each

$20,000 to feed the troops

1200 troop tents

20 gallons of water per minute daily

$15,000 to lease the land

Slide 3: JAG at Antietam Centennial

Story of man with one leg

Slide 4: Antietam Generals Button

Who is the Federal general?

Slide 5: Myron L. Bloom, Sr., c. 1905

My grandfather, Myron Lee Bloom, Sr. (1896-1980)

Slide 6: Myron L. Bloom, Sr., Joyce, Aunt T, McKinley Monument, c.1945

Grandfather, Mother and great Aunt at the McKinley Monument overlooking Burnside’s Bridge

My grandfather had a deep interest in local history and artifacts

1943-1958 he represented Washington County in the Maryland House of Delegates

Member of the Executive Committee of the Maryland Civil War Centennial Commission

Chaired the Hospitality Committee of the Antietam-South Mountain Centennial Association, Inc.

Slide 7: Poffenberger-Bloom Property in St. James, c. 1950

My grandparents lived in a Victorian house in St. James next to a county store built by my grandmother’s grandfather Henry A. Poffenberger and later operated by his son Harvey.

The house was filled with antiques and family heirlooms including some from the Poffenberger ancestors.

Grandfather related a funny story about the first time he came to court my grandmother.

He hitched the horse to the fence and it pulled down the fence.

He spent the whole time repairing the fence.

Slide 8: Grandmother Goldie P. Bloom, c. 1960

Grandmother in country store

Slide 9: Map from the OR showing Poffenberger Farms, 1862

My maternal great-great-great- grandparents, Jacob and Amelia Poffenberger lived several miles north of the battlefield near Bakersville.

Their son Samuel lived South about half way to Sharpsburg (center of map)

Their son, my great-great- grandfather Henry and his wife Martha Jane lived next door

Slide 10: Modern Map showing former Henry A. Poffenberger Farm to the Sunken Road

Samuel Poffenberger Farm

East is Michael Miller Farm

South is the Roulette Farm

Farther South is the Sunken Road orBloody Lane

Slide 11: Martin Adams

My grandmother’s maternal grandparents, Martin and Isabel (Landis) Adams, sent their horses to Lancaster, Pennsylvania for safekeeping.

Henry’s brother Samuel hid eight horses in a cellar with feed sacks tied over their hooves to muffle them. (Ernst p. 116)

Slide 12: Bloody Lane (USAHEC)

My grandfather also showed me several relics that had been found on the battlefield including firearms and a wooden small arms ammunition chest.

Family tradition maintained that the relics had been found by the Poffenbergers in the vicinity of the Sunken Road better known as Bloody Lane.

The battlefield was littered with debris.

Surgeon George T. Stevens of the 77th New York Volunteer Infantry wrote:

“Broken caissons, wheels, dismounted guns, thousands of muskets, blankets, haversacks and canteens, were scattered thickly over the field; and hundreds of slain horses, bloated and with feet turned toward the sky, added to the horror of the scene.”

[Three Years in the Sixth Corps, p. 154]

Slide 13: Federal Burial Detail

Souvenir hunting by local civilians after the battle was widespread.

First Lieutenant Josiah M. Favill, 57th New York Volunteer Infantry (1st Division, II Army Corps), in charge of a burial detail wrote:

“The country people flocked to the battlefield like vultures, their curiosity and inquisitiveness most astonishing; while my men were all at work many of them stood around, dazed and awe-stricken by the terrible evidence of the great fight, hundreds were scattered over the field, eagerly searching for souvenirs in the shape of cannon balls, guns, swords, canteens, etc. They were jubilant over the rebel defeat, of course, and claimed for us a mighty victory.”

(Favill, The Diary of a Young Officer, p. 190)

Part II: The Artifacts

Slide 14: Henry and Martha Jane (Slusser) Poffenberger, married 1854

The likely souvenir collector was Henry A. Poffenberger (1839-1901).

Daguerreotype of Henry & Martha Jane was sent to my grandmother in c. 1970 from a distant relative

Slide 15: Overall View

Richmond Arsenal Ammunition Crate

Small arms ammunition was shipped from the arsenal in wooden crates prior to distribution to the troops.

The current lid is a period replacement once secured by nailed leather hinges and a leather latch.

It is unknown if this was done by a Confederate or by Henry but the result was a useful storage box.

Slide 16: Conservation Composite Photo

Conservator’s composite from Natural Light, Infrared & X-Ray (lead based paint)

She created a stencil and applied chemical with a cotton swab to reveal the inscription

Slide 17: Conserved Paint

Conservation treatment revealed that is has two successive paint stenciled inscriptions on both ends; the top layer reads:

1000

CART CAL 54

[E]LONGATED

BALL

RICHMOND ARSENAL

Ammunition was for the Model 1841 Rifle-Musket or “Mississippi rifle”

The existence of the earlier stenciled inscription suggests the box was reused.

Slide 18: Overall View P1853 Enfield Rifle-Musket

The imported P1853 Enfield Rifle Musket was widely used by both Union and Confederate forces.

Rifled and fired a conical .577 caliber ball nearly the same size as a US rifle-musket

Family tradition maintains it too was found in the vicinity of Bloody Lane.

Slide 19: Lock Plate

The lock plate is marked with a crown and “1862 TOWER”

The brass chain secured a vent protector

It was likely discarded during the battle as it appears to be loaded with perhaps two rounds.

A member of the 4th New York State Volunteer Infantry, signed “A. K.” when he wrote to the New York Sunday Mercury a few weeks after the battle about the assault on Bloody Lane and noted:

“Many of the arms picked up on the field proved to be of the English pattern, and to have been manufactured this year [1862] in London. To come into the possession of the rebels they must have run the blockade.” (Writing and Fighting the Civil War, p. 129)

The 4th New York was the left flank regiment during the first assault on the Sunken Road.

The Confederate defenders from their left to right were the 30th, 4th, 14th and 2nd North Carolina Infantry Regiments of George B. Anderson’s Brigade.

Slide 20: Model 1842 Springfield Musket

This musket is on the table

A smooth bore that fired a .69 caliber round ball & 3 buck shot known as buck & ball

Although made obsolescent by newer rifle-muskets, the M1842 Springfield Musket was used by Union and Confederate forces early in the war.

Slide 21: Lock plate detail

First US musket to use the percussion system instead of flintlock

First US musket made of fully machine-made interchangeable parts

This example was made at the Springfield, MA Arsenal; the lock plate is dated 1849.

Slide 22: Close up of carved name

There is a carved name in the stock “A. F. Hatch” which appears to have been carved in two sessions.

The block letters “A F H” are well executed but the crudely carved script letters “atch” appear to have been hastily done.

The name led to a search for the likely original owner.

Only two soldiers, Union or Confederate, were found to match the inscription:

Private Adelbert F. Hatch, Company B, 8th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry

Sergeant Alanson F. Hatch, Co. B, 77th Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry.

Interestingly enough, both of their units were at Antietam.

The Illinois cavalryman seems a highly unlikely owner

Infantryman Alanson F. Hatch is the far more likely owner, however, he probably took the musket as a souvenir since the 77th was armed with P1853 Enfields.

Hatch was a thirty-six year old mechanic when he enlisted for three years at Ballston Spa on September 24, 1861.

The 77th New York fought on the Peninsula & at 2nd Bull Run

During the Maryland Campaign, the 77th was part of William F. “Baldy” Smith’s Division, and supported Henry W. Slocum’s Division at Crampton’s Gap but was not engaged.

They marched for Sharpsburg early on the morning of September 17 and arrived at about noon with the Battle of Antietam well underway.

Slide 23: Map showing Irwin’s Attack

McClellan soon ordered Smith to attack on the right in support of Edwin V. “Bull” Sumner’s II Corps.

Smith ordered Colonel William H. Irwin to advance his brigade, consisting of the 7th Maine and the 20th, 33rd, 49th and 77th New York Infantry Regiments.

Surgeon George T. Stevens 77th New York described the attack

“The men of the Seventy-seventh rush forward over their fallen comrades, making toward a small school house [sic Dunker Church] which stands upon the Sharpsburgh and Hagerstown turnpike, behind which is a grove swarming with rebel troops.

Our boys are almost on the road, when, at a distance of less than thirty yards, they find themselves confronted by overwhelming numbers, who pour a withering fire into their ranks. The Seventy-seventh receives the fire nobly, and, although far ahead of all the other regiments, stands its ground and returns the fire with spirit, although it is but death to remain thus in the advance. The brave color-bearer, [Corporal] Joseph M[e]urer, falls, shot through the head; but the colors scarcely touch the ground when they are seized and again flaunted in the face of the enemy. Volley after volley crashes through our ranks; our comrades fall on every side; yet the little band stands firm as a rock, refusing to yield an inch.

Slide 24: Confederate Dead artillerymen near Dunker Church

Surgeon Stevens continued:

“At this juncture, General Smith, riding along the line and discovering the advanced and unprotected position of the regiment, exclaims, "There's a regiment gone," and sends an aide to order it to retire. The order was timely, for the rebels were planting a battery within twenty yards of the left of the regiment, which would, in a moment longer, have swept it to destruction.”

The dead Confederate artillerymen may have been the ones General Smith observed.

The regiment reformed behind the crest having lost 50 killed and wounded.

Nightfall brought a close to the fighting and soldiers rested and cooked rations and some searched the field for the thirty-two killed in action.

Others, no doubt, collected souvenirs of the regiment’s first big fight and it may have been at this time that Sergeant Hatch picked up a musket perhaps thinking or knowing it had belonged to a Confederate. He likely carved his initials in the walnut stock to identify his trophy.

Slide 25: Going into Camp

After the battle the 77th New York marched to nearby Williamsport, Maryland.

It is unknown if Hatch took the musket or left it on the field

On September 23 the regiment marched to Bakersville, located a few miles north of the Antietam Battlefield approximately one-half a mile west of the Hagerstown Road.

John D. Billings, 10th Independent Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery described this scene in Hard Tack and Coffee or the Unwritten Story of Army Life (1887)

One of the most interesting scenes presented in army life took place at night when the army was on the point of bivouacking. As soon as this fact became known along the column, each man would seize a rail from the nearest fence, and with this additional arm on the shoulder would enter the camping-ground. In no more time than it takes to tell the story, the little camp-fires, rapidly increasing to hundreds in number, would shoot up along the hills and plains, and as if by magic acres of territory would be luminous with them. Soon they would be surrounded by the soldiers, who made it an almost invariable rule to cook their coffee first, after which a large number, tired out with the toils of the day, would make their supper of hardtack and coffee, and roll up in their blankets for the night.

Slide 26: Jacob Poffenberger Farm near Bakersville, 1877 Atlas

The stay in Bakersville presented an opportunity for Jacob or Henry A. Poffenberger and Sergeant Hatch to have crossed paths.

Henry’s parents, Jacob and Amelia, lived on a farm nearby and today both rest there in the Salem Evangelical and Reformed Church Cemetery in Bakersville.

The Jacob Poffenberger farm was located along the Hagerstown Road; the back of the property extended across the Road almost to Bakersville

It is possible that some of the Soldiers actually camped on his property.

Surgeon George T. Stevens described the pleasant stay in Bakersville and mentioned how the soldiers foraged in the nearby cornfields:

“Our men were enjoying the welcome rest and the abundant supply of food obtained in this delightful country, and many varieties of diet, well remembered as familiar in former years, but unknown to them since their campaigns commenced, adorned their humble mess tables. Among other luxuries, "hasty pudding" and johnny cake became common articles of diet. The process of producing these articles, was after the rude manner of men who must invent the working materials as they are needed. One-half of an unserviceable canteen, or a tin plate perforated by means of a nail or the sharp point of a bayonet, served the purpose of a grater or mill for grinding the corn. The neighboring cornfields, although guarded, yielded abundance of rich yellow ears; which, without passing through the process of "shelling," were rubbed across the grater, yielding a finer meal than is usually ground at the grist mills. The meal being obtained, it was mixed with a large or small quantity of water, as mush or cake was desired, and cooked.” [Stevens, p. 157-8]

The 77th was ordered to a new camp near Hagerstown on October 11.

Sergeant Hatch had become very sick by mid-October and the souvenir musket may have been abandoned or had been given away by the time the 77th moved to Hagerstown.

Surgeon Stevens noted “On the 28th of October, orders came to clear all the camps of sick; and all from our Sixth corps were sent to hospitals in Hagerstown.” [Stevens, p. 162]

Hatch was among the sick and did not accompany his regiment when it departed for Falmouth, Virginia on October 29 and was admitted to 1st Corps Hospital in Hagerstown.

If he still had his souvenir musket he abandoned it here

Slide 27: Hatch Certificate of Discharge for Discharge

His condition worsened and he received a certificate of disability for discharge on December 16, 1862. Surgeon Charles M. Chandler in charge of the Hospital found him incapable of performing the duties of a soldier because of “Chronic Diarrhea which totally disqualifies him for service & will if he lives for a long time & in my opinion he should be discharged.” Hatch returned to Ballston Spa, NY where he died on January 3, 1863.

Slide 28: Pocket Watch

Battered watch with missing glass crystal and no loop for the watch chain

The hands are frozen at 6:05

About one-half hour after Hooker’s I Corps launched the opening attack from the North Woods to the Corn Field toward their objective, the rise on which the Dunker Church sat.

Slide 29: Pocket Watch Movement

Engraved “B. F. Barrlett WALDHAM, MASS.”

European knockoff of a P.S. Bartlett watch of Waltham, MA

Type of watch sold to soldiers, especially those who could not read

Part III: The Court Cases: Henry vrs. Goliath

Slide 30: Henry Poffenberger Farm Area, Official Records Atlas, 1862

Loss during Antietam Campaign:

When Henry Poffenberger sold his farm in March 1862, he retained ownership of the crops in the field.

His brother Samuel was to harvest the crops.

Neighbor Michael Miller’s property is misidentified as “D. Miller”

When he returned to his property after the battle he found his crops destroyed and he sought compensation from the US Government.

Slide 31: Henry Poffenberger Farm Area, 1877

Lake, Griffing & Stevenson’s Atlas of Washington County, MD, 1877

Shows the Samuel Poffenberger and Michael Miller residences

Slide 32: Henry Poffenberger Property

Henry moved to the northwest corner of the Tilghmanton District in March 1862

His property was occupied by Federal Troops pursuing Lee’s Army after Gettysburg

Shows 2 structures: residence and store, both still standing, railroad tracks run between

The area became known as St. James Station

Slide 33: Affidavit

January 23, 1864 Henry submitted an affidavit for the damage to his property for $800.27:

Slide 34: Inventory of Property Taken by Federal Soldiers

Included many household items and personal possessions:

40 pounds of brown sugar @ $4

Five fine quilts @ $16 each

2 silk dress @ $10 and 1 @ $15

Suit of Men’s Cassimere Clothing @ $15

½ dozen silver Tea Spoons @ $8

Large Family Bible @ $3.50

Case 1: Claim Quartermaster Department, US Army

May 17, 1873: Henry submitted a claim to the Quartermaster General for $412 for losses to property at St. James in July 1863 during the Gettysburg Campaign.

200 bushels of wheat @ $1.20 = $240

May 31, 1873: Henry submitted a claim to the Quartermaster General for $857 for losses to property near Sharpsburg in September 1862 during the Antietam Campaign.

400 bushels of wheat @ $1.35 = $540

Rye, corn apples, potatoes, grain sacks, shoats, sheep, pasturage

Slide 35: Testimony of Henry A. Poffenberger

Q: Were you a loyal man?

A: Yes Sir.

Q: Were you allowed to vote during the war, and did you vote?

A: I voted whenever I went to the polls.

Q: Upon what terms did you sell your farm to Sam. Doub?

A: I sold it on the consideration that I was to have the benefit of the wheat and rye sown in the fall previous. I sold the farm in February 1862—and I had no interest in any other crop on the place except the wheat and rye. I had about sixty acres of wheat, it was harvested and in the rick and barn, I had two ricks by the barn and I think three in the field. I did not see the soldiers take the wheat, my brother Sam who lived on the farm and he told me all about the wheat and rye taken.

Exhibit 1: Merits:

Henry’s attorney wrote:

Claimant’s sworn application represents that the stores were taken from him for the use of and were used by the U.S. Army: that no receipt or voucher was given because it was customary at the time, and owing to the excitement and confusion attending to the battle of Antietam. . . that no pay or compensation has been made; the claim has not been transferred; the prices charges are reasonable and just and do not exceed the market value of the stores at the time and place stated.

Slide 36: Victor Vifquain (USAHEC) & Relinquishment of Claim

December 18, 1875: The Quartermaster Department sent a Federal Civil War veteran to investigate the claim.

Born Jean-Baptiste Victor Vifquain in Belgium he moved to the US in 1857 & settled in Nebraska

Served as Adjutant on the 53rd New York Volunteer Infantry, unit mustered out March 1862

Spring of 1862 he and 2 others slipped through he Confederate lines into Richmond on an unsuccessful scheme to kidnap President Jefferson Davis

Plot was to seize his vessel on his way to see monitor progress on the CSS Virginia

Later served as the Adjutant of the 97th Illinois and rose to the rank of Brevet Brigadier General

He led an assault on Fort Blakely, AL on April 9, 1865 and was awarded the Medal of Honor

Clearly a man with pluck but he also had a knack for deception

Vifquain convinced Henry to sign a Relinquishment of Claim for the losses during the Gettysburg Campaign.

In 1877, Captain Almon F. Rockwell, Quartermaster Department, reviewed the evidence and concluded:

There is no evidence that the wheat & rye were taken under proper authority & none other than the claimant’s relative to the remaining items.

I therefore recommend that the claim be rejected as not proved.

Slide 37: Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs & Report

January 11, 1878: Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs forwarded his conclusion to the Third Auditor of the Treasury:

I am unable to certify, as required by the act of July 4, 1864, …, that I am convinced that the stores have been taken for the use of and used by the U.S. Army.

Essentially, because Henry did not have receipt from the Army, the Quartermaster General denied his claim.

Case 2: Congressional Case in the US Court of Claims

Slide 38: Intro to Court Case

Henry was not to be deterred and he tried again a decade later

Congress recognized that many legitimate claims had been denied and the passage of the Bowman and Tucker Acts provided a way for citizens to petition the Senate for relief

February 28, 1889: Henry’s Congressional Case was referred to the U.S. Court of Claims

Slide 39: Quartermaster General Samuel B. Holabird & Report

June 13, 1889: Quartermaster General Samuel B. Holabird forwarded the case file to the Secretary of War repeating the comment the Meigs had not been convinced “that the property was actually received or taken for the use of and used by the U.S. Army”

Slide 40: Statement of Case

December 16, 1895: The court held a Preliminary Inquiry found that Henry was loyal to the US government throughout the war

April 20, 1898: Henry’s attorney presented his case

Slide 41: Statement of Losses

Antietam & Gettysburg Campaign losss: $1,269.10

Slide 42: Michael Miller Testimony

Henry, Samuel and others testified and were cross examined

Michael Miller testified:

I am 81 years old, reside in Hagerstown, Maryland, am a retired farmer. Am not interested in this claim and am not related to the claimant. I lived about 500 yards from Henry A. Poffenberger in the year 1862. I saw his supplies taken by the Union army at that time. In the fall of the year 1862 after the battle of Antietam I saw part of General McClellan’s army on his premises where they fed his wheat to their horses. This wheat was in the stack or rick and was fed in the straw. My wheat was fed in the same manner at the same time. I do not know how many bushels we saw taken. I have this day examined an appraisement of these losses said to have been made by Jonathan Thomas, Samuel Wagner and James Brown. And believe it true and correct. They were all good and reliable men and I would place full confidence in any appraisement or statement they might make. I got pay for my wheat by the Quartermaster General under Act of July 4, 1864 and it was taken at the same time by the same troops and in the same manner.

Slide 43: Vifquain and Relinquishment of Claim

The subject of the Relinquishment of Claim signed in 1875 came up in Henry’s cross examination:

I have never relinquished either of these claims to the United States. I find my signature to such a paper prepared by Mr. Vifquain the Quartermasters agent but I have no recollection of the circumstances under which it was done. He was an agent of the United States and I supposed he would treat me fairly and justly and I signed the paper on his statement that it was right for me to do so.

I don’t recollect the circumstances of the relinquishment. It has been so long that I have forgotten all about it but yet know that I want it paid as much as I do the other and if he got me to sign it by any trick or by any promise held out to me it don’t look right that I should lose it as it is as just as the other.

Henry’s attorney wrote:

When the Quartermaster’s agent was investigating these two claims he endeavored to take advantage of the claimant by getting him to sign the relinquishment of one claim by the assurance that by doing so it would facilitate or secure the settlement of the other claim. I do not deem it necessary to make any comment on such conduct. . .

Slide 44: The Court’s Finding of Fact:

During the fall of 1862, there were taken from claimant, in Washington County, State of Maryland, by the military forces of the United States, for the use of the Army, stores and supplies of those above described, which at the time and place of taking were reasonably worth in the aggregate the sum of Four Hundred and Ninety-one dollars ($491), for which no payment appears to have been made.

No allowance is made for the claim of July, 1863, or for property taken by depredation.

The case was closed, 36 years after the loss.

After legal fees, transportation and lodging for himself and witnesses, Henry collected little

Slide 45: Account Book Page

Despite his losses Henry continued keeping store and farming

Page from his account book date showing his dealings with Cornelius Ridenour, beginning August 1863, just a month after Federal troops looted his property

Debts: Wheat, veal, flour, beef & tallow

Credits: hogs and work

Slide 46: Henry and Martha Poffenberger, c.1890

Poffenbergers had eight children

They retired and lived in Hagerstown

Martha Jane died August 12, 1900

Henry died on September 15, 1901

Close with

Current Civil War Exhibition

US Army Heritage & Education Center

A Great Civil War: The Union Dissolved, 1861

Currently preparing Realities of War, 1862

Later exhibits will tell Soldier stories from 1863-1865

Please pick up some handouts on research and upcoming events on the table

Thanks You

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