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Carved in stone beneath “Old Simon”, (officially, the Private Soldier Monument): “Not for themselves, but for their country.” Antietam National Cemetery, Sharpsburg, Maryland, April 6, 2008. (c)2008 J. S. Oppenheim .

View off the south west edge of “Bloody Lane” toward the Piper Farm and Sharpsburg beyond. “Antietam National Battlefield Park, Sharpsburg, Maryland, January 27, 2008. (c)2008 J. S. Oppenheim.

Looking up the east edge of “Bloody Lane” with the statue of the 132 Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry for anchor. Antietam National Battlefield Park, Sharpsburg, Maryland, April 6, 2008. (c)2008 J. S. Oppenheim.

“The Road to Roulette Farm”, Antietam National Battlefield Park, Sharpsburg, Maryland, April 6, 2008. (c)2008 J. S. Oppenheim.

The statue is that of the 132nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Antietam National Battlefield Park, Sharpsburg, Maryland, April 9, 2008. (c)2008 J. S. Oppenheim.

Roulette Farm, Antietam National Battlefield Park, Sharpsburg, Maryland, April 9, 2008. (c)2008 J. S. Oppenheim.

“Bloody Lane”, also known as the “Sunken Road”, along its length a scene of remarkable violence and carnage. The monument is that of the 132nd Pennsylvania Volulnteer Infantry. Antietam National Battlefield Park, Sharpsburg, Maryland, April 9, 2008. (c)2008 J. S. Oppenheim.

Mumma Farmhouse, Antietam National Battlefield Park, Sharpsburg, Maryland, April 15, 2008. (c)2008 J. S. Oppenheim.

Dunker Church, Antietam National Battlefield Park, Sharpsburg, Maryland, April 6, 2008. (c)2008 J. S. Oppenheim.

Northeast face of the bridge Union troops used to cross Antietam Creek, pushing the Confederate Army south toward Sharpsburg. ” Antietam National Battlefield Park, Sharpsburg, Maryland, April 25, 2008. (c)2008 J. S. Oppenheim.

Upstream from Burnside Bridge, Antietam National Battlefield Park, Sharpsburg, Maryland, April 25, 2008. (c)2008 J. S. Oppenheim.

North edge of the Miller Farm gazing south. Antietam National Battlefield Park, Sharpsburg, Maryland, May 24, 2008.

157th Anniversary of The Battle of Antietam Commemoration Weekend

The photography was produced by the editor of this blog: James S. Oppenheim AKA J. S. Oppenheim in 2008. Equipage: Nikon D2x; 17-55mm f/2.8 Nikkor. Processing: Adobe Lightroom and On1 photo editing suites.

I’d like my photographs to serve for quiet contemplation and to encourage the lending of lasting dignity to the fallen of either side.

I’ve sat with some in the south for whom memories have been long and personal, and every day in groups on Facebook, there is not one American Civil War Battlefield that doesn’t draw to it the modern relatives of those who died in that bitter national conflagration. When the war was not quite over, General Sherman made certain that southern resistance to unification would be not only broken but in his day impossible to revive and reassemble. Here on Facebook, I would like to leave the “War Between the States” where General Sherman left it and the surrender at Appomattox sealed it: over.

In 1913, this is what reconciliation looked like:

 
Above: posted to YouTube by William, February 3, 2013.

I believe in the American Political Character and Enterprise as one in which the “American Dream” is flexible and responsive to every challenge to its fundamental Constitutional humanism. This is the swear known to and taken by every officer and official of the United States:

https://conflict-backchannels.com/2017/02/02/united-states-of-america-basic-training/

Perhaps some broader cross-section of the American public should know and take to heart the same ideas as expressed in language and over the course of history brought to bear on our political experience.

At the moment, we’re practically at the mercy of enemies versed in the medieval use of language to corral and motivate mobs kept captive and too dumb to explore and question sources of their own political perceptions.

–33–