A Silence for Sharpsburg

Confederate dead at the Bloody Lane, Sharpsburg, MD, 18 September 1862

It was and still is the most horrific day of battle in American history. Almost 23,000 men, killed, wounded, and missing. 3,600 were dead. More than at Pearl Harbor, D-day, or 9/11. I've always reminded people that Americans were far more skilled at killing each other than killing any other enemy we've ever fought.

You can read about the battle at numerous places on the web. The National Park Service site is excellent; there's about a 20-minute animated run through of the battle here, and worth your time. And YouTube has a fine narrative if you want to settle in for 45 minutes of history lesson. Here it is:



We should take some sober time today to think about what these horrible events mean. Are we any closer to a more perfect union today? How? Are we any closer to realizing the futility of war? Why did these boys die?