Recently, Maryland Congressman John Delaney called for the
removal of the monument of Robert E Lee at the Antietam National Battlefield.
As a historian, I find the removal of Confederate monuments to be extremely
problematic on the best day, and extremely disingenuous and sanctimonious on
the worst. However, that is an article for another day.
I for one love the monuments found on Americas Civil War
Battlefields. I find them artistically intriguing and emotionally compelling. There is really a lot going on with most of
them if one simply takes the time and looks. Additionally, I find that the story
behind the monuments just as compelling and interesting. While the Gettysburg Battlefield sets the gold
standard for monument lore, backstory and symbolism; places like Antietam have their
fair share of compelling narrative surrounding their own monuments.
The account of the Robert E Lee Equestrian monument is a
recent one, but no less compelling. The story goes that in 2003, William F.
Chaney, an Anne Arundel county resident, riled people on both sides of the
Mason-Dixon line by erecting a statue to the Confederate general on privately
owned land next to Antietam National Battlefield. Chaney who is very proud of
his Southern heritage and claims distant family ties to Lee, said he wanted to “even
things up”, what with dozens of Union monuments on the battlefield and scarcely
any honoring Confederates who fell there.
Chaney outbid the National Park Service for the historic
Newcomer Farm east of Sharpsburg astride the Boonsboro Turnpike (modern day Maryland
Route 34). It was here he commissioned a 24-foot statue depicting the Army of
Northern Virginia commander astride his horse Traveler, binoculars in hand,
atop a granite base. Created by sculptor Ron Moore, the equestrian statue was
dedicated on June 24, 2003. The NPS acquired the land the statue now sits on in
2007.[i]
At the risk of repeating myself, I love Civil War Monuments.
If I have any issue at all with them, it is that they tend to portray history,
not necessarily as it was, but as we would like it to be. The equestrian monument
of Robert E Lee at Antietam is no exception.
This monument shows Robert E Lee mounted on his horse,
intently scanning the horizon presumably for some unseen enemy. It is near this
spot, on September 15 that Lee received a critical message from Stonewall Jackson,
sent some 12 hours before; and it was that message that helped change the
course of history. If this is to
represent Lee at that moment in history, nothing could be further from the
truth. If this statue is really meant to represent Lee at that instant, we would
see one depicting Lee sitting on the steps of an ambulance, both hands in splints,
sipping a cup of coffee.
On the night of September 14, Lee and the part of his command
that fought at Fox’s and Turner’s Gaps began to fall back toward Sharpsburg and
eventually to the Potomac River crossing at Shepherdstown. That night Lee sent
a message to Lafayette McLaws ordering him to abandon Maryland Heights and make
his way back to the relative safety of Virginia as best he could. The Maryland
campaign was coming to an ignominious end. The Confederate commander seriously considered
retreat was his best option. Lee would pause west of Boonsboro as long as he
could to give one last chance for long-delayed Harper's Ferry operation to be
complete: thereby allowing Lee to reunite his scattered army. He considered a number of defensive places to
pause and rest, including the town of Sharpsburg.
From the moment Lee had decided to divide his army five days
ago, little had gone right for the Confederate commander. His operation was
delayed and the suddenly aggressive McClellan threatened to divide Lee in two. Now
Lee prepared for the worse and hoped for the best. He would fight or flee
depending on what the message from his most trusted lieutenant told him.
Lee had stopped in a meadow just east of the Antietam Creek
near the Pry Farm. It was 8am in the morning and Lee had just arrived ingloriously
at Keedysville a few hours before riding in his ambulance. Lee had been riding in an ambulance from the
outset of the campaign. While trying to control his horse Lee tripped on his
raincoat and fell awkwardly. He fractured his right wrist and severely sprained
the other. With both hands in splints it made it impossible for him to hold the
reins of his horse. An ambulance was his only option for mobility. He did from
time to time ride Traveler, but only with an orderly holding the reins.
Joseph Harsh describes the what happened next:
“It is likely the old
engineer started to feel somewhat better as soon as he was able to view the
terrain surrounding him. Better was yet to come. A pot of hot coffee arrived as
a gift from a sympathetic farmer’s wife, and, as Lee enjoyed the refreshing
brew, a courier who had been searching for army headquarters all through the
confusing night galloped onto the meadow. He carried the 8: 15 dispatch from
Jackson that promised “complete success to-morrow.” The coffee and the message
banished Lee’s tiredness. Hope sprang renewed in the imagination of the
Confederate commander.”[ii]
Lee the gambler would now make what was perhaps his biggest
bluff ever by deciding to make a stand at Sharpsburg and to offer McCallan battle.
The bluff worked as The Union Commander would give Lee two more days to
assemble his scattered army along the west banks of the Antietam.
There are several accounts of Lee from time being nearer to
the spot where his statue now sits from at various points during the next
several days. The “Cemetery Hill” offered great views of almost the entire field
of battle. On the Morning of the 17th Lee received three different messages
on this spot informing him of the desperate situation on his embattled left.
If you look carefully at the statue you notice that Lee is
looking southwest, in what was the direction of AP Hill’s assault on the Union left.
Probably just a coincidence because it
is not likely that Lee would been here at that time due to its occupation by
Federal cavalry and units of the V Corps.
I reached out to sculptor Ron Moore to get his perspective,
but he did not respond by the time this was posted.
Whatever the story, The National Park Service has issued a statement
indicating that there are no plans to remove the Lee statue. I hope that is the
case as I believe that battlefield sites should be sacrosanct and beyond the reach
of those zealots who desire remove anything that offends them from their site.
I hope this statue remains forever so that people like me
can gaze up at it and wonder what made Lee the man he was. Was he villain or
hero. Was he a genius of just really damn lucky? We will also wonder how Lee would feel about
all the drama and debate exchanged in his name. And ultimately how would he
feel about how he is portrayed at places like Antietam. I have always had the
impression that at his heart Lee was a humble man, a professional who did his
job as he saw it. One who would be very uncomfortable at all this fuss and
bother.
Michael S Lang
[i] Lee
Rides Again on Statue at Antietam - The Washington Times - Thursday, June 19,
2003
Whatever Happened to the statue of Gen. Lee at
Antietam? - Fredrick Kunkle July 1, 2011- Washington Post
[ii] Harsh,
Joseph L. Taken at the Flood: Robert E. Lee and Confederate Strategy in the
Maryland Campaign of 1862 (Kindle Location 6012). Kent State University Press.
Kindle Edition.
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