Although I was unable to attend the special December meeting of the TVCWRT, I was told the topic was well represented and the speaker really understood his topic. For those of you who also were unable to be there, the subject of December’s meeting was the Dunker Church at Sharpsburg, Maryland. Coincidentally, the subject of this review is the Maryland Campaign of 1862 as presented in To Hazard All: A Guide to the Maryland Campaign, 1862, a new book by Robert Orrison and Kevin R. Pawlak.
The book is part of the Emerging Civil War Series, from Savas-Beatie Publishers, offering easy-to-read overviews of some of the War’s most important battles and stories. The series received the Army Historical Foundation’s Lieutenant General Richard G. Trefry Award for contributions to the literature on the history of the U.S. Army. More information can be found at www.emergingcivilwar.com.
To Hazard All: A Guide to the Maryland Campaign, 1862, is precisely what the title describes, a guide. It is, in fact, a driving and, occasionally, walking, tour guide of the entire campaign, which lasted from early September to November of that year during which several actions and skirmishes occurred, including, of course, the battle at Sharpsburg, Maryland, along the banks of Antietam Creek. Each chapter focuses on the movements and locations of the Confederate and Federal armies as they moved and counter-moved across western Maryland and northern Virginia that autumn. Although it would be a daunting task to visit and describe every location, the authors have given readers a book that definitely hits the more important ones and even takes them to a few out-of-the-way spots and hidden gems along the way.
Each tour stop or key military action is shown on maps by Hal Jespersen (five driving tour maps and nine troop movement/battle maps) and each chapter is peppered with photographs of key figures, monuments, and locations you will see along the way. Points of interest are described in detail along with an admonition to respect the rights of private homeowners who live in historical structures. Picture captions provide historical and interesting information on the subject. Every point along the trip is provided with turn-by-turn driving directions, typically starting at a visitor center or location important to that chapter’s focus, and each tour stop includes GPS coordinates.
Most of the tour routes follow the actual roads traveled by the opposing armies and you’ll find that the paths of these armies crossed in more than a few places. Accordingly, although a site may be listed in more than one chapter, the point of view is that of the units visiting at the time, so the reader doesn’t get the same information and, possibly, learns something new each time.
Getting back to my introductory paragraph, the Dunker Church at Sharpsburg was, interestingly, mentioned only briefly in the text. First noted in the narrative as the target of General Hooker’s men the morning of September 17, and then in a photo caption, the plateau surrounding the church was said to be “artillery hell” for General Stephen Dill Lee, who had posted 15 guns in the area and lost 85 men from his battalion to the severe fire of the Federal guns pounding his position. Even though it’s not a focal point of the tour, the church was (is) located in the center of many important landmarks familiar to students of the battle including the Cornfield, East Woods, West Woods, and Bloody Lane.
To Hazard All definitely lives up to its purpose; an easy-to-follow guide to the important, and some “hidden”, sites associated with the Autumn 1862 Maryland Campaign. Scattered across 120 miles of western Maryland, the history and natural beauty of the area cannot be denied. Readers living in the region can use this book as an easy “day-tripping” guide, and for those living farther afield, the text offers readers an introduction to the area’s features. If you decide to visit, To Hazard All: A Guide to the Maryland Campaign, 1862, is a great place to start.
Reviewed by Lee Hattabaugh
