General Lee's Rock at the Antietam National Cemetery: Unknown Antietam 159

[@monumentstosuffering2995]

Dennis is a fine speaker, flawless and witty.

[@culloden23]

As a westerner (Idaho) I’ve always found the civil war a tragic and fascinating moment in our history as a nation. I wish more people in the west had an interest in it. I lived in Virginia in 1999 and went to some of the battlefields in VA. Very moving and I’ll never forget it. Thank you for all these videos.

[@chrisdavern9482]

I’ve got no connection with the USA born and bred in London England but always been interested the the American Civil War since I was a kid

[@mr.billofcourse.2893]

I would like to visit Idaho someday since being a Civil War Buff, I am also a American Old West Buff. From Northern Virginia.

[@SuperWesley16]

I read a book not to long ago that was about the Indian wars in America and westward expansion. I never knew that there were battles fought between the Confederate army vs the Apatches and Union vs Apatches as well. Each one took place in different states out west if I'm remembering correctly. New Mexico and Arizona sound correct

[@FormulaVase-kp3dc]

History class ruined it for them.

[@JPP-ej5wp]

Dennis is excellent

[@michaeldouglas1243]

I never knew any of this. That is why I belong, donate, subscribe and love your trust. This series was truly terrific. Thank you Gary and Dennis. Dennis is a terrific speaker and historian

[@leonidaslantz5249]

Well said.I agree wholeheartedly.

[@shamebad]

How long have I lived here and never heard of this. Now I need to go back out to the cemetery to check this out.

[@Rogijimbex]

Dennis Frye is great to listen to. Always interesting and well presented. Thank you.

[@wisecracker1814]

No disrespect at all intended to Gary. His Civil War knowledge & obvious passion leaves most of us far behind. But as a speaker, Dennis is the most riveting, engaging, passionate & knowledgeable Civil War historian still with us. He is right up there with the late Shelby Foote. AND he has family ties to the Gettysburg area. I've compiled a video library of his many Civil War talks, and spend hours enjoying his passionate insights. NEVER boring! Thanks so much, Gary & Dennis! Keep 'em coming..!

[@davidjgreenhalgh3018]

All of these films have been interesting but this one is truly outstanding: informative, poignant and reflective, at a time when the Confederate monuments are again under so much threat.

[@brianwolf9647]

Lee’s prominent statue was just removed from Monument Ave in Richmond, VA. Admiral Semmes was taken down in Mobile, AL. States are budgeting for statue removal over road improvement projects etc. AP Hill is still in Richmond because he’s actually buried there. I’m a yankee and never thought I would see this day.

[@barbarajones7502]

History presented in a way that is just that..history. Thanks for saving the history..North or South..it is our history

[@siraulu1]

I love how this was explained. I never knew of this story and as an amateur Civil War Historian, I can't get enough!! You guys are the best at what you do and I will be forever thankful for the complete history I have learned from you guys!! Thank you so much!! On a side note: I can't imagine who in the world the twelve were who voted thumbs down ... wait, yes I can imagine who!!

[@jasonalexander1406]

This is totally why I watch this .thanks guys

[@GhostofSicklesleg]

Great weekend of videos! Thank you so much

[@pitthistoryguy1301]

Excellent perspective on the history of controversial Civil War monuments, especially since many Union veterans were strongly against Confederate memorials on Civil War battlefields.

[@joelpless1864]

Well-done. I learn so much from these videos. Keep them coming.

[@johnzartman8776]

Very interesting Gary. It’s ashamed that controversy ,over a rock that General Lee had used for surveillance , was removed even back then. This is why I learn so many facts and tidbits, from your presentations,that many people don’t even know about. I live in PA. one hour from Gettysburg and just love battlefield history. Thanks again.

[@blukeblue1235]

Wow! I never heard of this. That's why I love your videos because I always learn something. I didn't realize the controversy existed even back then in 1866 but it makes sense with the freshness of the war. However removing that rock did not remove the fact it was there.

[@danwoodliefphotography871]

Many GAR groups were very anti-Southern for a while as well. The era of reconciliation, passage of time, and approach by early historians made us forget some of the intense passions that resulted in 600,000 deaths.

[@timshaw7539]

Great presentation

[@bradfordbarrettluckotheIrish]

A fascinating vlog- thank you.

[@nathanfisher1826]

Thanks

[@PathfinderHistoryTravel]

I’m fascinated. Outstanding video.

[@JB0143RP]

Very timely and interesting video.

[@tenther5019]

Fascinating detail. I can understand the rock's removal given the Union cemetery, though General Lee is an American hero and all troops North and South were Americans.

[@mrs6968]

I feel like I'm virtually there on a private tour this is great

[@douglasturner6153]

Major Kyd Douglas who grew up near Sharpsburg and was a special liaison Officer for Lee during the battle debunked the "Lee's Rock" story in his memoirs. He said Lee didn't and never could have stood on the rock because it was all covered in thick scrub brush and trees at that time. He also said souvenir hunters took much of the rock before any official action. He said it was a story that took on a life of it's own despite the facts.

[@DH.2016]

Quite the mystery, bearing in mind Fitzhugh Lee's biography on Lee mentions that "Lee stood on a large rock to the side of the Boonsboro Road, east of the town." Fitzhugh also says Lee was on foot most of the time, having both arms and hands injured (including broken bones in one hand) after being thrown from his horse so hard to imagine him being fit enough to scramble up a rock covered in thick scrub brush. If there is any truth to the rock story, I wonder if there is/was some other more accessible rock in the vicinity?

[@missmissy2490]

Fascinating. Thank you so much!

[@grahamanderson7717]

Im a Canadian who is fascinated by the civil war and hope to visit some of the battle fields and museums. Thank you for all your videos and history lessons. I mean no disrespect but I can’t help but think how tragic life was for people following so called “ leaders” orders. Those leaders got a lot of people killed

[@dennissmith5807]

I stayed right next door to the cemetery at the Inn at Antietam.

[@mch12311969]

Definitely going to have to share this

[@lizlittle1641]

This was really interesting. Thank you for the video.

[@JonStallings]

Fascinating story. Seems like for most of the 1860s many were asking, "What do we do with General Lee?"

[@edwardaustin740]

If I ever get a chance to return to the Antietam battlefield, I'd love to have Dennis with me for the day to take me around and show me more than I ever would by myself. Heck, I'd even buy you dinner.

[@brianscott7012]

I need to go there more often, I live so close. There is so much civil war history in this area, I visit South mountain at fox, in June completely by accident

[@edwardaustin740]

@@brianscott7012 When I visited there the first thing I thought of was " in a cornfield" ? But then I thought, they just fought where they met.. Very beautiful area though. We did Atlanta, Chattanooga, Antietam, Gettysburg, Harper's Ferry, DC, Baltimore, Charleston, and Savannah all in 2 weeks. I'd love to get back to those places and spend more time. I was really excited to cross Burnside Bridge..

[@lonewulf44]

Great video. Wish they left the rock, but I can understand. They could have at least just re located it but still allowed it to remain for visitors to see.

[@hatuletoh]

Very interesting, but I'm left wondering: what exactly happened to the rock in 1868? Obviously it was removed, but what form did that take? Was it broken up, and its pieces hauled off? If so, how, by whom, and to where?

[@mackenzieblair8135]

It was destroyed with hammers and chisels into rubble.

[@carlylewoodard269]

Sounds just like the ongoing Reconstruction of 2021 by the Marxist Mafia.

[@raterNAZ]

so did they dynamite it.., how was it removed?

[@peterhanson3818]

Are there other monuments to Lee at Antietam? I can understand how these people would have considered Lee's Rock inappropriate inside the Cemetery. I can also understand how others felt that it was important to preserve the historical component of Lee's Rock. Thanks Garry and Dennis.

[@shiningstaer]

Two priceless treasures. I would love to meet y’all!! Hopefully I start off my “tour the war” vacation plans. Where I visit the place on that day through the war over 4 years and actually follow the war. Starting in Charleston in April. And even Fredericksburg when it’s cold(don’t know the month,feb)

[@aldredge_saxxon]

Great vid guys, what I find so remarkable is the " marketing strategy" or the style of politics that drive the controversy of that day and it's similarities to our most present moments. Drama , passion, pandemics, race, civil discord you name it, it has been used to shape or articulate the minds of the people in that day as well as the present. It's the "style" that beckons my attention and it's familiarities I find with regards to methods used thus shaping and or harvesting public opinion has a tool or instrument of leverage. It strikes me as plays from a play book used in the period of William Wallace and how he and others of that period was delt with much similarities there. About a hundred years prior to the civil war period we became aware of the infiltration of Freemasonry by several political groups of longstanding in Europe at the time which altered their direction in similar fashion. I'm not a General Milley fan but when he stated "he wanted to understand the happenings of this period" that really rang a bell for me. General Washington warned us of an encroachment at his time of service tho the warning at time was cleverly disposed by individuals of shall we say "standing" at the time, it has always been note worthy to say the least. Again I enjoyed your video well narrated, executed and crafted with the skill one would devote the fitting of an Ashlar or Cornerstone.

[@maggiemcmac8273]

Am I the only one that finds a incredible irony in destroying the rock but the confiscation of his home and grounds by Meigs to turn into a cemetery?

[@GregSmith-pg4zn]

Very interesting. Where did they remove the rock to?

[@je9732]

I find it fascinating the human mind. History is written by the victors. History at times gets rewritten by the new powers to be. From a military view the civil war was very interesting. You had a army fighting to keep what they had they had small numbers and little resources. The other side wanted change a change that would disrupt their way of life. That side was numerous with lots resources. Yet they could not defeat their smaller ill equipped opposition. No matter right and wrong the fact the underdog really went out with a fight. It's impressive. Think if Lee would have marched north after bull run. DC Baltimore Philly new York Boston. But his supplies wouldn't have supported that. I say this all to say I see why Lee had and has a following. What was the union generals achievements very little. Sherman custard grant had huge flaws. No one wants to hold to bottle of a drunkard no one wants to cheer the genocide of custard no one now believes Sherman was a butcher and arson of civilians. It's not always clear whom the evil ones are. Some time evil men do good things. Sometimes good men take the wrong sides. Whatever the cause was it was two ideologies that clashed nothing more. History is on repeat. If it's not this then it's this that to justify the deaths.

[@garneroutlaw1]

Tony Horwitz would like to talk with you.

[@beerye9331]

I misunderstood, I thought he was alluding to the rock eventually being carved into headstones.

[@joannecarolyn5018]

I thought that too, at first.

[@glenschumannGlensWorkshop]

Well done presentation. Can't decide which way I would have voted in 1868, but I support there having been vigorous debate and a decision made as the result of a vote. I will never support the destruction of any monument by a violent mob. There has been a lot of that recently, especially in 2020.

[@MickeyJWind]

Due to the location of the rock, they made the right call. this is a place to honor the US dead and should be this way. can you imagine a General Grant monument or tourist stop in the confederate cemetery in Spotsylvania? it makes no sense. cemeteries are places or memorial and remembrance. they should be free of anything that can take away from that..

[@stevehalling816]

What I don't understand is why put a cemetary in a confederate position and then get upset about a rock that general Lee stood on? Seems to me that the placement of the cemetery was a political one even back then!

[@joannecarolyn5018]

Exactly! Maybe it wasn't too far away from the site of the battle, and so they chose this spot to reinter the Union dead? Still, I think it was a waste to remove Lee's Rock 😢 Joanne from Singapore 🇸🇬

[@danwoodliefphotography871]

Maybe, but it is also on the town's main street, allowing for easy access. Good question.

[@hambam7533]

reminds me of the monument destroyers of today its history leave it alone and let people interpit it the way they want my two cents

[@ChargingStag]

I'll certainly contribute to that and make it four cents!

[@jamestownvirginia8463]

I need to get in touch with you guys. I have things to share also. I'm in Virginia but close enough. Reconciliation yes but to forget? It's hard when family were dispatched in Sharpsburg.

[@dalegirard9740]

That's like what they are doing today removing statutes

[@stephenhenion8304]

In regard to Lee's "Rock"... it occurred to me that it would have disappeared to souvenir hunters anyway! Besides, do we need constant reminders of Lee's Lost Cause?... respectful to All the Fallen of the North and South.

[@jamestakacs]

I'll be riding the C&O Bicycle Trail. I understand the trail goes by Antietam. Is the cemetery near by? I'm unfamiliar with the area.

[@robertauer3570]

Is battlefield restoration gonna make a replica of the rock to bring back?

[@dukefrywokker6470]

Was this controversy the reason or the time that Lee said he didn't want any monuments of himself?

[@ramona14220]

I have read newspaper articles from the time after the war where members of the G.A.R. opposed any confederate monuments at Gettysburg.

[@dorivaltorres2614]

Onde foram sepultados os soldados confederados tombados em Antietam?

[@robertauer3570]

Kinda goes against the premise of battlefield preservation in having had Lee's Rock destroyed.

[@williamstocker584]

The last person to buried there was Roy Patrick Howard he was killed during the attack on the Uss Cole

[@prospectord8437]

Wait so where IS the rock?

[@bobshirley2672]

How was Lee's Rock removed? Was it dynamited?

[@joepetto9488]

It is imperative we deploy a crack team of geologists and historians tasked with this sacred purpose to go forth and secure the pieces of Lee's Rock and bring them all together to the original location and reconstruct Lee's Alter Altar.

[@PathfinderHistoryTravel]

Removing Lee’s Rock at Antietam was wrong then. Removing Lee statues is wrong now. We don’t destroy history! IMHO

[@gale212]

Keeping Lee's Rock in this cemetery would be like keeping a Hitler rock in one of the US cemeteries in Normandy.

[@jeffreyevans5983]

It would not be like keeping Hitlers rock if anything it would be like keeping Rommels rock.

[@bkauffman0390]

I see both sides. I'm a Pennsylvania boy, so to respect the Union troops, a high standing rock with Confederate legacy over looking the headstones seems wrong but that's not the intent....It's just how it lays due to geography... Had they build a tall standing statue I can see an arguement. What's done is done but but thats no in reason to remove the rock. It is history, and it shouldn't have been removed in my opinion.

[@fredv7487]

It just amazes me how people put down soldiers for doing their duty. They merely followed the order of their commands. You don't even know the true full story of what actually went on. But I guarantee if the government put thousands of troops on your borders and told you to do as they say you would defend your home. The victor writes history.

[@gale212]

@@jeffreyevans5983 so true

[@naganomancer]

To be honest Lee himself probably would have agreed to remove the rock. i wonder if anyone asked him his oppinion on "his" rock.

[@ALRIGHTYTHEN.]

They were worried about where Lee stood but didn't consider the he probably took more than a couple bathroom breaks on the very ground they chose to bury the bodies.

[@42Akai]

Well, I for 1 am completely bummed. Where's the Rock? This is a subject Gary & Dennis need to investigate further. Surely, this "Southern-hating" Cemetery Board should have had enough respect to remove the Rock from the Cemetery, to another locale on the battlefield. Like Hatuletoh says: "Who, What, How, Where"? Could The Trust have someone create a replica of such an historic artifact, and place it in your Visitors Center there? Gary? Dennis? Don't leave us hanging and wondering, delve further please.

[@shotgun111180]

such a shame they got rid of the rock

[@JohnReedy07163]

Maybe you all cover this somewhere else. But why was ground that Confederates held during the battle used for the National Cemetery? Like why didn't they put it behind their own lines or on the other side of the creek? It would be like if the Gettysburg Cemetery was on Seminary Ridge. It doesn't make sense to me.

[@justinheads5751]

It was stupid to do then, and its stupid to do now. You said it yourself "emotions ran hot", that's not a valid basis for decision making, especially not irrevocably destroying history.

[@crazydougfam]

So we’re not the only ones who think it’s best to remove monuments! Also think about the convents and monasteries in England during Henry VIII’S time! They removed those buildings and lost so much of their culture! We’re not so different today, are we?

[@lukebertrichardson7799]

Replace it, . The more that visit the cemetery, the more that will have a better understanding of the incredible struggle and sacrifice that the war was. A person would have to be insensitive to all human emotion not to feel the personal tragidy that befell each and everyone of the men there wearing marble hats. To walk across a national cemetery even one dedicated to a rapacious invading bunch of Yankees is a visceral emotional moment where even a yellow dog Reb has a personal connection to the tragedy of the war. Whatever will get more people to walk that resting place to achieve that connection except maybe free beer should be carefully weighed.

[@SouthernGentleman]

Better protect it from the brownshirts

[@Roller_Ghoster]

4:08 🤭

[@academyofshem]

But it wasn't a rock. It was a rock lobster.

[@theaffiliate4208]

So, you are saying that SJWs and BLM type people were back in the 1860's. The question that begs to be answered then is, "If Lee rock and subsequent potential Lee's headquarter position was such a controversy, WHY was this spot chosen for the Union Dead, if Not to Drum Up and force a controversy such as this?"

[@hitch6161]

Wait till they remove Lee's statue from Gettysburg. If you don't think that's going to happen, I have a few lee statues in Virginia to point too.

[@shiloh6519]

@@frankfrederico4342 Lee was a traitor to his country.

[@jeffelzey]

The headstones in the cemetery are from Lee's boulder itself?

[@shiloh6519]

@@frankfrederico4342 Yes racism was alive and well in the north as well. Once the emotions of the war cooled. The south slowly reasserted white supremacy and the north stopped caring and even approved.

[@ChargingStag]

@@shiloh6519 He is a highly regarded historical figure, and regardless of what he was or wasn't, people want to rightly honor him. And to pre-empt the museum comeback, please do tell me which museum(s) the Monument Ave statues went to, I seem to have forgot. Last I heard they have been lying in pieces on the grounds of a water treatment plant. How about the Charlottesville statues? Which museum did they go to again?

[@philiphorner31]

Wow Cancel Culture was alive and well way back then.

[@greenriverviews6819]

"Dennis, you spend way too much time with Garry Adelman..." haha : ))