The Bloody Lane | Antietam Battlefield Tour | Antietam 162

We are thrilled to be joined by Dennis Frye for our coverage of the 162nd Anniversary of the Battle of Antietam. This year we are focusing on the "highlights" of the battlefield, detailing the bloodiest day in American history from start to finish. For our third tour stop we walk the Sunken Road also known as Bloody Lane.
This video is part of our series commemorating the 162nd Anniversary of the Battle of Antietam. You can view the full playlist here: • Antietam | The 162nd A...
The American Battlefield Trust preserves America’s hallowed battlegrounds and educates the public about what happened there and why it matters. We permanently protect these battlefields for future generations as a lasting and tangible memorial to the brave soldiers who fought in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.

[@frankofva8803]

I respect Dennis Frye so much. There are many who stick to their stories over the years and never admit error. Hard to teach and learn with that attitude. Thanks, Dennis.

[@bf9414]

I concur

[@scottcook9823]

Dennis has changed my perspective of this battle. I now wonder why Lee faught where he did. Perhaps the ridge Dennis is describing - that can be clearly seen was too desperate of a position due to its location to the Potomac river?? Lose the ridge loose the army? Thanks for making my mind churn on this new thought

[@mikegarland-vu8ut]

Dennis frye is the man

[@johngetz8585]

The ground will speak to you..!! Great comment..!!!

[@760Piper]

Dennis and Gary. The absolute best. The Bloody Lane comes alive!!!!

[@Knards]

I enjoy listening to Dennis Frye's explanation of this part of the battle

[@danielkeating1201]

From an Antietam battle-walk 10 years ago, the lowest point in the sunken lane to the highest point in the cemetery (where Lee was)...is the equivalent of walking up an 80 story building ! Well done again Gary and Dennis !

[@bottomlesspit7]

Any video with Garry and Dennis is going to be the best!!!!!! Woot woot!!!

[@brandysmith3977]

I'm ex-Army combat- two wars. First contributed when you were Civil War Trust. Thanks to the cameraman for turning the camera in the direction the speaker is pointing- very important. I've been to many battlefields-Sharpsburg six times. No substitute for hiking the battlefield. I have only been creeped out twice- chest tightening and difficulty breathing {leftover energy?}. Both times i was alone at sunset. These were between the lines {100 yards} at Cold Harbor, and Bloody Lane.

[@dadsongs]

I've never heard the story told better! Thanks, as always, ABT.

[@michaelhoffman5348]

Always a pleasure for a narration by Dennis Frye. So articulate and knowledgeable.

[@nimitz1739]

Dang, Dennis just changed my whole perspective of McClellans actions that day.

[@williamolenick7798]

Always said a map is a good resource but walking the ground adds so much more to the story. At this position it says so much more than anywhere else.

[@tomsassa9013]

Excellent !!

[@terryeustice5399]

Thank you Garry and Dennis. Great video. Thank you for sharing! 💕💯👊👍

[@neilwilliams5173]

Antietam is an awe inspiring battle field well worth the visit.I have to get up there again the visitors center wasnt finished last time I was there.Thank you guys for the videos and the great info.

[@davidwilhelm3431]

Outstanding. Dennis' passion is admirable. He and Garry form a dynamic duo.

[@Nathan-yx7jz]

Enthralling presentation by Dennis Frye of what happened here. Fascinating information.

[@paulf6986]

Thank you for the history lesson. Your videos bring history to life.

[@housecat5202]

I love this series..Antietam 162..thanks Gary and Dennis

[@FylMarite]

Thank you for these Garry and the entire ABT Staff! These are so helpful for those not able to visit.

[@herberthinton1499]

Great play by play from these gentlemen on this phase of the terrible fight on that day.

[@bobbyblizzard8488]

Really enjoyed the great visuals and history!

[@johngetz8585]

What makes these videos so great, a book cannot SHOW topography. As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. I watch ALL the ABT videos. Gary and company are history juggernauts. Salute ladies and gents....salute. I've been to Antietam, a tour is a MUST..!

[@stevep5408]

I visited Antietam and was fortunate enough to hire a local hustorian as a guide. It was so fortunate to have someone as a guide to explain what the area shows ! The Irish brigade blasting away with buck and ball sweeping all that comes before them. The humpback bridge that was over shallow watervthat tge army could gave forded anywhere had they known it!

[@daveoelke857]

Thank you gentlemen for a very educational explanation of what took place here !

[@Grunt802VT]

Pure Passion and Dedication!! I remember my Father bringing me to the Manassas Battlefield. People say he was against war and didn't want me to join the Military. I say He knew what his 10 year old son was passionate about! Today!!! Im a Marine Veteran with two combat deployments and a stable healthy family!! Semper FIDELIS!!! And always remember to Keep on keeping on Brothers and Sisters!!

[@J.P-s6p]

Another awesome video ❤

[@paulvarner5616]

Wow. This perspective is certainly new to me !!!! Not a Little Mac fan by any means, but this interpretation certainly opens my eyes. As mentioned on another video, I've walked this very ground. I've read the plaques. I had my copy of Blue&Gray magazine with me. But "study the ground". And this view of things is certainly gonna open my eyes the next time I visit Antietam................................BTW, on a side note : On one visit we stayed in a house in Sharpsburg whose property was just off the battlefield ground. In that house was a fairly large map of the battlefield, drawn by - guess who - Jedediah Hotchkiss. And the map was AMAZINGLY accurate. There are few things in this small little world of mine that I have ever wanted so much as I wanted that map. But alas, being civilized, I contented myself to have seen it. ...................Well anyway, Thanks to Garry and Dennis for this fantastic video.

[@shotgun111180]

Love these videos having just been there. Makes you wonder how the sunken road would have turned out if the southern troops didn't misinterpret the orders

[@scottcook9823]

I was just on the battlefield 3 weeks ago. I always THINK I know alot.. I do compared to most people.. But ABT takes it to the next level for me Thank you from a wanna be Military Park Ranger

[@patrickworley4914]

You raise an excellent point at the end about McClellan making the right call about not attacking the Peiper Farm/Cemetery Hill area. I had a similar thought the last time I visited Antietam. I stood at the Sunken Road and looked up. I pictured rebel artillery on the hill in front of me. I got a knot in my stomach and thought, "man, it's hard to blame Little Mac. That's an absolute meat grinder." McClellan makes it easy for us to rip on him with our (20/20) hindsight for a lot of reasons, but if you take the time to put yourself in his shoes - especially on that field - it's hard for any of us to honestly say we would have known a better way in the heat of the moment. (This is not an overall defense of McClellan, he clearly was not the right man for the job lol)

[@tomjones2202]

All you guys and gals are fantastic to watch and listen to. Garry, I thought you were animated when you talk but Dennis is the same as you and it's so much fun to hear history presented with such enthusiasm!! I loved Dennis' take on knowing McClellan's move here. Keep 'em coming! Charge! lol

[@philipryan25]

Well said, Dennis is very interesting and informative

[@michaeldouglas1243]

I almost went down today to try n catch and meet Gary and Dennis in person. I only live about 45 min away.

[@garys.4789]

Another grade video guys you did it again thank you very much. It was very informative.😎👍

[@dwayne5698]

Wonderful presentation!

[@MrBlue024]

Fascinating; great job

[@vm.999]

God bless yall 🙏

[@irockuroll60]

John Brown Gordon…a great Georgian leading some Alabamians…someone richer than me should make a movie about that man.

[@keithrayeski6417]

It’s interesting to see the 7th Va., in blue! Less than a year later….it will be West Virginia, a federal state…seeing the composition of units, confederate Maryland, federal Maryland. It was even more complex during the war for independence.

[@FM-rz9wf]

Muchas gracias a Sr. Dennis Frye. Con su explicación he podido comprender con claridad el desarrollo de la batalla. Mis respectos. Many thanks to Mr. Dennis Frye. With his explanation I have been able to clearly understand the development of the battle. My respects.

[@lsnead72]

Dennis is exactly right. It's one thing to just look at a map. One has to study the terrain or elevation of an area to fully understand it. I have been to Antietam and stood in the Sunken Lane. So poignant.

[@keithandmaryjackson2550]

George B Anderson had his brigade in the Bloody Lane, but Richard Anderson’s picture is shown. Just a little confusion in an otherwise great presentation

[@stephenhalley6964]

Thanks, Dennis. My grandpa's grandpa Samuel Oiler and his brother Andrew came over that mound with the 130th Pennsylvania. Both were shot twice and survived. Do you think the Confederates would have fared better if they had advanced up to the military crest of the ridge above the sunken lane? They would have been able to fire into the union ranks for a longer period.

[@NDB469]

Very interesting

[@NJcruiser]

Nice discussion of McClellan and his performance. Like most people I guess McClellan is not my favorite general, but he seems to have been pretty good here with his handling of his troops.

[@LanceisLawson]

Always excellent1

[@annmcgehee1728]

Excellent series of videos!

[@stephenhalley6964]

Dennis, I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of the terrain. That being said, Lee's army was exhausted and running critically short of ammunition. McClellan, of course, could not know this, but should have surmised it. As was his custom, he overestimated his opposition. Franklin wanted to advance, along with an eve fresher corps under Fitz-John Porter. But Porter had McClellan's ear and convinced the commander by playing into his fears and convincing him that his (Porter's) corps was the only reserve remaining between Lee's army and the Capitol of Washington. Franklin's men had made an exhausting forced march to arrive. But let's not forget that AP Hill's corps made an even more daunting march that morning, went into an offensive battle, and fought like absolute demons. Just my two cents and respectfully submitted.

[@johnzajac9849]

For a superb, detailed account of this battle, read Scott Hartwig's, 'I Dread the Thought of the Place'. Interestingly, he wrote that the rebels did not occupy the high ground just to the north of the Sunken Road, because the rebels feared exposure there to Federal artillery fire from across the Antietam Creek. Finally, Federal forces had the advantage when they took the high ground above the Sunken Road and fired down upon the rebels.

[@CCNYMacGuy]

Please thank Dennis for talking about the VI Corps at the battle for me - so few people seem to cover them!

[@andyjackson3414]

I remember the centennial of that battle. I lived close enough to have visited the Antietam battlefield site about the same time as that 100 year anniversary, possibly as school field-trip as well as visits with parents, as my dad had an interest in the civil war. The story of the fight at Burnside's Bridge sticks in my memory of those visits. The thought that 10,000 might have died on that bridge overwhelmed my imagination. At least that was the number of "dead" that I carried with me for many years. 10,000 as an awfully big number for a child's mind to grasp. The facts might not be that large, but still, so many died, so many limbs lost, so much pain inflicted during that battle. So unnecessary, even in the context of that war. Lee is overrated as a general, driven more by his ego and pride than the lives of the men under his command. I feel so old now that it's been 162 years that have passed since that awful event. I look forward to more of these YT videos, especially when we get to that blood-soaked bridge.

[@dalegirard8453]

Glad to see gravel in sunken rd

[@jorgemartinpaez4376]

Sumner II Corps among his brigade commanders John Sedgewick later Vi COrps, WS Hancock, II corps later, , interesting fact Sumner was a Mexican war vet and architect of ft union in NM terr. under John Sibley before the war, this is interesting!

[@unbreakable7633]

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Antietam. I think of it every Sept. 17. The day about 30000 Confederates fought 90000 Yanks to a standstill. After the war, Lee was asked what was his best battle and he said, "Antietam."

[@jonnie106]

Lee said, "Antietam"?? Thought for sure he'd have said, "Sharpsburg".

[@unbreakable7633]

@@jonnie106 According to the account I read, he said, "Antietam," but yes, "Sharpsburg" was the Confederate name for the battle. Maybe he was talking to a Yank reporter, don't know. I believe I read that in Sears's battle history, THE LANDSCAPE TURNED RED, not sure. Could have been in another account, THE GLEAM OF BAYONETS, not sure.

[@jonnie106]

Interesting and worth a bit of research to corroborate. Lee is probably the only person that wouldn't be corrected for using the Union given name of the battle. Also, when it comes to Lee's best battle, I should think the whole of southern heritage would simultaneously call out: "Chancellorsville!" Even I think that was his tactically brilliant moment.

[@unbreakable7633]

@@jonnie106 Assuming the story is true (and I've only seen it one place but just can't put my finger on it -- might have been in one of Clifford Dowdey's books), I would understand why Lee thought fighting overwhelming odds to a draw was an accomplishment. But I agree that Chancellorsville might well be the best battle he fought strategically and tactically in the view of others, especially since he split his army into 3 parts in the face of superior numbers and still won a significant victory. Myself, I'm pretty partial to 2nd Manassas as an example of Lee's ability as well.

[@lisalafferty3248]

My son and I were there in July

[@OrioleBeagle]

Please do a trip to Point Lookout (Civil War prisoner of war camp) in St Mary's County, Maryland.

[@allenbishop880]

Great work. It is hard to admit that McClellan could have been correct.

[@JoeRitchie-e5l]

This is the first that I heard about Lee having the high ground, and that's the reason McClellan did not push the advance

[@kyledunn6853]

"Riamh nár dhruid ó spairn lann" The Irish Brigade

[@phenom568]

Its a fair point to mention the heights in the middle here but why not push more on the North then? If you aren't going to push more here then why not flank them? Or is McClellan expecting Burnside to do that on the other end of the battlefield?

[@tomtaylor6163]

Hey wasn’t Dennis on the TV comedy show My Favorite Martian?

[@NPB0067]

Was the restored fence accurate?

[@michaelkiplinger8473]

Garry and Dennis, having stood in the sunken lane looking towards the Union advance I am always confused how the Confederates defended the lane because of the lack of line of site caused by the depth of the lane and the cornfield. Did the Confederates advance out of the lane to engage the oncoming Union troops?

[@barrymcclaughry9229]

Another excellent video

[@rajashahid8812]

It is really a shock for me to know what I have read in Cambridge History of Warfare is not correct ? McClellan refusal to persue and perish the retreating Federates was a wise decesion, as Dennis narrated seems correct analysis. 2ndly for people like me who have different mother tongue, will you please try to speak in a little bit slow speed in the next videos. Regards.🌷.

[@StevenSmith-dc1fq]

An interesting take--not sure I buy it...

[@josephwurzer4366]

Skirmishes would have made the difference.

[@tski3458]

IBR

[@mhollman8650]

Anybody else see the guy in front of the horse with a huge wang

[@greenriverviews6819]

Amazing insight