A show of hands

Of the many things that George B. McClellan catches grief for is this pose.

The usual beef, being that he fancies himself another Napoleon.

Perhaps there is some truth to that, but before one jumps on the anti-McClellan bandwagon for something so banal let's take a look at the hands of some of his contemporaries.

James Longstreet after a large meal.

Gang sign or lodge membership? Only Lt. Evans knows for sure.

Allan Pinkerton demonstrating his uncanny knack for making even

 the most dignified pose seem sleazy.

J.A Logan looking like Napoleon with a mullet.

Mac being contrary.

Left-handed variation

Kimball slyly considering his elaborate pompadour.

I think Orlando Wilcox, at the last moment, didn't want to be lumped in with this group.

Publisher Joseph Wesley Harper (of Harpers).

Rosecrans taking the Longstreet "tummy" approach.

William B. Franklin gets in on the act.

Crips or Bloods?

Robert S. Foster

Erasmus Keyes, with twinkle in eye.

  I think he read this blog post and is just mugging for the camera.

Even suitable for evening wear.

Thaddeus Stevens, humorless as ever, possibly digging for his checkbook.

Perhaps McClellan-bashers will now put this one to rest, though I think it unlikely.

Staying handy, just north of Sharpsburg

Mannie

Antietam Journal

.


Here's an interesting thing:

I've started a Blog for the park which you can see here

Otherwise I'm just sweating out sequestration like everyone else.

Still rangering,
Mannie


.

Spring hopes...eternally

.

I've always believed that Spring is where you can find it.  With the temperature a sunny 64, today, for a day at least, was Spring.

Now its time to hunker down for the other half of winter.

Mannie

Museum Closeup - relic pyramid

.

Last September, just in time for the 150th we opened the new exhibit gallery in the Visitor Center Museum.  This space allowed us to get some pretty cool stuff on display.

One of the real hits with visitors is the "relic pyramid"

In the years following the war a sort of relic-based folk art became popular, and the designs were quite unique.

We acquired, from Gettysburg of all  places, three relic "pyramids" that had been made in the years following the battle of Antietam.  All of the attached items were salvaged from the battlefield in the days before the National Park (ahem...remember that relic collecting is a prohibited activity today).

The results are pretty fantastic and we put the best of the three on display.

Here are some close-up views for you.

The tall one only had one good side, so we used the middle-sized one to the left which had three really cool sides packed with stuff.

The closer you get the more you see.  Don't forget to click on any of these images for an even 

larger view.

An elongated case shot with a ball still in the matrix.

Belt plate, Bormann fuse, bullets.

Letters, numbers and a nice carbine shell.

Here's something you don't see too often; a Williams cleaner-bullet with the zinc disc still intact.

A battered paper cartridgte.  Note how this stuff was just nailed on.

A bullet in a piece of wood.

A flattened Burton ball from the East Woods.

A shoulder scale.

The copper sabot for a Mullane projectile.

A sword pommel.

...and Lincoln!

An eagle breast-plate...

and a State of New York belt plate.

A cool find; the blue wool is still intact on this button!

The shackle from a Carbine belt

A horses bridle bit.

How cool is that?

Come see for yourself, just north of Sharpsburg.

Ranger Mannie

Good Role Model

.

Hey!

We just installed a new drinking fountain in the Visitor Center.  This may not seem like a big deal but this particular fountain allows water bottles and canteens to be easily refilled, meaning less water bottles in the landfill.  Cool huh?

Fill 'er up!  Ranger Brian demonstrates.

Keeping it green, just north of Sharpsburg.

Mannie

.