Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Mann | Soldiers from the 174th Air Defense Artillery Brigade's Task Force Sheridan take a...... read more read more
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Soldiers from the 174th Air Defense Artillery Brigade’s Task Force Sheridan recently conducted a battlefield tour to gain insights into the Battle of Antietam and understand how the lessons and insights of history are applicable to current operations.
Task Force Sheridan is currently mobilized to the National Capital Region in support of Operation Noble Eagle. The Ohio Army National Guard’s 174th ADA Brigade headquarters oversees the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 174th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, which draws its lineage from the 5th Ohio, one of the Buckeye State’s units that fought at Antietam.
A history book or video does not match the opportunity to walk the grounds where the battle was fought 160 years ago and actually experience the terrain and that helps provide more insight into the single bloodiest day in American history on Sept 17, 1862.
The Union’s Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George McClellan, fought Gen. Robert E. Lee’s invading Army of Northern Virginia in a daylong struggle near the small town of Sharpsburg. When the day closed, both armies remained on the field — along with about 22,000 dead, wounded or missing Union and Confederate troops.
Thousands of Buckeyes fought for the Army of the Potomac that day. Ohio contributed 10 infantry regiments and one artillery battery to the battle.
The 5th, 7th and 66th Ohio was part of Mansfield’s XII Corps and fought through the East Woods, Miller’s Cornfield and around the Dunker Church. Pvt. John P. Murphy of the 5th Ohio was later awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in capturing the flag of the 13th Alabama near the church.
Near the center of the Union line, the 8th Ohio, part of Sumner’s II Corps, attacked the famous Sunken Road and repulsed a late enemy counterattack in that area.
On the southern end of the Union line, the 11th, 12th, 23rd, 28th, 30tth and 36th Ohio Infantry Regiments and the 1st Ohio Independent Battery, all part of the IX Corps, took part in the action near the Burnside Bridge as well as the final attack towards Sharpsburg. The attack was blunted by Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill’s last-minute arrival from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in the waning hours of the battle, which struck the 23rd and 30th Ohio’s exposed flank at the end of the Union line. While preparing for the attack, the 23rd Ohio’s commissary sergeant and future U.S. President William McKinley, delivered hot rations to his hungry regiment while under enemy fire and disobeying direct orders to not attempt the distribution.
In 1902, the State of Ohio authorized a commission to erect monuments on the battlefield for each unit that fought there along with a monument honoring William McKinley’s acts near the Burnside Bridge. A joint monument for the 5th, 7th and 66th Ohio stands near Dunkard Church. A monument for the 8th Ohio sits along the Sunken Road. Individual monuments for the remaining units are near the Burnside Bridge. The monuments were dedicated on Oct. 13, 1903.
Today, in addition to the 174th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, the Ohio ARNG’s 107th Cavalry Regiment (7th Ohio) and 145th Armored Regiment (7th Ohio) display the Antietam campaign streamer on their colors.
| Date Taken: | 12.21.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 12.20.2022 21:55 |
| Story ID: | 435584 |
| Location: | SHARPSBURG, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 256 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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