Fences ~ Theme Thursday Images for 02.12.04

Click on each thumbnail for a larger image.

For this week's Theme Thursday challenge I decided to present a photo essay called Fences At Antietam. All of the images below were taken between September 17th, 2003 and January 31st, 2004 at Antietam National Battlefield, Sharpsburg, MD. All of the images in this photo essay were taken with my Minolta Dimage 7i digital camera. These are all new images that have not been featured on my site before.

Fence Shadows at the Mumma Farm
Historic 5-rail fence line.

Late Fall Along Bloody Lane
Historic snake-rail fences bordering the lane.

Winter Snow in the Bloody Lane
Historic snake-rail fences bordering the lane.

Fence Shadows on Snow Along Stark Ave
Historic snake-rail fence line on the south side of the avenue.

Fences Leading to the Mumma Cemetery
Historic 5-rail fences bordering the walkway to the cemetery.

During the Maryland Campaign of 1862 Maryland farmers in Frederick and Washington Counties complained to the Union army that the soldiers of both sides were destroying their fences for use as firewood. In an attempt to deal with the situation and lessen the burden on the farmers - while still allowing the soldiers access to easy firewood - the Union army issued a special order. The order permitted soldiers to take only the top rail of any fence they found for use as firewood. Unfortunately this did not solve the problem. The first group of soldiers would take the top rail and go off and burn it. Later, when a second group of soldiers found the same fence they would take what was now the top rail and burn it. The bottom rail would eventually be the top by virtue of all of the other rails being gone.