the wrong font

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep, 
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

ON THE MORNING OF JULY 1,1863, Brigadier General John Reynolds, in command of the First Corps, uttered his final orders–“Forward, men! Forward for God’s sake, and drive those fellows out of the woods!”–just before being felled by a bullet to the back of the head.

“The woods” were Herbst’s/McPherson’s/Reynolds’ Woods, and the order was for Solomon Meredith’s “Iron” Brigade, which plunged down into the trees, splashed across Willoughby’s Run, and temporarily drove back “those fellows,” the Confederate troops under James J. Archer.

ON THE MORNING OF JUNE 20, 2024, my brother and I left modern day Stone-Meredith Ave. and started picking our way along a narrow hiking trail into those same woods.

“Plunging” was out of the question. The path was nearly overgrown, and I caught my hand on a wild rose, leaving a drop of my own blood in the soil. The burning sun that was keeping so many other visitors off the battle field that day did not penetrate through the trees, leaving us in a kind of twilight. The only sound was the birds–robins, mockingbirds, Carolina wrens. At one point, the shadow of a hawk passed close overhead, leaving us wondering how many small animals were taking shelter in the undergrowth.

At length, we reached Willoughby’s run, not far from where Archer was captured.

As usual when visiting battle fields, it’s hard to tell if the area looked like this back in 1863. There were probably a lot of farm animals wandering about, so the undergrowth might have been picked clean, which would have made it easier for troop movements. But according to Tim Smith, of the Adams County Historical Society, the water level in the Run back in 1863 was “pretty much what we see today.”

Plus–a score! Although signs around the battle field prohibit artifact-hunting, I was fortunate enough to find an artifact along the banks of the Run. It’s labeled “Frederick County Division of Energy & Environment”:

Which left me wondering, not only what it would have been like to fight there, but what it must have been like for some responsible dog owner, asking what on earth had happened to their poop bags.