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The photos contained on our Aerial Photo Studies of Antietam National Battlefield and Gettysburg National Military Park are unique in that they represent the only complete aerial studies of these major Civil War Battlefields.  For the true Civil War student these CDs are essential to comprehending not only the terrain features of the battlefields but also the scope of the troop movements.  Trees, buildings, and topography limit your site distance on the ground and restrict your sense of direction and scope, but when viewed from several hundred feet up the entire picture becomes clear.  Our Aerial Photo Study CD discs contain dozens of scenes of the battlefield organized in the chronological order of the battle with each shot appearing twice, once as a stand alone image and again with troop movements and interpretive text explaining the action.  To make this more clear, below are samples taken from the cds of Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg and the union attack on Bloody Lane at Antietam.
If the Gettysburg photographs you see here were taken from ground level you would not be able to see past the Codori Farm and the Emmitsburg road due to the contours of the land, but from 200 feet up you are able to see the entire operating area of the three Confederate Divisions.  The same thing is true of the Antietam example images of Bloody Lane.  In the pictures taken from our Antietam Aerial Photo Study disc you can see the rolls and valleys in the field where the Union infantry sought cover from Confederate fire while attacking the Sunken Road.  Also as we mentioned previously you'll notice that each photo appears twice on the disc, once as the unaltered image and again with troop movements indicated and a short interpretive text describing the action. 
Click on any of the pictures below to see the enlarged image!
Gettysburg Samples!                   Each CD contains dozens of images!                        Antietam Samples!

             
Coming Soon Manassas!
    


     
Harpers Ferry is located at the intersection of three states, West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland.  It rests on a narrow tip of flat land backed up against the base of a solid rock ledge at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers.  In 1751 Robert Harper acquired the land where the town now sits.  In 1761 he opened a ferry service on the Potomac River which made Harpers Ferry the perfect jumping off spot for westward expansion into the Shenandoah Valley and points father west.  The heart and soul of Harpers Ferry are the two great rivers that converge literally at the towns edge.  Early on men of vision saw the rivers as a potential unlimited power source and began diverting its fast moving water for industrial applications.  In 1799 the United States Government purchased property in Harpers Ferry for the construction of an arsenal which would eventually produce more that 600,000 arms of all types for American military forces.  Harpers Ferry is a small town boasting population of only a little over 300 residents as of the 2000 U.S. Census, but its contribution to the growth of our nation has been incredible in relation to its size.  The first of three major events which would help shape the history of our nation began in 1819 with the establishment of Hall's Rifle Works.  Captain John H. Hall contracted with the War Department to build 1000 of his revolutionary M1819 Hall Rifles and moved to Harpers Ferry where he opened a small shop on the south side of the town in an abandoned lumber mill.  Hall's rifle was superior to the units being produced by the government arsenal but his real genius was in his process for making the rifles.  Hall developed an assembly line process whereby the his rifles were made entirely from interchangeable parts which differed from the Federal Arsenal method of having a single craftsman build one rifle from start to finish.  Hall never achieved great financial success but his legacy lives on in every factory that utilizes the production line process for manufacturing.  It is said that many of the giants of the industrial revolution studied Halls work and that even the great Henry Ford copied some of John Hall's production methods.  The second history shaping event to involve Harpers Ferry also included the Federal Arsenal and a man named John but the outcome of their association proved to be far more sinister in nature.  On October 16th 1859 John Brown lead a raid on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry in an effort to capture the fire arms that were stored there.  Brown envisioned a force of 4500 men to make the attack but he was unable to find any real support for his plan and could raise only 19 followers.  He failed to capture the arsenal but was able to occupy the fire house located on the arsenal grounds and held it until the arrival of a company of U.S. Marines under the command of Colonel Robert E. Lee  stormed the engine house and captured the raiders.  Brown was tried in Charlestown, WV for murder, conspiracy, and treason, for which he was found guilty and was hanged in that same city on December 2, 1859.  Some say that these were the first real shots of the American Civil War and that Baggage Master Hayward Sheperd who was the first of four men killed by Brown's raiders was the wars first casualty.  Ironically Baggage Master Shepherd was a free black man who worked for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.  The third time that Harpers Ferry would act as the stage for a historic gathering happened on August 15, 1906 when the members of the Niagara Movement met for the first civil rights conference ever held on American soil.   The group included many of the fathers of the African-American civil rights movement included W. E. B. DuBois.  Following the conference the Niagara Movement suffered for a variety of reasons and in 1911 the remaining membership decided to join forces with other groups and formed a new organization know as The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or as it is better known today "NAACP."
The Harpers Ferry Photo CD contains 47 images and is $12.95 plus $2.95 Shipping and Handling, click on this text for ordering details!

            


Tired of guide books that are confusing and difficult to understand!  Our photo guide books are crammed with current recognizable photos and maps of Antietam, Gettysburg, Manassas, and Monocacy battlefields.  These unique booklets have been sold by the thousands at the National Battlefield Bookstores and now you can purchase them directly from us.  These guides are a must if you are planning a trip to one of the battlefields as they will help to orient you and enhance your visit to one of our great parks!  The booklets display the parks as they look today and include overlays and interpretive text to help you better understand where the action took place and what commanders and units were involved.  These Booklets have been reviewed and approved by National Park Service personnel for accuracy and will become an irreplaceable asset to a battlefield visit or your Civil War library.

       

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