Just didn't Make The Final Cut

When I began drawing out the interior layout for the Monterey Pass Battlefield Park’s Museum, I spent several months of just researching different aspects of the Civil War as it happened at Monterey Pass. I eventually began sorting through the major themes that can be presented. First, I wanted to introduce people to the role of the soldier during the Civil War whether he was Cavalry, Artillery or Infantry. Then I wanted to also let people know that we have a rich African-American story there as well. And with these sub-themes came the Fighting Soldier of 1863.

The Confederate Invasion of 1863, also known as the Pennsylvania Campaign or the Gettysburg Campaign began for Monterey Pass on June 15, 1863, the day that the Confederate advance crossed the Potomac River. Refugees and skirmishes as well as Union troop movements occurred during the days leading to the Battle of Gettysburg. With those sub-themes, I decided to call the second gallery the Summer of Crisis.

From there, you have the Battle of Monterey Pass and the Confederate Retreat along with the Union follow up through Monterey Pass as well as Washington Township. I wrote and designed all of the panels in the museum including artifacts layout. I brought more of the traditional museum back rather than moving forward with contractors and computers programs.

Photographed below are two examples of several rejected interpretative panels I still have on file. These two New York State National Guard panels I thought were good, but were not good enough for the museum. Although, the information was great, I ended up taking two panels and converting them into one. 

J. A. Miller