The Louisiana Tigers were reduced to fewer than 200 men after sending 500 into the battle. Great job. The Unions claim of victory at Antietam and Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation are thought to be why Republicans held the House in the 1862 mid-term elections. Thomas Wait and myself told him that we were not firing at our own men for those that were firing at us from behind the trees had been firing at us from the first, recalled Libby. McClellan deployed Hookers I Corps astride the Hagerstown Turnpike to the north. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for The Cornfield: Antietams Bloody Tur., Welker, David A New Book at the best online prices at eBay! The following morning, McClellan attacks. Halt, 102nd, he ordered. 1. The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single day in American history, and the partial victory by Union troops led Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. By David A. Welker The 90th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment was recruited exclusively within the city of Philadelphia. Miller's Cornfield (usually referred to as 'the Cornfield') is a section of the Antietam battlefield of the American Civil War . All Rights Reserved. It was finalized on the afternoon of the 16th, a full day after McClellan had arrived on the scene. Travel back in time to see Antietam's battlefield as it looked 134 years ago. Americas bloodiest day began with heavy fighting that ravaged a previously innocuous cornfield in western Maryland. Lee issued a proclamation to the people of Maryland inviting them to join the Southern cause. From my earliest study of the war, I was fascinated by the idea that its events could transform otherwise mundane spots into unique and special places, with Antietam's Cornfield being one of the most singular. Central Intelligence Agency.The Battle of Antietam: A Turning Point in the Civil War. Click here to open PreserveCast Few names are as synonymous with Civil War battlefields as The Bloody Cornfield. The Cornfield: Antietam's Bloody Turning Point tells for the first time the full story of the exciting struggle to control "the Cornfield," the action on which the costly battle of Antietam turned, in a thorough yet readable narrative. 191, dated September 9. We had expended every bandage, tore up every sheet in the house, and everything we could find, when who should drive up but our old friend, Miss Barton, with a team loaded down with dressings of every kind, and everything we could ask for. Duryeas men fought valiantly, pressing the Georgians hard. The carnage was terrific; only two dozen of the original 250 men of the 6th Georgia survived the maelstrom without being killed or wounded. Although Continue reading Cowards in the Cornfield? Hills division charges into battle after a long march from Harpers Ferry, helping drive back the assault and saving the day for the Army of Northern Virginia. For nearly three hours, Hooker and Mansfield's Union forces battled Jackson's Confederates. Fearful that the brigade was about to be flanked, he raised the alarm prematurely. General James Longstreet "On the forenoon of the 15th, the blue uniforms of the Federals appeared among the trees that crowned the heights on the eastern bank of the Antietam. The distance closed to 30 yards, and the two sides blazed away at one another. About half a mile on the other side of the Hagerstown Turnpike, the East Woods flanked the Smoketown Road, which joined the turnpike at an acute angle. Stragglers were everywhere, and entire regiments milled about without direction. Originally designated the 2nd Continue reading The 90th Pennsylvania Infantry in the Cornfield: Solitary and alone, we gave and took ourmedicine, Barely two dozen yards ahead lay the northern end of the Cornfield. The dejected Lee ordered Jackson to march to Shepherdstown to cover the withdrawal of Longstreets force. Even before the nine-day trek, Lincoln had all but given up on the man who had once been christened Young Napoleon for his military promise. Hood was aghast at the losses. Turn left (south) and walk through the historic Cornfield to complete your hike. Mumma Farm and Cemetery 7. Certainly McClellans opportunity was great. The Battle of Antietam begins at dawn when Hookers Union corps mounts a powerful assault on Lees left flank. Six generals were killed or mortally wounded, three from the Union army and three Confederates. Meanwhile, Colonel D.K. Rifles are shot to pieces in the hands of soldiers, canteens and haversacks are riddled with bullets, the dead and wounded go down in scores. . Gibbons Iron Brigade plowed down the Hagerstown Turnpike toward the cornfield and the West Woods. Miller, saw some of U.S. history's most horrific fighting. The First American President: Setting the Precedent, African Americans During the Revolutionary War, Help Save 820 Acres at Five Virginia Battlefields, Save 343 Acres at FIVE Battlefields in FOUR Western Theater States, Save 42 Historic Acres at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Phase Three of Gaines Mill-Cold Harbor Saved Forever Campaign, An Unparalleled Preservation Opportunity at Gettysburg Battlefield. They watched and waited as McClellans army assembled along the creeks east side. Racing 150 yards ahead of the units on either side, the whooping Texans came within 30 yards of the Pennsylvanians, who rested their rifles on the lowest fence rails and fired a withering volley at the legs of the onrushing Rebels, shrouded in the thick smoke of battle. He also counted on McClellan to move slowly, which he did. Lee had heard nothing from Stonewall and was startled to receive word a short time later that Harpers Ferry was expected to fall the next day. The first Confederate shell struck the ranks of the 6th Wisconsin, killing two soldiers and wounding 11. The American Battlefield Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Im glad that the map correctly shows the Dunkard Church, after that particular sect of German Baptists. The Battle of Antietam has the regrettable distinction of being the bloodiest one-day battle in American history. But after several unexpected and demoralizing Union losses, including Major General John Popes sound defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run, it became clear the Confederacy wasnt going to be easy to crush. The distance between the blue and gray lines was less than 250 yards. General Robert E. Lee committed his entire force to the battle, while Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan sent in less than three quarters of his. Sunken Road (Bloody Lane) 9. Hills rear guard remained at Boonsboro with 5,000 troops. The exaggerated estimates played on McClellans natural tendency toward caution and contributed to his lack of aggressiveness. His decision was pivotal. General Robert E. Lee also recognized dissent among Lincolns ranks and hoped a battle victory on Union land might topple Lincolns congressional support and help secure the Confederacy once and for all. Hill forced Cox back to Foxs Gap with a gritty, tooth-and-nail defense that included arming cooks, clerks, and teamsters. Despite having the advantage, he allowed Lee to retreat without resistance. I feel Gen. M. should have no problem.. Lower Bridge (Burnside Bridge) 10. Jackson summoned his last reserves, the 2,300 men of Hoods division. Miller's 30-acre cornfield at Antietam. All of Lees troops were worn-out and hungry, and many were sick. Halt where you are. In 20 minutes of fighting, Duryea lost 300 men. Hoods lightning counterattack prevented the collapse of the Confederate left and forced Hookers corps back essentially to its early morning starting point with more than 2,500 casualties. Corporal Barton W. Mitchell of Company F noticed something unusual lying in the grass. I was in the hospital in the afternoon, for it was then only that the wounded began to come in. The little hillock would be his objective for the morning attack. By David A. Welker John Continue reading Cowards in the Cornfield? Hesitant to support a pro-slavery regime, England and France decline to form an alliance with the Confederate States of America. The Union troops were thrown back as Wofford rolled into the western portion of the cornfield and Law struck to the east. It was never my fortune to witness a more bloody, dismal battlefield.. The Most Terrible Clash of Arms The 19th Indiana and 7th Wisconsin crossed the turnpike to cover the Iron Brigades flank, and Gibbon brought up Battery B, 4th U.S. McClellan talked of rapid movement and exhorted subordinates to prepare for the march. Confederate troops ferociously fought off offensive after offensive to prevent being overrun, turning the cornfield into a massive killing field. North Woods 3. He believed McClellan spent too much of his command drilling troops and little of it pursuing Lee. The troops began calling themselves the Iron Brigade. Union Advance 8. Lincolns cabinet feared releasing the Emancipation Proclamation at that time would seem desperate and be difficult to enforce, so Lincoln decided to wait until another decisive Union victory. Military historians consider the Battle of Antietam a stalemate. Walker lost 228 of his 700 soldiers and was forced to retire. Near the center of the battlefield, another site of slaughter was a farm lane known as the Sunken Road, where Hills division of approximately 2,600 men had piled fence rails along the roads embankment to fortify their position against Union Major General William H. Frenchs 5,500 approaching troops. McClellan sends Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter to mount a cautious pursuit, which is repulsed at the Battle of Shepherdstown. The Union and Confederates fought in the cornfield, many being wounded. Badly needed supplies are brought in by nurse Clara Barton, known as the Angel of the Battlefield. During the night, both armies tend their wounded and consolidate their lines. (3) Gen. Lee ordered troops from Gen. D. H. Hills command at the Sunken Road to move north into the Cornfield. Antietam's Cornfield - a blog dedicated to preserving and sharing stories of the events of 17 September 1862 -, This page was last edited on 14 February 2023, at 16:47. .In my feeble estimation, General McClellan, with all his laurels, sinks into insignificance beside the true heroine of the age, the angel of the battle field. I lived there as a child and these were the fields we played in before they became National Park Service protectorates, the mid-1950s. Monday marks the 150th . Lees positions provided natural cover, with an undulating landscape and rocky limestone outcroppings, while west of the Hagerstown Turnpike the knoll known as Nicodemus Hill offered a commanding position for Confederate artillery. An hour before dawn, Hooker rode from the Poffenberger farm to his picket line beyond the edge of the North Woods. Just then, an enemy sharpshooter put a bullet through Hookers foot, which bled profusely. Dawes remembered: As we appeared at the edge of the cornfield, a long line of men in butternut and gray rose up from the ground. Late in the afternoon, reinforcements from Longstreet began to arrive. McClellans plan of attack depended on coordination and timing all along the line. For those of us interested in understanding and preserving the events of the Civil War and Antietams Cornfield, heres our own such list the Cornfield casualty top ten. Mitchell took the document to Sergeant John M. Bloss, and the two took it to Captain Peter Kop, their company commander. The present seems the most propitious time since the commencement of the war for the Confederate Army to enter Maryland, Lee noted. It pitted Confederate General Robert E. Lees Army of Northern Virginia against Union General George McClellans Army of the Potomac and was the culmination of Lees attempt to invade the north. Gen. Truman Seymour, quickly reached the edge of the East Woods at the Smoketown Road. The Tigers poured heavy fire into the 2nd and 6th Wisconsin, temporarily checking their advance. The 5th North Carolinas Captain Thompson came up to me in a very excited manner and tone cried out to me They are flanking us! I will have a battery here to help you.. Just eight hours in, there were over 15,000 casualties. Eventually he decided against another general assault. After chasing Confederate skirmishers off the Miller farm, Gibbons men headed for the northwest corner of the cornfield and began taking fire from Douglass troops and the Stonewall Brigade posted in the West Woods. Take a virtual tour of Antietam Battlefield by clicking on the links for the battlefield tour stops below. Forward, guide centre, halt. And when Lee heard a copy of Special Order 191 was missing, he knew his scattered army was vulnerable and rushed to reunite its units. Had Franklin overwhelmed McLaws and marched hard for Harpers Ferry, he might have lifted the siege and checked any subsequent movement by Jackson. Union troops fired first at the Confederates left flank and the carnage began. After McClellan fails to pursue Lee on his retreat south, Lincoln loses faith in his general. When Frenchs troops arrived, fighting ensued at close range. From his headquarters at Chantilly, Virginia, Lee wrote to Confederate President Jefferson Davis of his intent to carry the war to Northern soil. One of his junior officers observed a large Union formation moving to the right. As Brig. (4) At 8:00 a.m., Gen. Joseph Mansfields Twelfth Corps, over 7,000 soldiers, arrived and drove back Hoods men and the Confederate reinforcements from the Sunken Road. The fighting was so gory Sunken Road earned a new name: Bloody Lane. Sergeant E.J. Commanders on both sides were trying to make order out of chaos, and even the most hardened veteran could scarcely comprehend the unimaginable holocaust that engulfed the cornfield, the woods, turnpike, and high ground around the Dunker Church, where more than 8,000 soldiers, Union and Confederate, lay dead or wounded. It explains what happened in Antietam's Cornfield and why. The Cornfield: Antietam's Bloody Turning Point By David A. Welker Casemate, 2020, $34.95. Greenes 2nd Brigade, under Colonel Henry J. Stainrook, reached the Smoketown Road and unhinged the Confederate right flank. Gen. Mansfield was mortally wounded and Gen. Alpheus Williams took command of the Corps. James Dougherty, 128th Pennsylvania Infantry, wounded in the Cornfield. No constraint upon your free will is intended, no intimidation is allowed, Lee promised. Subscribe to the American Battlefield Trust's quarterly email series of curated stories for the curious-minded sort! The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. The trail turns east and through the middle of the Miller Meadow, Continue east along the line toward the Smoketown Road, Walk north on the trail through the East Woods, Continue across Cornfield Avenue and through the East Woods, Explore the Confederate defense and counterattack in the Corn, Walk south through the historic Cornfield. The Cornfield Trail starts at Auto Tour Stop 4. The Battle of South Mountain began early on September 14, and by 11 am Union troops of Brig. This is that story . After Lee thwarted the plan of General George B. McClellan to lay siege to Richmondthe capital of the Confederate States of Americain the Peninsula Campaign in the spring and summer of 1862, McClellan retreated. The water is deep, swift, and crossable only at three stone bridges, making it a natural defensible location. Maryland was a border state and remained in the Union, but Lee believed that large numbers of Southern sympathizers would rally to his ranks once the Army of Northern Virginia entered the state. Because Federal and Confederate forces repeatedly . 126, May 18,2020, D. R. Millers Cornfield was a long way from New Orleans docks and marshes, but for many "Louisiana Tigers" in Hays Brigade this deadly spot would become their final resting place, By David A. Welker With my book on Antietam's Cornfield finally published, click here for a brief taste of some of the big themes it discusses: "The Cornfield Inside the Action at Antietams Bloody Turning Point" And if you'd like a preview to read a few pages, here's another link you can click on Continue reading The Cornfield Inside the Action at Antietams Bloody TurningPoint. After the Confederates abandoned their campsite around Frederick, McClellans army moved in. On the Confederate left, two brigades under Brig. After he failed to attack Lees depleted troops as they fled Sharpsburg on September 18, he wrote to his wife, Ellen, that, ''those in whose judgment I rely tell me that I fought the battle splendidly & that it was a masterpiece of art.'' Major Rufus Dawes took command, pushing to a rail fence and engaging in a heated fight with Georgia troops south of the cornfield. More Union troops joined in from across the turnpike, and the Texans were caught in a murderous crossfire. Stuart had raided Popes very headquarters, carrying off the generals dress coat. It explains what happened in Antietam's Cornfield and why. Hooker, conspicuously mounted on a white charger, rode to the southern edge of the cornfield and saw an opportunity to rally the remains of his corps, bring artillery forward, and join with XII Corps to strike the decisive blow. The decimated survivors retreated in disorder, leaving behind 2,200 killed and wounded. West Woods 6. Hill worked feverishly to extricate his battered brigades, while the 102nd New York Regiment drove relentlessly toward the high ground around the Dunker Church, where Colonel Lees artillerymen were doing their best to limber their guns and retire. It is necessary for you to abandon your position tonight. He takes his opportunity on September 22. During the course of the morning, the cornfield, a space 250 yards long and 400 yards wide, changed hands 15 times. Reinforcements from Longstreet tried to stem the tide but were driven back. As Jacksons line wavered under unrelenting Union pressure, two brigades of his old division, 1,150 strong, rolled out of the West Woods. What happened next was pivotal: On September 13, two Union soldiers, Private Barton W. Mitchell and Sergeant John M. Bloss, discovered a copy of Special Order 191 with detailed Confederate troop movements, allegedly wrapped around three cigars. Lees back was to the Potomac, and only Botelers Ford at Shepherdstown offered a clear avenue of escape across the river if the Confederates were driven from the field. As for Gibbon's brigade, the 2nd and 6th Wisconsin regiments led the brigade with the 19th Indiana and 7th Wisconsin regiments in close support, with Battery B split to support both wings of the brigade. The fighting, he said, was like a great tumbling together of all heaven and earththe slaughter on both sides was enormous. By 10 am, the opening phase of the battle had blown itself out, and the fighting swung southward. The number increased, and larger and larger grew the field of the blue until it seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see, and from the tops of the mountains down to the edges of the stream gathered the great army of . Lee directed Lt. Gen. James Longstreets three divisions to cross South Mountain, a ridgeline running north to south along the eastern edge of the Cumberland Valley, and proceed to Boonsboro, about halfway to Hagerstown. By the evening of the 13th, it appeared to Lee that his risky plan was coming apart. "Battle of Antietam: Carnage in a Cornfield", "cwla - Antietam Modern Image Gallery 11 Frame", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Miller%27s_Cornfield&oldid=1139340604, Battlefields of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Following the debacle at Second Bull Run, Lincoln turned again to McClellan, whose extreme timidity in the field was contrasted with his superb organizational skills and the enduring confidence of his men. Still, it endorsed the idea that the war wasnt just about states rights but also stopping slavery. The Cornfield: Antietam's Bloody Turning Point tells the story of what happened in David Miller's once-peaceful farm field on 17 September 1862, which opened the Civil War Battle of Antietam - America's single bloodiest day. Lt. Col. Edward Bragg of the 6th Wisconsin was wounded as the regiment was hit in both flanks. Lincoln and McClellan had a tortured relationship. There they ran headlong into one of Lawtons brigades under Colonel James A. Walker. By September 12, the Army of Northern Virginia expected to mass in the vicinity of Hagerstown, poised for the push into Pennsylvania. On September 9, Lee issued Special Order 191 defining his Maryland Campaign. His plan to enter northern territory divided his army, sending each unit to march on a specific town: Boonsboro and Hagerstown in Maryland, and Harpers Ferry and Martinsburg in West Virginia. Download the official NPS app before your next visit. The Cornfield: Antietam's Bloody Turning Point tells for the first time the full story of the struggle to control "the Cornfield," the action on which the costly battle of Antietam turned. Antietam | Cornfield | Sep 17, 1862 | 8:00 - 8:30 am (November 2021) [PDF] 580.63 KB Preserve 128 sacred acres at Antietam and Shepherdstown We can add 6 additional acres to the 130-year-old Antietam Battlefield site and preserve 122 acres of nearly-pristine land at Shepherdstown all part. The Iron Brigade headed down the turnpike and into the northwest corner of the cornfield, while Duryea struck toward the East Woods and the cornfields southern edge. In the afternoon, the third and final major assault by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's Ninth Corps pushes over a bullet-strewn stone bridge at Antietam Creek. Libby remembered a loud response from the Maine men to the contrary. About noon on the 16th, Jackson rode up to find Lee and Longstreet observing the Union troops across the creek. Amidst a firestorm of Confederate shells, just as his brigade was heading into the hell of Antietam's Cornfield, Colonel William Christian suddenly muttered "I've always had a great fear of shelling." And with that, he simply vanished By David A. Welker William Henry Christian was born on April 9th 1825 in Utica, New York. The Proclamation, which vows to free the slaves of all states still in rebellion as of January 1, 1863, will forever change the course of the war and the nation by marrying the Union cause with an attack on the institution of slavery. Edward Bragg of the east Woods at the Smoketown Road closed to 30 yards, and the took. Than 250 yards long and 400 yards wide, changed hands 15 times to be flanked, he have... Recruited exclusively within the city of Philadelphia and crossable only at three stone bridges making! 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