Episode 51: The Cornfield at the Battle of Antietam

At the Battle of Antietam, beginning at approximately 5:30a.m. on 17 September 1862, a Cornfield owned by the Miller Family became the scene of intense fighting. By about 9a.m., after a series of attacks and counterattacks the mangled Cornfield was in possession of the Union and greatly contributed to the single bloodiest day in United States History.

Elements of the Union I and XII Corps which advanced from the north:

MAJ Rufus R. Dawes, 6th Wisconsin

CPT John B. Callis, 7th Wisconsin

BG Marsena R. Patrick, Commander of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, I Corps

CPL Edmund R. Brown, 27th Indiana

Vied for possession of the Cornfield against elements of Jackson’s and Longstreet’s Wings:

LTC Phillip A. Work, 1st Texas

COL Hamilton A Brown, 1st North Carolina

COL Alfred H. Colquit, Commander of Rains’ Brigade

Dawes, Rufus R. Service with the 6th Wisconsin Volunteers. E. R. Alderman & Sons, 1890. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/fk87h1f59q&seq=11.

Work, Phillip A. “No. 253. Report of Lieut. Col. P. A. Work, First Texas Infantry, of the battle of Sharpsburg.” In The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. ser. 1, vol. 19, pt. 1: Reports, edited by Rover N. Scott and Henry M. Lazelle. Government Printing Office, 1887. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924079609610&view=1up&seq=3.

Callis, John A. “No. 26. Reports of Capt. John B. Callis, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry, of the battles of South Mountain and Antietam.” In The War of the Rebellion.

Patrick, Marsena R. “No. 19. Reports of Brig. Gen. Marsena R. Patrick, U.S. Army, commanding Third Brigade, of the battles of South Mountain and Antietam.” In The War of the Rebellion.

Brown, Hamilton A. “First Regiment.” In Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina, In the Great War 1861-’65. E. M. Uzzell, Printer And Binder, 1901. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/histories-of-the-several-regiments-and-battalions-from-north-carolina-in-the-great-war-1861-65-v.1/3931258?item=3931271.

Colquit, Alfred H. “No. 304. Reports of Col. A. H. Colquit, Sixth Georgia Infantry, commanding brigade, of the battles of Boonsborough and Sharpsburg.” In The War of the Rebellion.

Brown, Edmund R. The Twenty-Seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, 1861 – 1865. First Division 12th and 20th Corps. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t57d33f2n&seq=7.