31294 - Federal Iron Brigade Charging No.2

Arguably, the Civil War’s most horrific fighting occurred in D.R. Miller’s 24-acre cornfield north of Sharpsburg, Maryland. For nearly three hours, Union and Confederate forces mauled each other in a bloody stalemate. By the time Brigadier General John Gibbon’s Iron Brigade advanced into the cornfield, an artillery duel had been cutting men to pieces with grape shot and shell for over an hour. Initially the height of the corn concealed the men from full view until they were on top of each other resulting in a melee fought with rifle butts and bayonets. Back and forth flowed the carnage and bloodshed – it was estimated that the Cornfield at Antietam changed hands no fewer than 15 times in the course of the battle at the cost of 13,000 casualties.