Antietam event1997

The Cornfield, 135th Anniversary

A Soldiers Account
of the Cornfield

400 AM I was awaken by the long roll and the sound of bugle and knew it was time to ready myself for battle. Company C gathered with their pards from the 2nd and fell in quietly in the looming darkness awaiting the orders to march.

Rifles were checked and readied for the fight ahead and all was hushed.

Our first Sergeant and I were given the honor of guarding the colors as part of the 2nd Wisconsin color guard. Our orders were to NOT let those colors be taken or fall and we were up
to the task.

The order to march was given and in the predawn darkness, the pride of the 2nd went forth into glory once again as was done 135 years ago. While listening to a history of the 2nd being narrated I could sense the men of the second watching us and judging our behavior. Could we meet their standards? Would they accept our feeble at best attempt to portray the carnage they endured? Col. Fairchild, Maj.Mansfield, and the other officers came to my mind as the Cannons erupted in the fog laden fields ahead. The Thunder of cannon and flashes of light highlighted the sky and from where I stood I could see the The mounted officers and cannoneers at their work of raining death upon the enemy.

The advance into the cornfield in the midst of the fog and predawn light was something I'll never forget. We came upon the traitors no more than 30 to 50 feet away. Never saw them until we came upon them! One fool rebel decided to rush the colors and was quickly repelled by First Sgt. Ferranto.

The Johnny picked the wrong group to rush! His pride was a bit ruffled and fortunately for him that was all!

After that it became a bit confusing and we pushed ahead then fell back then push ahead again. I do not believe any video was taken due to the fog and darkness so only our memories will have to suffice to recall the great Battle of the cornfield of 1997.

To me it was the ultimate sense of placing myself in their brogans. Fun, but a solemn experience. Doing my part in this hobby we call re-enacting of which many forget why we do it. After hearing the history of the 2nd recalled so eloquently before the battle we did a rousing cheer for the Grand OLE Second and this sentimental OLE boy had to wipe the tear from his eye. Remember fellows why we do this and never forget the honor and pride, the horror and sacrifice these brave souls made so we can have these wonderful historical experiences.

Pvt. Tim Fairchild
Company C

Photo by: William Graff

Antietam...Many are saying that there have not been that many federal or confederate troops on the same field since the Civil War as there were two weeks ago at the 135th Anniversary reenactment of Antietam.
Those who were there will never forget the countless sights and sounds of this momentous event. the sea of white canvas tents; the sense of anticipation and lurking fear while waiting in the dark before marching off to that Cornfield, and the ghostly battalions marching into view from out of the fog and mist and just as quickly, silently disappearing into the darkness.
Thumping artillery turning the predawn fog into a flashing, flaring veil of orange-red color, boiling like the embers in a campfire; the irony of so many Wisconsin farm boys losing their life in , of all ;places, a cornfield, the elation and yet despair as a wall of Confederate soldiers tumbles to the ground under the fire of a Federal volley.
There was the thrill of marching into the roar of battle behind a fife and "Hell On The Wabash," the crashing crescendo of battle at Bloody Lane, and as the guns fell silent and the smoke drifted away, the triumph of opposing soldiers, Americans all, shaking hands at the end of the battle and the weekend.

Some say that they felt the spirits of those "boys of 1861" watching over the fields. Indeed there were many soldiers in our ranks who we didn’t recognize and haven’t seen since leaving Maryland. Yet we know them well. They whisper to us across the fields and the years. "Never forget."
Co. B Newsletter

I will go to my grave remembering this great event in honoring our fallen forefathers...both of the Blue and gray/butternut. I guess I was in the right place at the right time because I had the opportunity in "rubbing elbows" with the very best of the best. I saw acts of kindness, courtesy and patience. Perhaps the one thing that capped it off occurred hours after the event was officially over. I had helped haul out gear for the 1st Minnesota, then went to the task of caring for our "boys" of the 2nd Wisconsin in getting their gear out to their waiting bus. Traffic was....well, let's just say that by the time I reached the registration area on my way out, it was after 6 p.m. Sunday. One of Maryland's "finest" passed a cold can of pop and a bag of chips to me and said he had no use for them as I was making my way out to the highway. The camaraderie with the musicians under my baton will last me for years to come. What an event! What a great mass of people! EVERYONE SHOULD PAT THEMSELVES ON THE BACK (with perhaps the "unhappy camper" who had to be so vulgar and not even having the guts to sign his/her name a few messages back). One bad egg amidst some 115,000 is still a pretty good record though.

Fred Cook


The Cornfield	Photo by William Graff
The Battle

Our Drummer Boys	Beginning of the Cornfield battle
Antietam Antietam was, by far, the best event I have ever attended. Maybe because this was my first national event. Just the thought of seeing 14,000 men in uniform and over 90 cannon was enough to make my mouth water. Watching the battalions come on line and march through our gun line is a sight I will not soon forget. The best battle of the weekend had to be Sunday mornings fight at the “Cornfield.” At 5:00 AM the Battery arrived on the field. It was still dark, and there was enough fog on the field so that you could see only about 30 yards. Then came the cannonade. All I can say is WOW! For half-hour we exchanged volleys with the Reb’s. They were only about 200 to 300 yards away and after the second volley we couldn’t see the muzzle flashes from their cannon. We could not even see the gun next to us in line, and they were only twenty yards away! It really made me realize how much of an effect smoke played in the battles. The battery was on a little hill on the left flank of the Union’s gun line, so we had a nice view of the field. When the troops marched through the cornfield all that we could see was their battle flags, the tips of their rifle’s which were at right shoulder shift arms, and the corn shake as they charged through. Our position had two problems. First, we were only twenty yards from the corn so we couldn’t see very well and second, we had no infantry support whatsoever. About two hours into the fight the battery had an interesting surprise. A Reb battalion of 300 men over ran our position. Because of the corn and the smoke, we never saw them coming. They were so close, that we couldn’t shoot the cannon at them, so we had to defend the pieces with pistols, rammers, trail spikes, or whatever we could get our hands on. Even though they overran us, we still kept firing as if it never happened. About a half-hour later we had a pause in our firing because of a lack of targets. Suddenly a Reb battalion of about 80 men burst out of the corn. They stopped at the corn’s edge and laid down. We looked at them for a second and then shouted, “It’s OK Reb’s, were not loaded. Come on through.” We didn’t really want to hurt them. As they came through I said to one of their Corporals, “You know, laying down like that won’t protect you from canister fire.” He said, “I know,. We were laying down to show that we were all dead. When we came out of that corn, all we could see were twelve Federal cannon pointed right at us. I heard ‘Oh, shi_!’ coming out of every man’s mouth in our line.” I replied, “Don’t worry Reb, you wouldn’t have died. We aren’t really here, we’ve been overrun already!” The funniest part of the battle happened almost at its conclusion. Another Reb battalion had attacked the far left gun in our line. In the middle of the attack they ran out of ammunition. They were so desperate, that they started lobbing corn at the gun crew. So, the crew lobbed it back. They fought that way for ten minutes until the exhausted Reb’s came out of the corn, shook hands with the gun crew and laughed for the rest of the battle. I guess the Reb’s will do any thing to win the war. That night, when almost everyone had gone home, I went down to the cornfield and looked at all of the matted down corn. There was some fog rolling in and there was a full moon. Walking around that field was eerie, almost frightful. All the corn for 50 yards was mowed down, as if by a seethe, except for a few lone stalks. You could just feel the battle swirling around you and you could almost see the men getting mowed down in great numbers. It really opened my eyes to the tragedy that was the battle of Antietam. Respectfully submitted, Cpl. Scott Gutzke Battery B, 4th U.S. Field Artillery My 19 year old, great great uncle Emmett Johnson, 1st. Corp., with Co. K of the 3d. Wisconsin was killed in the cornfield that morning 135 years ago and the moment when we stepped into the dew covered wall of corn was a shift of time for me. I felt at that moment that time was warped in a strange and thoughtful way. Jim Johnson