7th OVI
Sergeant
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2009
- Messages
- 647
This is a second diorama of the battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg, that I call the “The Last 30 Yards”. It is the morning of September 17th, 1862 in an area of the Miller farm that will be ever known as just The Cornfield. The 1st Texas entered the Cornfield pursuing Federal troops with 226 men led by Col. Work when as Gen. Hood said later “they slipped the bridle and got away from the command” They moved through the Cornfield taking fire from Federal batteries as well as retreating troops. Their objective was to clear the Cornfield of Federal forces and continue to move north. They were within 30 yards of the northern end of the Cornfield, at that time the farthest of any Confederate regiment had reached, when the men of Col. Anderson’s Pennsylvania Reserves brigade rose and delivered a series of regimental volleys, first from the 12th Reserves, then the 11th Reserves and finally the 9th Reserves. The Texans would try to hold their ground expecting support from other Confederate forces which never came. They would retreat through the Cornfield leaving behind their dead, wounded and their 2 battle flags. The 1st Texas lost dearly, 8 color bearers who tried to save the Texas flag made from pieces of Lula Wigfall’s mother’s wedding dress. Only about 40 men of the 226 that entered the Cornfield remained of the 1st Texas when the regiment took roll in the evening. The percentage of casualties in the 1st Texas was 82.3%, the highest percentage of any regiment in the war in a single engagement for both Federal and Confederate regiments. I am a direct descendant from a member of the 11th Reserves who was wounded and captured at Gaines Mills earlier in 1862, while not present, I made this diorama with the opening images as if seeing it through his eyes. Hope you enjoy it, until next time.
