- Joined
- Feb 13, 2011
- Location
- Howard County, Maryland
Hood's men were preparing breakfast in the West Woods southwest of Dunker Church when they received orders to move at once to the front. The command quickly departed the woods and headed north with Col. William T. Wofford's brigade on the left and Col. Evander M. Law's brigade on the right. Doubleday's and Ricketts' divisions had resumed their advance when they were suddenly attacked by Hood's men. A Union Officer remembered, "A long and steady gray line, unbroken by the fugitives who fly before us, comes sweeping down through the woods around the church. They raise the yell and fire. It is like a scythe running through our line. 'Now save, who can.' It is a race for life that each man runs for the cornfield."
The left of Hood's division drove into the Cornfield, where another round of violence exploded. Hood later wrote, "It was here that I witnessed the most terrible clash of arms, by far, that has occurred during the war." As his men pressed forward, Hood's left flank came under fire from Doubleday's troops, who had fallen back to the west side of Hagerstown Pike. Battery B, 4th U.S. Artillery, also west of the pike, opened fire on the Confederates. The guns fired canister at a range of less than twenty-five yards, throwing splintered pieces of fence rails and men alike into the air. The Confederates who survived the blast began shooting down the gunners.
Confederate Dead along the West Side of Hagerstown Pike. The Cornfield is
to the right.
While part of Hood's command fought along the pike, the 1st Texas Infantry pushed through the Cornfield toward the Miller farmhouse, where Magilton's and Anderson's brigades of Meade's division had arrived earlier. The one-sided confrontation resulted in the Texans' suffering over 80 percent casualties and retreating to the Cornfield.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Overview.htm#battle
The left of Hood's division drove into the Cornfield, where another round of violence exploded. Hood later wrote, "It was here that I witnessed the most terrible clash of arms, by far, that has occurred during the war." As his men pressed forward, Hood's left flank came under fire from Doubleday's troops, who had fallen back to the west side of Hagerstown Pike. Battery B, 4th U.S. Artillery, also west of the pike, opened fire on the Confederates. The guns fired canister at a range of less than twenty-five yards, throwing splintered pieces of fence rails and men alike into the air. The Confederates who survived the blast began shooting down the gunners.
Confederate Dead along the West Side of Hagerstown Pike. The Cornfield is
to the right.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Overview.htm#battle