Brian Downey
Private
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2005
- Location
- North Florida
The combat in farmer David Miller's cornfield at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862 was ferocious. The 6th Georgia Infantry of Colquitt's Brigade was nearly wiped out at the eastern end of that field along the East Woods by about 8:30 that morning.
[full map at Antietam on the Web]
There's a well known story connected with that action which first appeared in Stephen Sears' classic Antietam book Landscape Turned Red (1983):
At least three other books on the battle have used this anecdote since then, too, so if you've read much about Antietam, you've probably seen it.
Here's the kicker - I’ve found it isn’t true. No one shot into a corpse.
I was working on Private Ben Witcher's page on AotW this week, and read the original letter Witcher wrote in 1891 - Stephen Sears' source for the tale. Here's what Ben wrote [with my notes and some punctuation]:
I think the way Witcher wrote it makes a better story, too. Sears skips the crucial detail that these are the last 4 men of the regiment on the field, and only 1 of them returned unhurt. That tells you a lot about what those men experienced.
I presume Mr Sears simply misread the letter, and I'm not poking him for that. Mistakes happen. If there is poking due, it's for the authors who followed Sears and took his word rather than looking at the source for themselves.
By the way, one author who is going to get it right is Scott Hartwig. You probably know he's working on the 2nd volume of his massive Antietam study, and previewed it a little in an article in the May 2018 America’s Civil War magazine. I found that when I was googling to see who else had fallen into the Sears' trap. Scott didn't.
Here's part of that original letter, for those from Missouri
Ben Witcher's page on AotW is here: http://antietam.aotw.org/officers.php?officer_id=17959
[full map at Antietam on the Web]
There's a well known story connected with that action which first appeared in Stephen Sears' classic Antietam book Landscape Turned Red (1983):
Private B. H. Witcher of the 6th Georgia urged a comrade to stand fast with him, pointing to the neatly aligned ranks still lying to their right and left. They were all dead men, his companion yelled at him, and to prove it he fired a shot into a man on the ground a few yards away; the body did not twitch. Private Witcher was convinced and joined the retreat.
At least three other books on the battle have used this anecdote since then, too, so if you've read much about Antietam, you've probably seen it.
Here's the kicker - I’ve found it isn’t true. No one shot into a corpse.
I was working on Private Ben Witcher's page on AotW this week, and read the original letter Witcher wrote in 1891 - Stephen Sears' source for the tale. Here's what Ben wrote [with my notes and some punctuation]:
… A comrade by my side suggested we had better leave as that [Federal] line is going to charge, but noticing the men lying along the fence I replied no, we have a line, let them come, but, says he, these men are all wounded & dead and shook several to convince me; then, says I, the quicker we get out of this the better.
At this time there were only three others besides myself that started. At this time the Federal line fired & killed one of the four & wounded two others, so I came out alone bringing one wounded … to [the Dunker] church in [the] West Wood. I saw no other troops of ours until I got to church. Here I found a small body of Texans …
He shook rather than shot bodies to be sure they were dead. Makes more sense, too, doesn't it, for all sorts of reasons? I think the way Witcher wrote it makes a better story, too. Sears skips the crucial detail that these are the last 4 men of the regiment on the field, and only 1 of them returned unhurt. That tells you a lot about what those men experienced.
I presume Mr Sears simply misread the letter, and I'm not poking him for that. Mistakes happen. If there is poking due, it's for the authors who followed Sears and took his word rather than looking at the source for themselves.
By the way, one author who is going to get it right is Scott Hartwig. You probably know he's working on the 2nd volume of his massive Antietam study, and previewed it a little in an article in the May 2018 America’s Civil War magazine. I found that when I was googling to see who else had fallen into the Sears' trap. Scott didn't.
Here's part of that original letter, for those from Missouri
Ben Witcher's page on AotW is here: http://antietam.aotw.org/officers.php?officer_id=17959