Miller's Cornfield, The Battle of Antietam | Animated Battle Map

[@xotl2780]

Of all the carnage and all the death and all the terror of the Civil War, there's a strange and special kind of fear that comes over me when I think of what it must have been like to have been in that cornfield on that day during that battle.

[@harveywallbanger3123]

Having played War of Rights on the Antietam map, the strategy appears to be firing blindly through the corn at head level. The corn provides concealment but not cover. You can't see anything and if you cross into the open you risk being immediately fired on with no time to respond. A Minié ball goes a long way and is very heavy... I am not at all surprised that the corn was all chopped down by bullets.

[@stevent9179]

Death's high carnival was on full display for sure that morning. 💀💀💀

[@garneroutlaw1]

​@Intellectual Ammunition From everything I've read, The Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania was the worst of all the fighting. Just got done reading Norfolk Artillery Blues diary, and he said it was a constant roar of musketry all day long. Crazy.

[@xotl2780]

@Intellectual Ammunition Well see this is Antietam, that's in Maryland. Rebs called it the battle of Sharpsburg.

[@REVNUMANEWBERN]

Bet the farmer was pissed

[@johnnychaos152]

I had two great great uncles that squared off with each other in the Cornfield. One with the 1st Virginia (Irish) Battalion and the other was in the 19th Indiana of the Iron Brigade. My Confederate ancestor was listed as missing and presumed dead after the battle. My Union ancestor survived Antietam but would later be killed at Gettysburg.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much for sharing. I hope this animation helped to clarify your ancestor's role in the battle.

[@TheConfederate1863]

I m sorry for your loss

[@michaelbarnett2527]

Great job as usual. Seeing it like this gives me a better perspective than I’ve had before. It’s very interesting how many times that cornfield changed hands...

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Stiglr]

Horrible, confused, bitter fighting from all angles at Antietam!!! This is my favorite battlefield to tour, it is simply beautiful in the the fall with the 7 foot corn and the autumn colors... last time I visited I even got a chance to walk along the periphery of Miller's corn field, nearest the East Woods. A sobering experience!

[@gyges5495]

Read Scott Hartwigs excellent book “I Dread the Thought of the Place”

[@williamiselin3977]

Thank you for these mini documentaries.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

You are very welcome. If you have not done so already, please consider subscribing to the channel and please check out my other videos. I think you will enjoy them.

[@Getofftheinternet6969]

My ancestor, Conrad Waldsmith, fought in the 107th PA in the cornfield. Good thing he has the IRON BRIGADE protecting his regiment's right

[@ricjon3621]

My 4th great grandfather Pvt Jacob Welsh Co A 107thPV fought there also. WIA 3 July 1863 @ Gettysburg & POW 19 Aug 1864 @ Weldon RR. He lived until 1928.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

I hope this animation helped clarify your ancestor's role in the battle. Please consider subscribing to the channel if you have not done so already. I also have a patreon page if you are interested. Thank you so much for your support.

[@cwaldst]

I’m related to Conrad Waldsmith also. Ive just started to research him when stumbled across the video. Great job

[@richardmitchell2527]

My Great Grandfather was captured at Antitem, escaped from the train to prison, rejoined his company and near the end of the war was captured again at Cold Harbor. He served as a teamster.What a brave and gallant generation of people

[@thelakeman5207]

If there's one thing you have to do in your life, visit Antietam. Know the details of the battle before you go. It's a religious experience.

[@claytonkaeiser6214]

This is great. My daughter & I visited the battlefield on the 150th anniversary in 2012. My g-g-grandfather and his twin brother served in the 124th Pa. Regiment, which you reference in the animation.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much for sharing. I hope this animation helped clarify your ancestor's role in the battle. Please check out my other videos. I think you will enjoy them.

[@harveywallbanger3123]

Both sides of the Battle of Antietam were riddled with failures stemming from incompetency and bad luck. The copy of Lee's Special Order 191 that had been found by the Union wrapped around some cigars belonged to D.H Hill, though he denied any knowledge of it. McClellan then, in his usual way, botched the incredible opportunity available to him, going into battle at Sharpsburg half-assed and coming out of it the same way, having committed roughly half his available forces and letting the Confederates escape. Tactically, it was a brutal slugfest, with a slight edge to Jackson's Corps for it's superior morale and discipline despite truly ghastly casualties. There's a reason Antietam is called "bloody and indecisive". It could have been "bloody and decisive" if McClellan wasn't so inherently timid. Fitz John Porter did him no favors either. Edit: personally I think the D.H Hill matter should have resulted in him being cashiered on the spot, given the grievous nature of his error, but the matter was under considerable more confusion at the time and so his denials were more credible. It's now known with 100% accuracy the order/cigars were found at one of Hill's personal encampments. He, or somebody very close to him, got the orders from Chilton's messenger, then (once informed of their contents), forgot entirely that the paper was deeply dangerous intel and used it to wrap some cigars, which fell out of his pocket at some point during the move to a new camp. For comparison, Jackson burnt his copy of the orders immediately after reading them, and Longstreet "chewed his like a plug of tobacco". They were no fools. D.H Hill was always a malignant element, IMHO.

[@johnmac3410]

Take a look at Alexander Gardner"s photos taken 2 days after the battle. You'll see dead rebels of Starke"s brigade along the Hagerstown Pike. These photos were taken after the burial crews had time to bury some of the dead. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

[@chaosXP3RT]

This is awesome! I've been trying to learn more about the Iron Brigade since I was born here in Wisconsin!

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

I'm so happy you have found the channel and I hope it helps you understand the actions in this battle. Please check out my other video. I think you will enjoy them.

[@DiaperGranny11]

Read "A Full Blown Yankee of the Iron Brigade" by Rufus Dawes. Excellent read about the Iron Brigade from one hell of a soldier!

[@andrewhoward9870]

Fantastic detail! The narration with the animations really are clarifying and bring the battle to life. Well done!

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much. If you have not done so already, please consider subscribing to the channel and check out my other videos, especially my other animated battle maps.

[@samferguson7222]

I’m a Texan But glad the union won. Still proud of how my fellow Texans fought. USA forever!

[@82mccord]

Same from Alabama.

[@naftaking]

Thanks for the video. My great great grandfather was wa member of the 128th Pennsylvania and I never had a better understanding of what small part they took at the cornfield. I did read an account in which another member of this unit wrote about advancing through the cornfield and having to step over the dead and dying to move forward.

[@pauleyplay]

No he was not He had to be born around 1840. At 20 year regeneration your mother born about 1900 You about 20 years later. So you are about 100 ? Well done !

[@naftaking]

@@pauleyplay I will not debate the facts with someone who does not know. I know for a fact the he was and that he was also captured at Chancellorsville, spending a short time at Libby Prison until exchanged, which was still happening at the time. When his unit was mustered out he was considered AWAL as he did show. Granted, sir, I may have been off by a great or so. But that does not change the story. You comment is needless and a total waste of your time and mine.

[@Pablo668]

Great work as usual. Very costly battle on both sides. Lee couldn't continue on strategically in Maryland and headed back South. The Union army more or less sat in place and licked its wounds after the severe mauling it received. I do believe it was because of this that Lincoln ran out of patience with McClellan and replaced him.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much. Lincoln definitely ran out of patience with McClellan, but he would have to go through both Burnside and Hooker.

[@richardglady3009]

I did subscribe...your Civil War videos look great. This was a nice video. Antietam is my favorite Civil war battle and you did a good job covering what can be a confusing section of the battle. Thank you.

[@asuperstraightpureblood]

Very good video. Great voice. Fantastic narration. First rate sir...🤓

[@RamonesFan201]

i love your content dude.. i love battle documentaries like these and its good too hear the narrator thats not british for a change. keep it up bud.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much for the kind words. I really appreciate all the views. I'm a one man show doing everything by myself.

[@aesoundforge]

Probably the best battle docs ive seen. Ive heard many times how the cornfield changed hands but never saw it in detail like this. Really great. I subscribed and am excited to watch more!

[@JackPoynter]

This video, portraying the Battle at Miller's Cornfield, part of the Battle of Antietam, or Sharpsburg, as it's known in the South, has a personal interest for me. My great-great-grandfather's company, the Twiggs County Guards, Company I of the 6th Georgia Volunteer infantry, was part of Colquitt's Brigade, Daniel Harvey Hill's Division, which fought in the Cornfield., see 6:11 in the animation. More about this action can be found in Stephen W. Sears' book, "Landscape Turned Red", which is about the events leading up to and during The Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg). in the Cornfield, on page 210. The events in the book are not the same as the events in the animations, and seem to be about two different points in the battle.

[@moderndaywyattearp5792]

Finally uploading videos after I’ve sent the kids to bed. This moment I feel could have ended the war. Lee narrowly avoided his armies destruction do to a hard days battle and the union commanders not pressing forward. Had they perused they could have ended the war in the same year.

[@harveywallbanger3123]

McClellan being McClellan. He appointed toadies and they told him what he wanted to hear. Fitz John Porter, in particular, was a real piece of work. His theatrics about caution were precisely what McClellan always felt, so he went ahead and doubled his 25% reserve to 50%. Why not? It's almost as good as 100% and sitting the whole battle out.

[@mjfleming319]

Bull Zye I cant figure Porter out on this occasion. He fought like a lion during the 7 Days battles, but was sluggish and cautious at 2nd Bull Run and Antietam.

[@530eman]

Fantastic analysis, thank you sir

[@Hail_Full_of_Grace]

Just what i was looking for to help me do a few little scenarios in the editor in John Tillers Antietam.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

I'm so glad it helped. Please check out my other videos. I think you will enjoy them.

[@headmahone]

Your videos are thrilling!

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much!!! I truly appreciate it.

[@gregdiamond5355]

Terrific job! In the end, although Lee’s first northern invasion was stopped, didn’t McClellan botch the battle thus Missing a golden opportunity to destroy the ANV?

[@mr.invisable6919]

He had the "slows".....

[@gregdiamond5355]

I think he definitely had something going on that that day between his ears.

[@harveywallbanger3123]

There's legitimately a comedy sketch waiting to happen involving McClellan and Lincoln. They were such incredibly confident personalities with such wildly different perceptions of reality that it's practically a sitcom plot. Like "The Odd Couple". What wacky shit will Tardy George the Young Napoleon come up with to torment Mr. Lincoln's patience this week? Tune in! Edit: Mr. Seward and Mr. Stanton show up as supporting characters. Hilarity ensues!!

[@USGrant-rr2by]

He was a Confederate sympathizer, hence his run for the presidency on a platform of "making peace and letting the CSA go!" However, I don't really think that is what hampered him the first day. The completely uncoordinated attacks, and failure to commit his reserve (15,000 unengaged troops) which could have followed up on successful attacks at the sunken rd. or the CSA right, are just indicative of McClellen's leadership. A great organizer and trainer, but a terrible actual combat general! The Peninsula campaign....Hello!!! But I think his "sympathizing" is what prevented him from attacking the next day (after he received another 10,000 reinforcements that morning) and not pursuing the ANV after they skedaddled! "Some People" would like to make the excuse that they could not pursue due to lack of shoes!!!???

[@sarahaus0478]

Thank you for this video you make it actually like fun to listen to and you like bring the battle to life

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate all the views. Please check out my other videos and consider subscribing if you have not done so already.

[@chasemurraychristopherdola7108]

I love this video and the reason is because I had a 4x great uncle named George Kitzmiller who served valiantly in the ranks of heaven and in the ranks of Company K of the first Pennsylvania reserves infantry regiment

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

I hope this video could help you better understand your ancestor's role in the battle.

[@chasemurraychristopherdola7108]

Have History Will Travel oh it does but what’s even interesting to me is that he was captured along the banks of the chickahominy river and then he was paroled and then after he was released from the confederates he was made a sergeant on November 1st 1862 then 1st sergeant on November 17th then 2nd lieutenant on March 1st 1863 and he ended the war with the rank of captain for galliant and meritorious service

[@blakelester1776]

I think your video explains better than any other I have seen displaying the real desperation on the confederate left at Antietam ... Great video.

[@USGrant-rr2by]

You think that's real Confederate desperation? That was nothing compared with Jeff Davis not being able to find a "clean dress" to wear when skedaddling from Union Cavalry!

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Blake Lester, Thank you so much for the kind words.

[@bdockett]

If there was any place on any battle map where you could say 'The beginning of the end of the Confederacy occurred here' it would be Millers cornfield.

[@btolley100]

Big fan of all your work. One question I have always had about Antietam : why did the Union never try to cut off Lee's escape back over the Potomoc? As I understand it, all that the rebels had was a lightly defended ford. I understand that Lee first had to be be beaten but eventually he was going to have to go back to Virginia, why not trap him in the North, cut off his supply, and destroy him?

[@rodneylove8027]

Excellent work as usual!

[@drmartin5062]

last time I was this early protests were peaceful.

[@johngibbons2858]

Great stuff Thank You

[@Kim-mz8co]

Greetings from Cambodia. You did a great job with this video and explanation. I had relatives on both sides of this war. Freaky to be watching the battle, looking at the map, and seeing the home of my Samuel Mumma family relatives and the Dunker Church where they attended. You stopped at 10:00am so I'm hoping you will have another installment soon! I'll be watching for that. Clara Barton (another one of my relatives) arrived around noon with food and supplies for the wounded. I'm sure she didn't look to see which uniform the soldiers were wearing as she fed and cared for the wounded and dying over the next couple of days. Thanks for this.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

I do have the second half in the form of the bloody lane. Please check it out. Thank you so much for the kind words. Please consider subscribing if you have not done so yet. And please check out my other videos.

[@Kim-mz8co]

@@HistoryGoneWilder Yes, thank you! I searched and found that one right after I left the comment. And, yes, I'm a new subscriber. Keep up the great work! You do interesting videos I can easily follow through lots of information.

[@spikejonze6182]

Great maps man. Well done.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you very much. I am currently animating Chickamauga. Please check it out.

[@raynagel7462]

My great great grandfather was wounded in the cornfield, Co C 90th Pa Infantry

[@284Winchester]

Thanks you for this. My GGGgrandfather was in the 13th Alabama and died that day.

[@markdavis180]

RIP

[@plushman3685]

I’m surprised the 1st TX was still a viable fighting force after that fight

[@drewdurbin4968]

There are very few places on civil war battlefields that approach the brutality of miller's cornfield.

[@m1moss]

Very well done.

[@paulg5287]

Another great video, one brief suggestion though..... I found the text on the confederate forces pretty hard to read, maybe a darker red to make the plain white text pop more? Maybe I just need better eyes?

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you. I will see what I can do.

[@florianpierredumont4775]

What is the name of the music you use at 0:20 ? It fits the video very well !

[@thelakeman5207]

While I visited Antietam, I stepped into the cornfield, about 6 feet from from the opening to the stonewall and took a picture. I look at that picture a lot, wondering how those first union forces felt walking out of the cornfield into confederate bullets ripping thru their ranks. Stood in the sunken road where later on in the battle the carnage was even worse. I wonder, is this going to happen again in today's political climate? Please, save America from this disaster.

[@jeffwolinski2659]

I was just there yesterday and wondered the same thing. I wish so many Americans could just lose their hatred for other Americans.

[@leetheflea4096]

I wish I could say it won't. But if you want the truth... I would say it is inevitable. The political divide is that bad. It's a damn shame. But one side has gotta win. That's an even worse shame.... I don't want a drop of American blood spilled, be it Democrats who hate me or Republicans I often disagree with but ultimately align with. American blood is precious and no less precious if it comes from beneath white, black, brown, yellow skin.. It's a damn shame it will be spilled again for one side to write the history and claim they were right. It doesn't matter who it is, they're wrong. But it still will happen.

[@chasemurraychristopherdola7108]

Can you do animated maps on the fight for burnsides bridge and the final attack in which two divisions of Ambrose Burnsides ninth Corp under Wilcox and rodman fought against two confederate divisions the first one under David Rumpth Jones who would face Wilcoxs division while the confederate division under Ambrose Powell Hill aka A P Hill engaged the division under Rodman

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much for watching and supporting the channel. I will put it up on the poll on patreon in the future. If you would like to vote, please consider joining the patreon. It just costs a dollar to join.

[@chasemurraychristopherdola7108]

Have History Will Travel okay and I love watching your animated maps along with the civil war trust animated maps

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

@@chasemurraychristopherdola7108 thank you so much. I love their maps as well. That's what inspired me to do my maps.

[@jfiery]

@@HistoryGoneWilder An excellent video as usual. wanted to let you know in case maybe it was sent to your spam folder that I did send an email to the address you provided. I know you're a busy man so reply when you have the chance. Thanks again for the excellent video.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Let me check the spam folder.

[@REVNUMANEWBERN]

I will always believe if the Honorable R.E. Lee had of NEVER went north and just defended the south land the outcome would of been different

[@lightness7458]

I got this video to 1.2k your welcome

[@Michael-zz2xp]

Love your channel man

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much

[@Michael-zz2xp]

@@HistoryGoneWilder last summer I Was at Gettysburg listening to your channel and seeing the the battlefield because of this you

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

@@Michael-zz2xp I'm so glad to hear that. I was in Gettysburg last year as well. It's such an amazing place.

[@jonpage4029]

Awesome as always

[@chasevossmeyer1982]

My ancestor was in Tyndale's brigade with the 5th OVI

[@ronnyrono782]

This song is a copy of an old theme song for a western, Have Gun Will Travel. You should Google the tune it rocks

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

I know lol. I rewrote the lyrics and commissioned a musician to sing and alter the music a little bit.

[@ceilingfangroyper7604]

It use to fill me with a sense of pride when the confederates or union would win a battle and clearly beat one side or the other, it’s just tragic now realizing it’s Americans killing each other over and over again over something that still is a problem today

[@1i1HrnPrpPplEater]

At 5:08, you talk about the sound of the "rebel yell", what exactly did it sound like? I know there is no actual audio of it from the war, but is there any accurate descriptions of it any where or audio recordings of confederate veterans that are accurate. I have seen a couple videos of some very old confederate veterans doing it on YT, but they were so old they couldn't yell very loud.

[@USGrant-rr2by]

Reinvent the cat-apult, ala "History of the World-Part I"!!

[@SourMlkSea]

There's a video on KZbin somewhere I forget which one where they do the rebel yell and then multiply it so it sounds like hundreds are doing it. Its on KZbin somewhere I'm sure you can find it if you do a little more digging.

[@1i1HrnPrpPplEater]

@@SourMlkSea Is this the video you are talking about? kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWfNhKSqaJ6pfK8

[@ericcrouch7000]

Awesome video.

[@USGrant-rr2by]

Didn't you play QB for Nebraska?

[@rupben01]

As a British Historian that is now studying the American Civil War.. No matter what battle it is, There are always DEVASTATING erros (in EVERY BATTLE from 1861-64) made on both sides, and static troops that could have been used to instigate offense or better defense. Now my biggest question is, are Americans teaching these battles to WEST POINT?????.. And maybe why Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, were all lost !!!!!

[@arsenal-slr9552]

Do the Battle of Alligator Creek next

[@USGrant-rr2by]

Oh, wouldn't it be awesome if he backed it up with 'Crocodile Rock" by Elton John?

[@model-man7802]

If memory still serves? Mansfield was the oldest man killed a Sharpsburg.

[@model-man7802]

@Craig Peterson He was 85 I believe.

[@jeffdarnell7942]

"Where's your Division Hood??". "Dead in the field!!". Lost ALL respect for Hood after hearing Bout the Battle of Franklin...when he had 6 Generals, (Including Patrick Cleburne, Who was the best of the Army Of Tennessee's Officers..including Hood, Bragg, all of them. I wish Forrest would had gutted him at the Breakfast that morning...

[@ryanpage9534]

My ggg uncle was with 3rd NC died from his wounds

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

I hope this animated battle map helped you understand your ancestor's role in the battle.

[@ryanpage9534]

@History Gone Wilder | Have History Will Travel yes it did good information

[@Tellgryn]

Wow you did that all wrong, Harry Hay's Louisiana Brigade charged into the cornfield, woods and the other side of the east woods, routing much of the Pennsylvania units. Col Strong's horse is photographed were it fell by the east woods. But you have the Louisiana Brigade doing nothing, thanks but read a lot more on the battle; the brigades action is not covered much at all in the history written of that day, but those 550 odd men did much more than written about and totally forgotten is the charge now? When the Brigade left the field it was ordered to and was down to right at 100 men. In 1982 I went to the battlefield and talked to the head of the park there about Hay's action and the need to place more than the one sign on the field of their actions. The need to place a marker on the high tide of the charge were Strong is killed to show the fighting in cornfield, east woods and the other side woods. The charge totally caught the Union line off guard. Also the Louisiana's did their rebel yell in the charge, but as normal Texas is covered in the video and much of the history of the last 50 years totally forgets the Louisiana charge that saved the line at the time.

[@Tellgryn]

I did not even cover Starke's Brigade which you also under covered it's role in the battle, at one time it had the Iron Brigade to it's front, artillery shooting into it's flank down the road and more Union troops shooting into it's flank and left rear, and was also ordered out of the line. It is the artillery that caused much of the dead on the road in the photographs. The photographs showing the dead on that line is Starke's Brigade troops.

[@mustlovedogs272]

Tellgryn, if it was not a Virginia regiment that did something good then he does not expound on it too much.

[@USGrant-rr2by]

@@mustlovedogs272 mustloveboys, Look who's come out of his racist lost causer closet(among other things)! I never did get to "meet" you when you said you were going to be making a visit to my neck of the woods and would look me up? Did you forget? No, that can't be right, because I even reminded you back in Mar/Apr. Maybe you should just discontinue threatening people? What's wrong, is our host not on the Lost Causer bandwagon? That's too bad! Because we certainly have to make sure all the LOSERS get their proper credit! If you had any brains you'd realize that it is impossible for our host to cover every little aspect of the battle. The video would be 6 hours long! But, good to see you, looking forward to some more "spirited debates"! Cheers LOSER!

[@USGrant-rr2by]

My suggestion would be... you start your own CW history channel! That way you can focus all your videos on the Louisiana brigades! Otherwise you should probably just shut your "D" Holster!

[@mustlovedogs272]

@@USGrant-rr2by Really brave guy on the keyboard again. Probably still sleeps with his parents.

[@apbiggins8mm]

It was reported that the fighting in the cornfield was so heavy on the ragged old 1st Texas regiment that 12 men died trying to retrieve the Texas colors all on the same spot that was the only vattke that any of hoods Texans ever lost there colors

[@zach7193]

First.

[@shiitechannel9875]

Correct for once

[@SMichaelDeHart]

What did you win??

[@shiitechannel9875]

@@SMichaelDeHart internet points, I assume

[@SMichaelDeHart]

@@shiitechannel9875 I thought maybe it was a trip to Hawaii or something.

[@shiitechannel9875]

@@SMichaelDeHart of course, that is the reward for being first on 100 youtube videos. The man was claiming his prize, what a legend