Where the Battle of Antietam Was Won and Lost—Again and Again
On Saturday, February 28, 2025, attorney and Civil War historian John Benson will lead members of the Bucks County Civil War Round Table on an in-depth, ground-level tour of the Miller Cornfield at Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg.
Fought on September 17, 1862, the Battle of Antietam remains the bloodiest single day in American history. In less than nine hours, more than 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing.
Over 8,800 of those casualties occurred in the Miller Cornfield—within just three hours.
This modest 24-acre farm field became the epicenter of some of the most savage fighting ever seen on American soil. Wave after wave of Union troops under Joseph Hooker, Joseph Mansfield, and Edwin V. Sumner surged into the corn—only to be shattered by the Confederate defenders under Thomas J. Jackson. Entire regiments were destroyed. One Louisiana brigade suffered over 60 percent casualties in just thirty minutes.
The corn was cut down as if by a scythe. Men advanced, fell, regrouped, and advanced again—often over the bodies of those who had attacked only moments before. Control of the field changed hands repeatedly, leaving behind devastation that shocked even veteran soldiers.
Under Benson’s guidance, participants will walk the ground where these events unfolded, tracing troop movements, command decisions, and moments of courage and catastrophe. This two-mile walking tour cuts through confusion and myth to reveal what actually happened—and why the
