Giving A Great Description of The Fighting In The Cornfield, Antietam

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/10/2013

A great war-date Union officer's battle letter, 4pp. 8vo., written by Capt. Henry A. Wiley, Co. B, 104th New York Vols., "near the Battlefield, [Sharpsburg], Sept. 18, 1862", in part: "I wrote to you a few lines yesterday to let you know that I came out of the battle all right. Our brigade as well as our regiment was very badly cut up. This morning our whole brigade of 4 regiments only number 192. Ours was the largest. We had 70 men/ A few men will come in today…none of my company are killed and but four are wounded…I have not seen Frank Scribner, Geo. Snyder, A. Marble & T. P. Curtis but some of the men have seen them…I have just returned from the battlefield. I went by permission of Gen. Duryee to see if I could find any of our men. I found several from our regiment but none from our company…I hardly know how to describe the battle. It was probably one, if not the bloodiest ever fought on this continent. Such a scene I never want to witness again. I could almost walk on the dead bodies for 40 rods. A whole division were opposed to our brigade. We had to fall back through the cornfield which we had advanced. We lay at the far end of the field and saw them march up…they come up in fine style, their officers on horse back leading them on as they advanced and were forming in line of battle. we opened on…them and bullets flew and whizzed around our heads as well as theirs. We fell back about 1/4 of a mile and then rallied…and advanced on them again. I could count nine rebel flags all flying at once. We opened on them again. Just then Gen. Sumner come up to our support and we were relieved…in the afternoon we received large reinforcements and if Jackson does not [?] in crossing the Potomac today or tonight we shall give him battle tomorrow and may succeed in capturing him…I never seen such a sight and never want to again. Men all blown to pieces…dead rebel lay on the field…and the rebels left them there. [They] did not even try to carry off their wounded. It was perfectly awful go to onto this battlefield…". VG

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