BATTLEFIELD BACKSTORY: When I visit a Civil War battlefield, I like to go where few people visit, places such as the Union IX Corps camp site at Antietam or the bluffs above the Potomac River at Shepherdstown, W.Va. And so two years ago, I parked my car a short distance from the modern bridge and stumbled down into this railroad cut -- the track wasn't laid at the time of the battle -- to get the perspective of 2nd Mississippi when it was overwhelmed by Iron Brigade soldiers of the 6th Wisconsin and other Union troops on July 1, 1863.
"My color guards were all killed and wounded in less than five minutes," 2nd Mississippi Corporal William Murphy wrote of that scene, "and also my colors were shot more than one dozen times, and the flag staff was hit and splintered two or three times. Just about that time a squad of soldiers made a rush for my colors and our men did their duty. They were all killed or wounded, but they still rushed for the colors with one of the most deadly struggles that was ever witnessed during any battle in the war." (Click at upper right to enlarge and click here for all posts on this blog.)
Source: Murphy to F.A. Dearborn, June 29, 1900, Papers of E. S. Bragg, State Historical Society of Wisconsin
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