Overview

"A new and comprehensive history of the action in the Cornfield during the battle of Antietam, 1862. Antietam. For generations of Americans this word-the name of a bucolic stream in western Maryland-held the same sense of horror and carnage that the simple date 9/11 does for modern America. Even today, Antietam eclipses only this modern tragedy as America's single bloodiest day, on which 22,000 Americans became casualties in a war to determine our nation's future. Antietam is forever burned into the American psyche, a battle bathed in blood alone that served no military purpose, brought no decisive victory. This much Americans know. What they didn't know is why this is so-until now. The Cornfield: Antietam's Bloody Turning Point for the first time tells the full story of the exciting struggle to control ""the Cornfield,"" the action on which the costly battle of Antietam turned, in a thorough yet readable narrative. It explains what happened in Antietam's Cornfield and why. Because Federal and Confederate forces repeatedly traded control of the spot, the fight for the Cornfield is a story of human struggle against fearful odds, of men seeking to do their duty, of simply trying to survive. Many of the included first-hand accounts have never been revealed to modern readers and never have they been assembled in such a comprehensive, readable form. At the same time, The Cornfield offers fresh perspectives about the battle of Antietam, arguing that the battle turned on events in the Cornfield because of two central facts - that Union General George McClellan's linear thinking demanded that the Cornfield must be taken and that because of this, the repeated failure by the generals McClellan charged with fulfilling this task created a self-reinforcing cycle of disaster that doomed the Union's prospects for success - at the cost of thousands of lives. The Cornfield offers new perspectives that may be controversial - particularly to those who accept unchallenged the views of the battle's first historians and its generals, who too often sought to shape our understanding for their own purposes - but which certain to change modern understanding of how the battle of Antietam was fought and its role in American history. AUTHOR: David Welker is a professional historian and military analyst for the Federal Government. He holds a master's degree in International Affairs from American University and a bachelor's in History and Political Science from Westminster College. He is also a published author. 20 maps, 20 illustrations"

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9781612008325

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Reviews

''Author David A. Welker ...has written a carefully researched, very detailed - but also very readable - account of this part of the Battle of Antietam to bring clarity to chaos and help readers understand the succession of events in the Cornfield... He is to be commended for skilfully structuring a narrative that will appeal to both general readers and military historians. The book benefits from an unusually lavish provision of twenty six, specially drawn maps''-- Miniature Wargames Welker's scholarship provides an important contribution to the study of the battle of Antietam that complements an important body of work as well as enhances our understanding of the fighting in The Cornfield. It is a valuable addition to the genre. -- Civil War News Heavily annotated with endnotes, this fine work stands out as one of the best new books on Antietam in the past decade. -- York Daily Record The extensive use of primary sources makes this book of interest to all Civil War enthusiasts. -- Library Journal Welker brings the intense combat and tragedy of the Cornfield to a personal level by interspersing the text with various human interest stories...Students of the battle will want to pick up a copy for Welker's analysis alone. -- Emerging Civil War

Welker brings the intense combat and tragedy of the Cornfield to a personal level by interspersing the text with various human interest stories...Students of the battle will want to pick up a copy for Welker's analysis alone. --Emerging Civil War

The morning action is described through a combination of gripping personal accounts, many of which are published for the first time...a tantalizing narrative that sheds new light on the famous battle that became known as the single bloodiest day in the American Civil War. -- Military Heritage Magazine The book is one that should be on every shelf of anyone who has interest in the military history of the Civil War. The continual ebb and flow of both sides over the remnants of the bloody cornfield are of epic proportion. -- A Wargamers Needful Things ''Author David A. Welker ...has written a carefully researched, very detailed - but also very readable - account of this part of the Battle of Antietam to bring clarity to chaos and help readers understand the succession of events in the Cornfield... He is to be commended for skilfully structuring a narrative that will appeal to both general readers and military historians. The book benefits from an unusually lavish provision of twenty six, specially drawn maps''-- Miniature Wargames Welker's scholarship provides an important contribution to the study of the battle of Antietam that complements an important body of work as well as enhances our understanding of the fighting in The Cornfield. It is a valuable addition to the genre. -- Civil War News Heavily annotated with endnotes, this fine work stands out as one of the best new books on Antietam in the past decade. -- York Daily Record The extensive use of primary sources makes this book of interest to all Civil War enthusiasts. -- Library Journal Welker brings the intense combat and tragedy of the Cornfield to a personal level by interspersing the text with various human interest stories...Students of the battle will want to pick up a copy for Welker's analysis alone. -- Emerging Civil War

Heavily annotated with endnotes, this fine work stands out as one of the best new books on Antietam in the past decade. -- York Daily Record The extensive use of primary sources makes this book of interest to all Civil War enthusiasts. -- Library Journal Welker brings the intense combat and tragedy of the Cornfield to a personal level by interspersing the text with various human interest stories...Students of the battle will want to pick up a copy for Welker's analysis alone. -- Emerging Civil War

Author Information

David Welker is a professional historian and military analyst for the Federal Government. He holds a master's degree in International Affairs from American University and a bachelor's in History and Political Science from Westminster College. He is also a published author.

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