14th Regiment (New York State Militia) - Second Bull Run To Antietam

Second Bull Run To Antietam

At Second Bull Run the regiment again fought courageously, losing nearly 120 men. At Antietam, the 1st Division commanded by Brigadier General Abner Doubleday of the 1st Corps began their attack on the morning of September 17, 1862 from the North Woods. Col. Walter Phelps' Iron Brigade fought through the Miller Farm's cornfield. Both Union and Confederate casualties at the cornfield were roughly 6,000. It was at the cornfield that famed nurse Clara Barton went onto the actual battlefield to help the wounded soldiers of the Union Army. According to a report from William Fox of the 107th New York, the brigade that composed of the 22nd New York, 24th New York, 30th New York, 14th Regiment (New York State Militia), and 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters was the first to be called the “Eastern Iron Brigade” because of its brave fighting at South Mountain and Antietam. Colonel Rufus R. Dawes the commander of the Sixth Wisconsin later wrote in his book "Service with the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers":

"The Fourteenth Brooklyn Regiment, Red legged Devils, came into our line closing the awful gaps. Now is the pinch. Men and officers of New York and Wisconsin are fused into a common mass, in the frantic struggle to shoot fast. Everybody tears cartridges, loads, passes guns, or shoots."

In the cornfield, the Eastern Iron Brigade followed the Western Brigade into battle early in the morning. While the rest of Phelp's brigade fell back, the 14th Brooklyn held its ground along with elements of the 6th Wisconsin of the Black Hats (Western Iron Brigade). This effort combined into a mass of soldiers pushing the Confederates up to Dunker Church. These two regiments got further than any other Union Regiment during the attack in the cornfield.