Booknotes: Cedar Mountain to Antietam

New Arrival:
• Cedar Mountain to Antietam: A Civil War Campaign History of the Union XII Corps, July – September 1862 by M. Chris Bryan (Savas Beatie, 2022).

Of the Union corps that contributed most to the Union attack on the right flank at Antietam it's probably fair to say the Twelfth Corps was the odd man out in terms of acclaim or recognition (good or bad) of its role in the battle. Hooker's First Corps valiantly fought itself out in a horrific slugging match in the morning phase of the battle and, on the other side of the spectrum, major elements of Sumner's Second Corps suffered infamous disaster in the West Woods. By contrast, the hard fighting of the rank and file of Twelfth Corps has been largely overshadowed (at least when it comes to popular notions of what happened during the battle) by one event—the mortal wounding of its commander, Major General J.K.F. Mansfield, just as the corps went into action. Mansfield's replacement, General Alpheus Williams, did not believe his corps received proper credit from General McClellan and others for what it accomplished at Antietam.

Encompassing the fighting at Antietam and on other fields that busy summer, Chris Bryan's Cedar Mountain to Antietam: A Civil War Campaign History of the Union XII Corps, July – September 1862 seeks to fully restore the combat history of Twelfth Corps. From the description: the "diminutive Union XII corps found significant success on the field at Antietam. Its soldiers swept through the East Woods and the Miller Cornfield—permanently clearing both of Confederates—repelled multiple Southern assaults against the Dunker Church plateau, and eventually secured a foothold in the West Woods. This important piece of high ground had been the Union objective all morning, and its occupation threatened the center and rear of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s embattled Army of Northern Virginia."

Grounded in primary sources, Bryan's very detailed military history narrative, which is supported by 28 maps, follows the corps from its Army of Virginia roots through the end of the Battle of Antietam. More from the description: Cedar Mountain to Antietam "begins with the formation of this often-luckless command as the II Corps in Maj. Gen. John Pope’s Army of Virginia on June 26, 1862. Bryan explains in meticulous detail how the corps endured a bloody and demoralizing loss after coming within a whisker of defeating Maj. Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson at Cedar Mountain on August 9; suffered through the hardships of Pope’s campaign before and after the Battle of Second Manassas; and triumphed after entering Maryland and joining the reorganized Army of the Potomac. The men of this small corps earned a solid reputation in the Army of the Potomac at Antietam that would only grow during the battles of 1863."

The author has revealed that he's currently working on a follow-up volume that will continue the corps history through the rest of its service in the eastern theater. Beyond that, time will tell.