The fighting in D.R. Miller's cornfield at Antietam on the morning of September 17, 1862, was the most brutal infantry engagement of the Civil War. The cornfield — about thirty acres of standing corn higher than a man's head — changed hands approximately fifteen times in three hours of close-range fire and repeated charges. Neither side could see the other except by following the muzzle flashes through the stalks. Soldiers fired blind into the corn, reloaded, fired again, advanced fifteen yards, found themselves face-to-face with the enemy at five yards, fired their last loaded round, and finished the fight with bayonets and rifle butts. The Iron Brigade went into the Cornfield as part of Hooker's I Corps attack at dawn and lost more than forty percent of its strength in the first twenty minutes. The Battle of Antietam as a whole produced over twenty-two thousand casualties — the costliest single day in American military history. The Cornfield produced the worst of them.

This W. Britain figure catches an Iron Brigade soldier mid-charge — left foot forward, body pitched into the run, rifle musket held forward with bayonet fixed, mouth open in the shout that ran ahead of the line as it closed. He wears the brigade kit: nine-button frock coat in dark blue, light blue trousers rolled at the cuff, white gaiters above the brogans, the tall black Hardee hat with the brass infantry eagle on the side, and the cartridge box, knapsack, and tin cup on his back. The charging pose makes this one of the most diorama-ready figures in the Iron Brigade range — paired with the Advancing, Reaching for Cap, and Standing Firing figures it builds a complete combat sequence from the approach march into the final hand-to-hand. Pair this figure with Iron Brigade Advancing at Right Shoulder in Gaiters for a two-figure sequence from advance to close combat; with Col. Henry A. Morrow of the 24th Michigan, the brigade's regimental commander; or with Maj. Gen. Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker, the I Corps commander who led the brigade into the Cornfield on the morning of Antietam.

Scale: 1/30 (60mm). Matte-painted metal. W. Britain model 31294. From the American Civil War range. Single foot figure, supplied painted and ready for display.