Symposium Spotlight: Ryan Quint and the Cornfield at Antietam

Ryan Quint, Emerging Civil War’s Book Review Editor, will make his second appearance at the Emerging Civil War Symposium.

It seems that some of the most simply named places on Civil War battlefields, witnessed the most horrific moments of the war. The “Wheatfield,” the “Sunken Road,” the “Crater,” all have simplistic names, that when uttered, usher in thoughts of  untold human suffering. David R. Miller’s “Cornfield,” near Sharpsburg, Maryland, is another of those simply named places.

Ryan’s talk is entitled, “The slain lay in rows precisely as they stood in their ranks a few moments before”: The Fighting in Antietam’s Cornfield.

According to Quint:

“Some of the most famous fighting of the entire Civil War took place in David R. Miller’s cornfield– fighting that transformed the rows of crops into a bloodied, shattered ruin. When dealing with ‘Great Attacks’ of the war, the Cornfield ranks as one of the greatest, and not just for one attack, but multiple ones that swept forward and back, for hours, and set the stage for America’s bloodiest single day.”

Ryan is a seasonal Park Historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. He is currently working on his first book for the Emerging Civil War Series, which will cover the Battle of Monocacy.

We hope that you will join us August 5-7, 2016 at the Third Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge. For more information, or to purchase tickets, click here.