The 2nd Wisconsin Infantry at the Battle of South Mountain

On September 14th, 1862, Brigadier General John Gibbon’s 4th Brigade of the 1st Division of the 1st Corps, Army of the Potomac advanced up the National Road through Turner’s

Gen. John Gibbon USA

Gap, one of the passes on South Mountain in Maryland. This brigade, consisting of the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin, and 19th Indiana Infantry regiments, had been ordered to clear out the Confederates defending Turner’s Gap.

Alfred H. Colquitt CSA

Opposing the Federal advance was Colonel Alfred H. Colquitt’s Brigade of Georgia and Alabama troops of Major General D.H. Hill’s Division. Gibbon placed the 7th Wisconsin on the right of the road, with the 6th Wisconsin in support. The 19th Indiana was ordered to the left of the road, with the 2nd Wisconsin, under the command of Colonel Lucius Fairchild, backing it up. Battery B of the 4th U.S. Artillery was deployed in the road in support of the infantry. Companies B and E of the 2nd Wisconsin, under Captain Wilson Colwell, advanced as skirmishers and encountered a line of Confederate skirmishers, driving them back to Colquitt’s main battle line. Colquitt’s position was a strong one, with rocks, trees, and a stone wall for cover.

Map of the Iron Brigade at the Battle of South Mountain

The rest of the brigade advanced and engaged the Confederates. The 19th Indiana veered to the left, and the 2nd Wisconsin was ordered forward so that it was between the 19th Indiana on its left and the road on its right. The 7th Wisconsin was across the road on the 2nd’s right flank, and the 6th Wisconsin was deployed on the left of the 7th. The fighting was intense, and the Federals could not advance against the stubborn Rebel position, which bent but did not break under the onslaught of fire. The 2nd Wisconsin maneuvered to the right flank of Colquitt’s 23rd Georgia and the 2nd’s right side hit it with an enfilade fire as the 7th Wisconsin hit the Georgians from their front. With the right side of the 2nd running low on ammunition, Fairchild ordered the left side to continue the enfilade fire. After deciding the Confederate position was too strong to be taken with one brigade, Gibbon decided to hold position. Fighting continued until around nine P.M. when darkness brought an end to it. The Confederates quietly withdrew after dark.

Battle of South Mountain

Colonel Fairchild submitted this report on the 2nd Wisconsin’s action at the Battle of South Mountain:

Camp, Gibbon’s Brigade,
Near Sharpsburg, Md., September 20, 1862

Sir: I have the honor to report the following as the part taken by the Second Wisconsin Volunteers, under my command, in the battle of South Mountain, Maryland on Sunday, September 14, 1862:

Lucius Fairchild 2nd Wisconsin Infantry

Soon after a large portion of Hooker’s corps were in line, and advancing up the mountain on the right of the turnpike, Gibbon’s brigade advanced on the pike to the foot of the mountain. On arriving there, the Nineteenth Indiana Volunteers and my regiment filed onto the field on the left. Companies B and E of my regiment were deployed as skirmishers, and ordered to advance, their right resting on the pike. The Nineteenth Indiana followed, with my regiment in their rear about 200 yards. By order of General Gibbon, we moved thus in double column well within the gap. While lying down in that position, a shell from the enemy struck and exploded in the ranks of the second division of the Second Regiment, killing 4 and badly wounding 3. Soon after, I deployed my column, the skirmishers being briskly engaged, and, when the Nineteenth Indiana opened fire, I moved forward to their right, the right of my regiment resting on the turnpike, and opened fire. After expending some 20 rounds of ammunition, I discovered the enemy had entirely disappeared from my front. Then I ordered the men to fire by the right oblique, on a line of the enemy who were firing on the Seventh Wisconsin. After a short time I ceased firing, and, the better to get at the enemy, changing direction with the right wing of my regiment. In that position good execution was done until their ammunition was all expended, when they were withdrawn to the line, and the left wing took their place. After the left wing had expended their ammunition and had been withdrawn the Nineteenth took the same position, by wings. All were then ordered to lie down. The fire from the enemy ceased and all was quiet.

I ordered Company A to deploy as skirmishers to the extreme left of the Nineteenth Indiana, and sent a few men to the front a short distance, to prevent a surprise. Thus we lay until nearly midnight, when part of General Gorman’s brigade took our ground, while we fell back a short distance for ammunition. The action was not resumed after my regiment left the front line.

Fortunately the Second suffered lightly in comparison with other regiments of the brigade, as the list of killed and wounded, heretofore forwarded, will show.

As usual, the officers and men behaved well. Captain Colwell, of Company B, was killed while in command of the line of skirmishers. His place can hardly be filled. He was a fine officer and beloved by the whole regiment.

Very respectively, your obedient servant,

Lucius Fairchild
Colonel Second Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers

Frank A. Haskell,
Lieut. and A.D.C., Actg. Asst. Adjt. Gen., Gibbon’s Brigade

Fairchild was correct when he stated that his regiment hadn’t had as many casualties as the others in the brigade. The 2nd Wisconsin listed six killed, 19 wounded, and 1 missing or captured. Captain Colwell was the only officer in the brigade that was killed in action. The brigade listed as total of 37 killed, 251 wounded, and 30 missing or captured at the Battle of South Mountain. It has been generally accepted that the brigade consisting of the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin, and 19th Indiana regiments, was nicknamed The Iron Brigade after the battle of South Mountain.

On September 15th, The Army of the Potomac advanced through the gaps in South Mountain and farther into Maryland. Two days later, it would again fight the Confederates at the Battle of Antietam.

Related Posts:
The 6th and 7th Wisconsin Infantry Regiments at the Battle of South Mountain

The 19th Indiana Infantry at the Battle of South Mountain

Sources:

Antietam, South Mountain and Harper’s Ferry: A Battlefield Guide by Ethan S. Rafuse

The Iron Brigade: A Military History by Alan T. Nolan

The Maps of Antietam: An Atlas of the Antietam (Sharpsburg) Campaign, Including the Battle of South Mountain, September 2-20, 1862 by Bradley M. Gottfried

The Military History of Wisconsin in the War for the Union by E.B. Quiner

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume 19, Part 1