M Chris Bryan will be our presenter on December 3, 2024
The Union XII Corps formed in June 1862 as the II Corps, Army of Virginia. The corps, which joined the Army of the Potomac only a week before Antietam was small, numbering just over 7,600 men. Easily overlooked, Army of the Potomac leadership and historians since have largely glossed over this corps’ contribution at Antietam.
Nevertheless, this small corps ended Confederate attacks into the Miller Cornfield and East Woods, successfully defended the Dunker Church Plateau from Confederate assaults, and captured the West Woods, which had been the goal on the Federal right all morning.
This talk will discuss the experience of the corps following the battle of Cedar Mountain and some of the ways in which its condition upon entering the battle of Antietam affected its performance in that battle.
M. Chris Bryan earned a Bachelor of Science in History from the United States Naval Academy; a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College, Annapolis; and a Master of Historic Preservation from the University of Maryland, College Park. A former naval aviator, Bryan works as a Cultural Resource Manager and lives in southern Maryland with his wife and two children. Cedar Mountain to Antietam is his first book.